GoodBuyGuys Blog

One of the most desirable characteristics of alkaline batteries is their long shelf life. They last a lot longer than zinc-carbon batteries and lose their storage capacity in a very linear pattern.Duracell rates the battery life of its Procell line to have a 7 year shelf life. Here’s how they come up with that figure.

After one year of storage at room temperature alkaline cells will still provide 93-96% of their initial capacity.

Over five years of storage at an average storage temperature of 70 degrees these batteries will still deliver about 85% of their rated capacity. Here’s what the discharge curve looks like.

If stored at higher temperatures than 70 degrees or in high humidity, this capacity will be reduced somewhat.

The ideal storage conditions for Duracell Procell batteries is 50 degrees F-70 degrees F degrees with no more than 65% relative humidity.

Here are the details directly from Duracell.

You can always be sure that any Procell battery you get from GoodBuyGuys.com is factory fresh and was made no more than six weeks before it is delivered to you. Your satisfaction is guaranteed and the expiration date is stamped right on the box.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

We get lots of pitches from manufacturers of the types of products we sell, hopingthat we will consider offering their product at our web sites. Our profile online is pretty high, so a lot of sales people find us.

We just recently added flashlights to our product offerings, and a number of interesting products have recently crossed my desk.

Evaluating these products inevitably led to the question “what makes a good flashlight?”. After years of no real changes in the incandescent lamp/alkaline battery combination, we have recently seen a number of innovations in flashlight design. Some are great, but others won’t be with us for long.

Most of the recent samples I have seen use the new LED lamp technology. The cost of LEDs has continued to go down even as their brightness has increased.

LCD flashlights offer longer battery life, longer lived, more durable lamps and the potential for decreased weight. Even with all these potential advantages, some manufacturers just don’t seem to be able to get it right.

The most recent example comes from Energizer-their Hardcase Line. For starters, there was more plastic in the package than there was in the

flashlight. No exaggeration. It was heavy plastic too. The kind that costs real money. The flashlight was attached to the package with 50 lb. wire ties, so I had to have wire cutters just to get it loose from its holder. Two strikes against them, and I hadn’t even held the thing yet.

The package included two batteries (Energizer, of course) which were supposed to clip into two separate holders on the package. They had come loose in transit and were rolling around in the bottom of the box.

Ok. Now it was time to put in the batteries. It only took three of us about ten minutes to figure this one out. Maybe its just me, but I don’t believe that most people expect square-shaped fittings to be threaded. The packaging had no information regarding how to install the batteries and the cap on the back of the body of the flashlight was square. It just didn not appear like a screw-off fitting.

Once the batteries were in, we turned the light on and it did have pretty good brightness. However, Energizer, the maker of

the batteries, claims right on the package the this flashlight has a run time of 17 hours. This is terrible. The

LED flashlight we have been selling for a couple of years will run continuous 7 days on one set of batteries.

Finally, the flashlight had a couple of totally useless brushed metal plates on the side, held in place with steel hex head

screws. These add weight, but must be very expensive, and I can see no way that they would actually add durability to the flashlight.

Back to the drawing board, Energizer!

Next time, I will discuss what makes a good flashlight worth the cost.

My musings on how the price of copper (Aug. 8 blog) has had an impact on extension cord manufacturing led to another question that has me scratching my head.

Duracell has been calling their line of consumer alkaline batteries “The Coppertop” for years. Is there any copper in The Coppertop?

If yes, then when should we expect to see the volatility in copper pricing impact this product line?

According to the Duracell web site, copper is not part of the equation. It would appear that the metals in this popular product for consumer electronics and flashlights are zinc, potassium and manganese.

More than likely, the alkaline line of batteries is nothing more than a very effective marketing idea that appears to create a loose link in the consumers mind between the Duracell product and the metal that we all associate with electrical conductivity.

Hopefully, battery prices will remain stable for a while longer.

Unfortunately, there is still a big “X” factor on the horizon. Gillette, the company that owns Duracell, has been acquired by Proctor and Gamble, the huge consumer goods company. Continual consolidation in the consumer goods industry can’t be dismissed when trying to look into the future.

More about this in a future blog.

Since we sell mic stands, I am not really too focused on highlighting web sites that are in direct competition with us. Still, I just came across a product that is too cool to ignoreWhile the notion of spending $800.00 for a mic stand seems completely out of control, it didn’t take long for me to remember at least a dozen times over my career as a sound person for large public events, when I wouldn’t have been willing to spend that kind of money to save an event that was teetering on the brink of disaster.

No matter how much high dollar equipment you have, and regardless of how brilliant a sound tech you might be, just one presenter afflicted with “mic-a-phobia” or “mic-ignoria” can bring the best planned presentation to its knees.

Any seasoned sound person knows that using a mic with a tight cardioid pickup pattern will give you the opportunity to get a lot more gain (volume) out of the sound system before feedback. Because the tighter pickup pattern rejects more of the direct and reflected sound from the speakers, it is possible to make things louder.

