Bounty Hunter Forum

Hey, the Pioneer 505 owner's manual makes a note that it's important to use two 9-volt ALKALINE batteries. Does everybody with a Pioneer 505 use alkaline batteries? Are you using some other kind of rechargeable battery without any problem? Does the owner's manual say this because the voltage requirement is especially important for this detector to be exact? Or because alkaline gives better battery life? If you have the Pioneer 505, what kind of battery do you use?

Thanks.

Steve

I use a Time Ranger and it also uses 2 9V batteries. The Alkaline Batteries provide a Higher Current than most other 9V batteries and have longer life. You should be alright using rechargeable batteries.

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Bounty Hunter Time Ranger with 4", 8" & 10" Coils. Bounty Hunter Pin Pointer. Fiskars Big Grip Digging Tool.

I tried some Dollar Store "Heavy Duty" batteries in my Time Ranger once, and it wouldn't even power up. It wasn't because the batteries were weak, but because the voltage was actually too high. HD batteries are common carbon/zinc types and a fresh one will have a voltage of over 10 volts. Most modern detectors use a voltage regulator to reduce the working voltage to something closer to 5 volts. The c/z batts voltage was higher than the regulator wanted to digest.

While the voltage might be initially high with c/z types, it quickly drops with any large current demand, and the end result is the same, incorrect voltage for the detector to work properly. Some detectors, particularly older ones, have no problem with either c/z or alkaline types. My original Gold Bug has no problem using carbon/zinc, alkaline, ni-cad or NimH types. My Falcon pinpointer will run a couple seasons on those cheapy dollar store types, so your mileage may vary.

Generally speaking, rechargeable types will work, but you can expect shorter life before recharging is needed as compared to alkalines. Some people like the new lithium batteries. They are more expensive and are not rechargeable, but do have a much longer life than even alkalines.

Nowadays, there are higher voltage and capacity rechargeable types being offered for sale, these are preferable to the older ni-cads that only provided 7.4v instead of the 9v provided by alkalines.

Physical size is also an issue to consider. Many newer batteries are just a tiny bit larger than the older ones. My original Gold Bug has a very snug-fitting battery compartment and some batteries are to large to fit without binding or getting stuck in there. I add a little grabber-tag of scotch tape to help extract tight-fitting cells.

So there's no clear and fast rule to apply in every case, but generally, the c/z types have been long outmoded, while most any alkaline or lithium, rechargeable ni-cad or NimH type should work fine.

-Ed



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2012 12:33AM by Ed in SoDak.

Thanks to you both. I was thinking of using NiMH rechargeable. Even if they only give me a day's worth of detecting, that should be good enough for me. I'll probably try the alkalines too at some point, just to see the difference.

Gets som good nimh they should last at least a day

I have always used Energizer 9V batteries with no problems. HH. Matt

harbor freight has 4 packs of 9v alkalines for under $5 "Thunderbolt "they last pretty well, about 11 to 16 hours i have found in my quicksilver dont know yet on my new tracker 4 but i would assume it would be close or slightly better since it is not constantly running an LCD display. I will try to follow up and tell if there is a difference.

I can see why BH is wanting you to use alkaline batteries it is because of the voltage, nicads and nihms run at a lower voltage than alks and that really effects the performance of the 505, I had a set of alk 9 volts in my 505 and noticed my unit was not responding as it usually does to targets and the low battery indicator was not on yet so I took out the batteries and measured the voltage of the batteries it was 8.65 volts so I replaced them with a fresh set and the 505 perked right back to life, when the voltage goes down so does the amperage that can cause the components to respond much slower in the detector. The op-amps and proccessor can suffer from the effects of low voltage even when the low battery indicator is not lit.......