How long can a battery last?

[tallyho8]

When I replaced a battery over 40 years old in my multi-meter I thought that might be close to being a record. I was wrong. The battery in the story below is over 180 years old and still going.

Oxford University has a bell that has been ringing since 1840. For at least 180 years, an electric bell at Oxford University has been ringing continuously — and no one knows exactly how it works. The university has covered the bell with a double-paned glass dome (who could study with such noise?), but the mystery of its battery has gone unsilenced. Built by a London instrument manufacturing firm in 1825 and acquired by Oxford in 1840, the item consists of two brass bells set below two batteries that look a bit like big wax candles. Between these bells is a small lead sphere, or clapper, that shutters back and forth, creating a near-constant ring. Estimates suggest the bell has likely rung more than 10 billion times. This strange bell is powered by what’s called dry pile batteries, which use an incredibly small amount of electrostatic energy to move the clapper back and forth — so small that the two batteries have yet to run out of charge. Although no one’s sure exactly what’s inside the batteries (dissecting them would disrupt the bell’s historic run), the best guess is that they’re full of several thousand quarter-sized discs, made with metal foil and paper that has zinc sulfate and manganese dioxide added to it, all coated in sulfur. Oxford believes the bell has another five to 10 years of life left, as the ringing has slowed considerably in the past 40 years. (These days, it’s inaudible.) That hasn’t kept the Oxford Electric Bell — also known as the Clarendon Dry Pile — from being recognized as the “world’s most durable battery” by the Guinness Book of World Records. After 180 years in service, it’s an accolade that’s well-deserved.

 

[oosik]

Hmm - probably not a concept widely "pushed" by the big battery manufacturers. Reminds me of the story of the light bulb in the fire station. They finally realized the bulb has never been turned off and is some fantastic age. 80 plus year or something like that.

 

[Roadworthy]

I guess these are illustrations of "they don't make 'em like they used do". Then again who would want to be around a bell constantly ringing for two hundred years?

 

[bmaverick]

Had an old car battery from the early 80s that lasted 22 years. And that was old school technology. Current battery is past 7 years now.

There is some fire hall that has a light bulb that's been on for several decades. I'll see it mentioned from time-to-time in news articles.

Some of the tractor implements from the late 1880s are still in use today. Someone was looking for info on a Towner K066 disc harrow that's so old, the manuals were hand written, copied from the original!

 

[BravoXray]

There is some fire hall that has a light bulb that's been on for several decades. I'll see it mentioned from time-to-time in news articles.

I think that light has been on for over 100 years.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep the bulb continues about 20 miles from here in Livermore CA

Livermore's Centennial Light Live Cam

www.centennialbulb.org

as to batteries the original BX23 battery circa 2004 has expired…

18 years is a good run and hope to replace with another Deka battery as the OEM Deka is the only one I’ve had and also the longest lasting…