Unfortunately, the use of a tightly patterned mic requires that the presenter stay “on axis”, that is with their head and mouth within the pick up pattern of the mic. Once they stray from this area, either by turning to one side or standing too far behind, above or below the mic, they are lost. You stand helplessly at the sound board trying to twist any know you can to get a little more volume, spending all you time on the edge of feedback disaster.

How great it would be to just hit a switch, like that provided with the Chapman system, and bring the mic closer to the presenter. If you do a lot of these sorts of events, things like awards shows and multi-presenter forums, its not hard to imagine how a system like this could pay for itself. Particularly so, since it might well allow you to hang onto an important client (these events tend to be annual in nature) for many years without being sabotaged by a speaker who just doesn’t know how to use a mic.

Can’t afford this Cadillac solution. Then make sure you have an easily adjustable boom stand or a gooseneck on the mic that adjusts quietly. Don’t hesitate to approach all the presenters before their speeches or performances and remind them to adjust the mic before they begin.

If you want to strike fear in the heart of someone who sells batteries for a living, just tell them about the great rechargeable battery you’ve just discovered for your wireless mics. That fear won’t last long, though. For better or worse, a good rechargeable battery for wireless microphones doesn’t exist.Why not, you may ask? They work great in my flashlight, IPOD, cell phone-you name it!

Unfortunately, the answer comes not from the realm of “what works”, but rather “what happens when it doesn’t”. Let me explain.

Rechargeable batteries develop what is called a “memory”. The end result of this is that the battery, each time it is recharged, will hold less and less of a charge. This problem becomes more acute when you use a device that is not always allowed to fully discharge before you recharge it-a wireless mic is a perfect example of this sort of device.

When the rechargeable battery in your flashlight begins to lose power, the lamp simply becomes dimmer and dimmer. You get plenty of warning that trouble is coming. When your IPOD loses its charge, it simply shuts down and your song files are saved as the hard disk parks itself.

If you follow this model with a wireless mic, you’ll quickly see the problem. When a wireless microphone battery begins to lose charge, its version of a “flashlight getting dimmer” is to lose transmission power. The receiver tuned to the mic losing power continues to seek out the signal being transmitted even though there is less and less for it latch onto.

Remember, its the transmitter (the actual mic), not the receiver that is battery powered.

The receiver then becomes vulnerable to all sorts of spurious radio frequency information that wanted to invade the frequency you chose but was over ridden by the strong signal from your wireless transmitter. Your wireless mic receiver will amplify these spurious signals just like it was amplifying the voice of your singer or speaker. The results can be pretty funny (or terrifying, if you are the sound person). When your battery, rechargeable or otherwise, falls below the minimum frequency the transmitter needs to function up to specification, then chaos will rule.

The only way to defend your turf is to start your performance with a fresh battery and change it before it reaches the manufacturers minimum voltage level for satisfactory performance. Don’t trust the little led indicator on the transmitter or the receiver. More than once, I’ve seen these displays stay stable for hours and then drop like a rock. If you want to maximize your battery life, you’ll need a real volt/ohm meter. You can buy one at Radio Shack for less than $20.00 and it will pay for itself over the life of just a few batteries. It should be a part of every sound persons tool box.

Next time we’ll take a look at the future of rechargeable batteries for your wireless mics. A change is in the airwaves.

Got a tip about extending wireless mic battery life? Share it with us.

Let’s see if we can get back to the problem I was discussing in my Aug. 3 postings.I was lamenting not being able to meet a customers need for a better multioutlet cable because of the need to order in huge lots and to wait months for design and manufacturing processes to play out.

The customer had a real need and the solution to his problem would have given the world a better mouse trap, but, because the product, Electratrac multioutlet cables, was sourced in China, there was no practical way to get him what he needed.

Why not just build the product on a custom basis, using off-the-shelf parts? The unit cost, when factoring much more expensive US based labor, would be higher, but there would not be a large minimum order, there would be no complicated design and tooling costs, and the time line for getting the product into the users hands would be cut by months.

Here is my idea on making that better moustrap.

Neutrik now makes a line and panel mount connector, similar to their extremely popular Speakon connector system that that is intended for low to moderate amperage AC power distribution. It is called “Powercon” and it is a really well designed connector package.

Powercon is designed so that both the line mount and the panel mount connectors are insulated and shielded in a manner that insures that there are never any exposed electrical connections. It is safe, simple to use, and has a well made twist lock locking mechanism that keeps it secure. It would be great for a multioutlet cable design, based on this diagram.
Using this concept, it would be possible to essentially make up a cable of any number of outlet boxes, spaced at whatever interval you chose. You could have outlet boxes with single, dual or quad outlets and you could have multiple choices of cables to connect the boxes.

