Revenge of the battery hack - 32 AAs inside a 6v Lantern Battery. BUT IS IT PHONEY?!

Paul Michael — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:32:06 +0000

Ok, there's not really much that I can say to top this one. After the amazing work that Kipkay did over at Metacafe, the folks at gagfilms have gone one better. They've discovered not 10 or even 20 but 32 AA batteries inside a standard 6v battery. Yup, I'm floored.

NOTE: One astute guest has pointed out that this could be all a bunch of hokum, which I fell for like so many others out there on the web. I hacked up my 6v battery and found 4 1.5v batteries inside. If you are willing to hack up yours and tell us what you find, I'd love to get to the bottom of this one.

As a rule, I don't usually like to post just one video in isolation but this one deserves it. And I found a battery like this one for just $1.99 in my local hardware store. I think that equates to around 7 measly cents per battery. Did I just hear parents everywhere rejoice?

And here's a guy experiencing just what happened to me...

What is surprising me more though (although it probably shouldn't) is the way the battery industry seems to be pulling the wool over our eyes. Why does a simple 2-pack of AA batteries cost anywhere from $2-$5, when they are obviously so cheap to produce? No wonder the Energizer bunny can keep going and going, it's costing almost nothing to replace the power source. And Duracell, a Proctor & Gamble company, generates over $1 billion a year from the sale of just AA batteries. Indeed, the humble AA seems to be the backbone of the battery industry.

So, I did a little digging. Actually, a lot of digging. In total around six hours of web-surfing and phone calls and came up with nothing. No-one wants to talk to me about the production costs of batteries, and a recent theft of trade secrets at Duracell has the industry very, very wary indeed.

At this point I'm throwing it over to you. Do you know anyone who works in the battery industry? DO you know why they can sell 32 AAs for $1.99, hidden inside a 6v shell, and then sell just 2 AAs for around the same price? Is this just the way the battery industry works and if they changed things the prices would go up? I have way too many questions and no answers. But until I get them, I'm getting all my AAs from inside a 6v lantern battery. It's going to save me quite a pretty penny.

Written by Paul Michael and published on Wise Bread. Read more articles from Wise Bread.