Shearwater Perdix battery choices

[sandanbob]

Good afternoon, fellow divers.

I recently purchased a Perdix, which arrived yesterday.

In the Perdix manual, it says "Accepted battery types The Shearwater Perdix can accept a wide variety of AA sized batteries. The Perdix can accept any AA sized (or 14500 size) battery that outputs a voltage between 0.9V and 4.3V"

I have seen references to NiMH, alkaline, and lithium batteries. I believe the two I have seen recommended the most are the Energizer lithium and the LS SAFT Li-SOCl2 14500 cells.

I have numerous Eneloop AA batteries, and a few Li-ion 14500 cells. My plan is to use the Eneloops to power my new Perdix, but I am wondering if anybody has used Li-ion cells? If so, how do they perform? Alternatively, are there any reasons not to use them?

I have had rechargeable alkaline batteries in the past, but it turns out those will leak, similarly to regular alkaline batteries.

Thank you for your input.

Have a great evening!

Bob

 

[sandanbob]

I just found a thread from 2020 that I am reading through.

Perdix AI AA Battery

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Energizer lithium ion are all I use. DO NOT use alkaline.

 

[gmerick]

Had correspondence with Shearwater RE: batteries for Perdix (I do not have Perdix II). Many divers reported bad cells when using 3.6V Saft LS14500. Some high volume manufacturers produced questionable cells. I wrote because I had problems with 3 of these cells. Their information to me was only use the Energizer 1.5V Photo Lithium cells. I've had no problems since I switched, but have watched the battery indicator, and swapped cells proactively. I am still using the original 3V Lithium CR2 batteries in both transmitters.

 

[Rayk]

I always use eneloop rechargeable batteries, zero issues so far.

 

[TravelGas]

Had correspondence with Shearwater RE: batteries for Perdix (I do not have Perdix II). Many divers reported bad cells when using 3.6V Saft LS14500. Some high volume manufacturers produced questionable cells. I wrote because I had problems with 3 of these cells. Their information to me was only use the Energizer 1.5V Photo Lithium cells. I've had no problems since I switched, but have watched the battery indicator, and swapped cells proactively. I am still using the original 3V Lithium CR2 batteries in both transmitters.

Tag for future.

 

[Lorenzoid]

From Shearwater's website, under Perdix 2 FAQ:

"While almost any kind of AA battery will work with your Shearwater Perdix 2, 1.5V lithium batteries like the Energizer Ultimate Lithium work best. This battery type performs well in a wide temperature range and is much less likely to leak and cause damage to your dive computer."

 

[GF99/99]

Had correspondence with Shearwater RE: batteries for Perdix (I do not have Perdix II). Many divers reported bad cells when using 3.6V Saft LS14500. Some high volume manufacturers produced questionable cells. I wrote because I had problems with 3 of these cells. Their information to me was only use the Energizer 1.5V Photo Lithium cells. I've had no problems since I switched, but have watched the battery indicator, and swapped cells proactively. I am still using the original 3V Lithium CR2 batteries in both transmitters.

Tag for future.

There were a lot of fake SAFT's floating around online. I a couple friends ordered some online and they lasted a dive or two and that was it.

Perfect example being many sold on Tokopedia. 30k IDR is about USD $1.95

 

[DiveGearExpress]

Had correspondence with Shearwater RE: batteries for Perdix (I do not have Perdix II). Many divers reported bad cells when using 3.6V Saft LS14500. Some high volume manufacturers produced questionable cells. I wrote because I had problems with 3 of these cells. Their information to me was only use the Energizer 1.5V Photo Lithium cells. I've had no problems since I switched, but have watched the battery indicator, and swapped cells proactively. I am still using the original 3V Lithium CR2 batteries in both transmitters.

You will get the longest runtimes from genuine SAFT LS14500, which are also the go to recommended for cold water. They are not cost effective, but if your Perdix is truly mission critical for your dive then SAFT is the best choice - esp for water temps below 50 degrees. The issue with the 'questionable' bad cells is the SAFT LS14500 (made in France) is extremely popular and used an a LOT of mission critical applications... like luxury handbags, there are a LOT of counterfeit SAFT LS14500 cells (made in China), so much so that Saft has published an article on how to spot the counterfeit batteries that flood the marketplace. More here... DGX No Longer Sells SAFT Lithium Batteries | Dive Gear Express®

 

[BlueTrin]

I use SAFTs and they seem to last a long time but be careful of fakes (as others posted)

When I used AA, I would get sometimes quite a large drop in cold water between surface and diving. Enough to change the colour of the battery indicator in winter, I think on a cold day the battery was low blue and went red during the dive, this is why I changed to SAFT after.

I didn’t try the Energizer ultimate lithium though, maybe they are better than normal AAs in cold water.