There are two problems that could be easily managed by someone with a little electrical savvy, but they could really cause a lot of trouble if used by someone who didn’t understand some basics regarding electrical power distribution.1. Since the voltage delivered by your cable drops over distance, you would need to take care not to extend your cable too far. Larger gauge cable allows more proper current (voltage) to be delivered over greater distances, but the larger the cable gauge the greater the weight-and the cost. As long as you were doing something like tent lighting, a reasonable voltage drop over distance would be acceptable, but if you were using the cable to power multiple electronic devices or computer work stations, voltage drop would really cause a lot of problems.

2. The second, and potentially much more important problem, would be the impact that overloading the cable (too many devices drawing too much current) would cause. It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where a fire danger was created or, in a really extreme case, the jacket of the cable actually melted.

It appears that the item that is missing from my design is some sort of inline circuit breaker that would see the entire load on the cable system, regardless of how many outlet boxes or lengths of intermediate able were used.

This would not solve the problem of voltage drop, but at least the safety issue would be addressed.

There are still a couple of more pretty good sized impediments to getting this better mousetrap to market. I’ll discuss them next time.
GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

I am going to be on vacation for a few days, so I am going to turn the blogosphere over to Flashlight Fred.

Fred is a world-renowned flashlight expert and I learn something from him every day.
See you soon!

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

My thoughts regarding solving the lead time for modifying an imported product (Electratrac Multioutle Cables) were quickly sidetracked by a much more pressing problem related to extension cord manufacturing. That problem is the volatility in copper prices.We received notification that one of our primary extension cord suppliers was raising prices almost 25%. They gave us no warning, so we had no opportunity to stock up at the old price.

GoodBuyGuys.com, as a seller of expendables, is in the marketplace with everybody else when it comes to dealing with the upheaval in commodity prices.

Even though we are a very small business, the makers of our products must compete with some of the largest purchasers in the world when its time to buy raw materials for making the products we sell.

We have seen multiple price increases over the last 18 months on most of our tape products because tape adhesives use products derived from petroleum. One way or the other, $3.00 gasoline is going to be reflected in the price of gaffers tape. Without question, war in the middle east and disruption in the flow of oil from Alaska is going to lead to another round of price increases.

Dealing with the cost of copper is much more difficult to predict. Demand for this metal hit historic highs in November of 2005, primarily based on demand from China. Since our extension cords are made in China, these price increases are what now impact the cables we sell, almost 9 months later. It takes a long time for this price volatility to work its way through the supply chain. We face the double challenge of waiting for the product required to get inventory that is created by shipping from Asia

When a distributor of extension cords in North Carolina has to compete with a country that is building power plants at a dizzying rate, guess who is going to lose?

We are hopeful that copper prices will stabilize, as they are not driven as much by middle east instability and short term interruptions in the delivery system.

If prices decrease in the future, you can be sure that pricing on our extension cords will follow.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.

I got an interesting call today from a new customer and it started me on problem solving quest that I can’t finish. Maybe someone who drops by here can help.
This customer had ordered some of our Electratrac multi-outlet extension cords and was interested in getting some more. The problem came from the fact that the outlet spacing that his project required was different than those on the standard Electratrac 50 foot 12 gauge cable. He was a display designer for a museum and found the Electratrac product to be useful for putting together temporary displays.
This guy was familiar with the original design process and patenting of the first Electratrac product so we had a lengthy discussion about how hard it was to get good design to market.

The problem was this:
The manufacturer was happy to consider a custom size and custom outlet spacing, but their first question to me, the distributor, was “how many containers do you want?”. This great product, conceived by an American farmer and distributed from a warehouse in Chicago, is made in China. This meant that not only would there be several months of lag time while submitting new (even simple) design information, making new tooling (necessary since the Electratrac outlets and ends are molded on) and the actually manufacturing and ocean shipping of the product. This meant that the American distributor couldn’t even consider taking on my customers problem unless they had a purchase commitment for thousands of cables. Our customer needed six.

So where am I going with this? The real dilemma that I faced was how to combine a real customer’s need with an opportunity to innovate. Certainly, creating a multi-outlet extension cord with a different length and outlet spacing barely qualifies as innovation. Its more like some form of re-inventing the wheel. The work of conceiving and designing the product has been done. How can we simply adapt it to make it useful for more applications without having to go through the incredibly complicated, expensive and time consuming process that would be required to make exactly what our customer needs-to say nothing about what to do with the other 2494 cables that Electratrac would have to import and we would have to commit to buy-remember the “how many container lots do you need” that started this discussion?

Maybe the continuation of offshoring the manufacturing of goods will actually lead to a new renaissance of Ameican innovation. The need for quick turnaround of new products in small quantities could well take advantage of the kind of manufacturing prowess that the US developed after World War II.

Small machine shops, foundries and factories and were quick to the market with new ideas-the work being done by young people, men and women, who used their opportunities in the military to learn new skills that could be applied to civilian applications.

We’ve got an idea for a new product in development that might solve our customers multioutlet cable need.

Check back at this space soon and I will tell you more.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful production supplies.