How to become a joule thief (pre-cycled batteries)

Our office thinks green so we recycle batteries.

One day, the container filled to the brim. We were responsible to ship the now 26 lb. container from CA to WI. A bit costly.

Using a digital multimeter we tested each battery once it was full. I used this $20.00 Radio Shack cat. no. 22-813.

Wearing gloves and testing each battery, we found that 50% of the batteries were bad. We found that the balance of the batteries had at least 75% remaining use.

We found that almost every 'D' cell had 75% use remaining. They were bagged and placed in a tub for use in case of emergency.

A majority of the 'AA' batteries metered at 100% remaining use. We theorized that modern digital cameras requiring AA batteries were to 'blame'.

Modern electronica will inform the user that the batteries are low or empty when the device reports less than a programmed voltage requirement.

Become a joule thief and test your batteries. We saved shipping costs and pre-cycled a box of recycled batteries.