US-based start-up, Batteroo, developed a new battery life extender called ‘Batteriser‘. It consists of a stainless steel sleeve that we can clip onto any battery, and because it’s just 0.1 mm thick, it can fit into any kind of device, incluidng TV remotes, torches, bluetooth keyboards, and console controllers.
A completely new alkaline battery is rated to generate 1.5 volts, but once its output drops below 1.35 or even 1.4 volts, it effectively becomes useless to many devices i.e they appear to be dead. The battery’s chemical cocktail is still loaded with juice, but the circuitry in many gadgets considers the battery dead.
“The Batteriser has boost circuitry that will boost the voltage from 0.6 volts to 1.5 volts and will maintain voltage at 1.5 – which is a brand new battery,” Batteriser founder Bob Roohparvar, said to PCWorld.
He said: ‘Batteroo is the first to unleash existing unused power from a seemingly powerless battery, and by extending battery life by up to eight times, Batteriser pays for itself with the very first purchased pack.
The Batteriser will come in AA, AAA, C and D-cell varieties and sell for less than $10 for a pack of four. At that price, the technology “pays for itself” after just one purchase — a typical AA battery costs $2.50, and the Batteriser makes one battery last as long as eight. Roohparvar demonstrated the Batteriser’s effectiveness by the below test.
“First he ran tests on two “dead” AA batteries with a power meter. The batteries read 1.3 volts each. He then put the batteries inside a Bluetooth keyboard and connected the keyboard to a Mac. An onscreen display reported the batteries were toast. Such is the heartbreak of old-school battery tech. It’s been this way since 1947.
Next he slipped the batteries inside two Batteriser sleeves. He ran the metering test again. The same ostensibly dead batteries read 1.5 volts. He then slipped the batteries—now ensconced in Batteriser jackets—into the keyboard. Voila: The Mac reported the battery level at 100 percent.”
Simple devices like flashlights will continue to work with alkaline batteries that dip well below 1.4 volts. They’ll just lag and sputter—consider that incredibly dim flashlight that’s on its last breath. But Batteriser helps to keep these devices topped off. The sleeve will also work with 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries, boosting them up to 1.5 volts.
The Sunnyvale-based company has also verified this technology with the physics department of San Jose State University. “We tested the Batteriser sleeve in our lab and we confirmed that the Batteriser taps into 80 percent of energy that is usually thrown away,” said the university’s Dr. Kiumars Parvin in a statement.
Batteriser will start its Indiegogo campaign in late June and will deliver this by the end of September. Roohparvar says the Batteriser will begin selling on Amazon in the fall. He also said that he has been talking to executives at Wal-Mart about selling the battery sleeves in the future.
