Ouch - Lithium Batteries

[Sam Menard]

I’ve been using lithium batteries in my trail cams… 7 trail cams and 6 CellLinks. Each uses 8 AA batteries so that is 104 batteries. Amazon has 24 lithium batteries for about $63, so it would cost about $265 to outfit all my tech. At least, with lithium batteries, I wouldn’t have to do a swap out for a least 6 months.

Due to the escalating cost of lithium batteries, I’m thinking about going with alkaline batteries, but I’m not sure how long they will last. Does anyone have any experience using alkaline in their trail cameras?

[gbk]

Depends on many factors-camera model, number of pictures taken in one burst ,interval,temperature, just to name a few.
This past moderately to cold winter ,ran a Browning Dark ops camera mid Dec-mid March.
I was to get 8587 pictures(80 % daylight shots ,based on the 587 leftover pictures) BUT i left the camera with "delete pictures from SD card upon SD card is full" MODE,,,,,,,and the camera started to record on the SD card again.8000 pic is the capacity of the card i had.
Ended up with 587 pictures only.6 Duracell AA batteries.
Quite allright for me.Plus-batteries were tossed as a good measure,they had still life in them.
I think ,if You do not use short sleep intervals and many picture's in one burst,my guess is ,You should expect 3-4 months easy.This method should work well over bait or mineral licks(i think that is what you do).
Trail monitoring needs more shots and lesser intervals.I would still bet 3 months at least.
Try your cameras and see.

[johnjyb]

I use the 40 pack of AA duracells from Costco, usually on sale for about $20 at times. I get anywhere from 3-8 months, depending on the cam, and especially temps as cold will kill them quicker it seems to me. I run from 8-10 cams right now, and it can be entertaining. Most cams set up for 2 or 3 shot bursts at high resolution.
John

[genec]

Have never used them, but read a post a couple of months ago that said the lithium batteries from Dollartree were cheaper than most other lithiums, but were longer lasting than many other brands.
May be worth trying a set of them and comparing costs/time duration.

[DanE]

i run both in my cellular cameras
normally alkaline when it's warm out or cameras that are easy to get to. Lithium when it's cold or hard to get to spots or spots I want little to no pressure in

[C.F.]

I’m pretty sure only energizer makes lithium AA batteries. I usually get them at Walmart but they have been sold out lately.
Personally I’ve found that alkaline batteries give some of my cams problems.
If your cams are on Trail cam pro. Com , you can usually find good info and test results, including expected battery life on lithium’s.
lol after looks on that website I learned that one of my browning cams has horrible life, and a better model I have can last a year or more on a set of lithium’s

[DanO]

I’ve been using lithium batteries in my trail cams… 7 trail cams and 6 CellLinks. Each uses 8 AA batteries so that is 104 batteries. Amazon has 24 lithium batteries for about $63, so it would cost about $265 to outfit all my tech. At least, with lithium batteries, I wouldn’t have to do a swap out for a least 6 months.

Due to the escalating cost of lithium batteries, I’m thinking about going with alkaline batteries, but I’m not sure how long they will last. Does anyone have any experience using alkaline in their trail cameras?

I had a good camera stolen which was expensive but then when I added in the cost of lithium batteries and a high capacity SD card I was really annoyed. I returned to alkine batteries and only resort to lithium rechargables in cold weather. Nothing beats them in the cold.

[PGidley]

Eneloop rechargeables or similar pre-charged rechargeables work great for me in N. Ontario. Decent battery life in the cold. Or used a 12v external for longer term.

[mastercaster]

I am getting 11 to 12 months on my Wild game Innovations cellular trail cam, with 8ea x energizer max AA's. I'm getting an average of 5 photos a day.

MC

[sabmgb]

If I can't put in lithium i will just put cameras in a drawer. I have spy point, when I got them I put regular energizers in them, with in 3 weeks they were dead. Put lithium in and went rest of deer season, then turkey season , deer season and this turkey season. I will have to put new batteries in this fall. I usually get the 100 free photo's.