The Energon Pub

[paul053]

First of all, I don't mind larger TFs have batteries for light and sound features. These light and sound features serve the purpose for kids having fun and adult collector can just remove them if they feel this feature annoying. But my question and complain is why Hasbro generally use AA batteries? Do 2 AA batteries take out too much weight and space? There are many TFs suffer back heavy issue due to those batteries. Why not using those coin or button cell batteries? They are much lighter and smaller and then the designers can use these extra space to do something else to make the toy even better.

[funklizard]

I don't know the answer to your question. Ready availability of batteries is a reason not to use some of the smaller specialty batteries; but I don't know why AA would be used instead of AAA. (Or two batteries instead of just one. Sure, one won't last as long; but since we're not talking about an always-on function, I'd think it would still last long enough.)

But I can tell you that you can use lithium batteries to ameliorate the weight problem. Not the rechargeable kind; I'm talking about batteries like Energizer Ultimate that are typically marketed for use in cameras and other high-drain electronic devices. These batteries are significantly lighter than conventional ones. (They are also quite good for cordless computer mice.)

[sharkdude5]

well AA batteries are extremely common, if not the most commonly used batteries, and a few tfs dont us AA like masterpiece grimlock for example

[Burn]

Why not using those coin or button cell batteries?

Because they're more expensive.

One could argue that the consumer should buy the batteries themselves, just reducing the cost of the TF in store, but in reality, kids like the "try me" function so they need to come with batteries.

[Shadowstream]

I'm against the whole electronics in TF figures in the first place due to how much engineering space is wasted by them, but even so I see little issue with the weight of AA batteries versus button cell ones.
I've never found myself cursing hasbro/takara for putting in batteries that weigh my toys down, in fact I've been more frustrated with the small batteries dieing too fast, especially in Energon Landmine.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I've been looking into batteries on Wikipedia, and found something interesting. While AA and AAA have the same Voltage (1.5 V), they differ in Capacity, the amount it can store in a single charge. From the wiki:

A battery's capacity is the amount of electric charge it can store. The more electrolyte and electrode material there is in the cell the greater the capacity of the cell. A small cell has less capacity than a larger cell with the same chemistry, and they develop the same open-circuit voltage.[43]

Because of the chemical reactions within the cells, the capacity of a battery depends on the discharge conditions such as the magnitude of the current (which may vary with time), the allowable terminal voltage of the battery, temperature, and other factors.[43] The available capacity of a battery depends upon the rate at which it is discharged.[44] If a battery is discharged at a relatively high rate, the available capacity will be lower than expected.

Alkaline AAA have a capacity of 1200 mAh (Milli-Amps per hour), while Alkaline AA have 2700 mAh. AA batteries thus have a higher potential output in power. Larger pieces of electronics need a higher amount of power, and more batteries linked in series. In size vs. power, the AA's win out.

[gavinfuzzy]

The irony that Leader class/ ultra class Transformers us 2 AA batteries, while supreme Primus and Unicron, that are way bigger, use button cell batteries.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

The irony that Leader class/ ultra class Transformers us 2 AA batteries, while supreme Primus and Unicron, that are way bigger, use button cell batteries.

Unicron has two smaller independent circuits, located in his head and right fist, that don't require a lot of power. The main Primus toy is powered by AA, but the Omega Lock uses the button cell type.

[gavinfuzzy]

Unicron has two smaller independent circuits, located in his head and right fist, that don't require a lot of power. The main Primus toy is powered by AA, but the Omega Lock uses the button cell type.

Oh, my bad, Primus came without batteries in the main fig ... Did not bother cracking it open to check the kinds it uses, just know the Omega Lock uses the button cell ones.