Batteriser

Batteriser
Developer Batteroo, Inc.
Type Consumer electronics
Release date TBA
Website www.batteriser.com

Batteriser ([bætəɹɑɪzəɹ] batter-EYE-zer) is a line of products designed by Batteroo, Inc. that is claimed to significantly extend battery life by using a miniature boost voltage regulator.[1] A patent was filed by Fariborz Frankie Roohparvar with the priority date of September 20, 2010.[2] It completed a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo between July 2015 and September 2015, surpassing their funding goal of $30,000 and achieving $394, 459 in funding. [3] The Batteriser has received both positive and negative reviews.

Details and claims

During their Indiegogo campaign, Batteroo announced they would be producing Batterisers that will accommodate AA, AAA, C, and D batteries.[1] The Batteriser is claimed to be usable on both new and used batteries, with the result of the battery within the sleeve lasting longer. Batteroo has said that Batterisers are non-toxic, reusable, and coated with a non-conductive coating to prevent any risk of shorts. Similarly, they have claimed there is no danger presented by inserting a battery into the Batteriser the wrong way because of the presence of a built-in reverse polarity protection mechanism. [4]

The shipping date for the product has been delayed for various reasons, but photos from the manufacturing process have been made available.[5]

Product tests

Third-party tests of the Batteriser's efficacy have been conducted by San Jose State University. San Jose State University's Kiumars Parvin said, "We tested the Batteriser sleeve in our lab and we confirmed that the Batteriser taps into 80 percent of energy that is usually thrown away." [6] [7]

In the test by UL (safety organization), a Garmin Golf GPS using Batteriser was shown to have a lifespan of 10 hours and 12 minutes, in contrast to the 1 hour and 43 minutes of operating time without a Batteriser. [8] However later the test was independently duplicated by TechnologyCatalyst to demonstrate that Garmin runs OK for over 17 hours on ordinary AA batteries, and the report by UL was based on the sloppy test design. [9]

Media reactions and controversy

Effectiveness

The Batteriser's efficacy in consumer applications has been challenged by a number of sources. PC World's Jon Phillips demoed the Batteriser operating on 'dead' batteries in an Apple Inc. keyboard. The 'power meter' on the computer's screen showed the batteries as being dead without the Batteriser, and as having 100% power remaining with the Batteriser. [10] Brian Dipert at EDN called into question the strain on the keyboard being caused by the 'power meter,' and suggested that this test might not be representative of the Batteriser's effectiveness in other applications. [11]

Another source of contention surrounds the brownout voltages for battery-operated devices. David L. Jones in his EEV Blog used a programmable power supply to determine that nearly all devices function in some respect until around 1.1V, or roughly 80% of a battery's life due to the non-linear discharge cycles of batteries. This stands in contrast to Batteriser's claim that using a Batteriser will unlock the remaining 80% of power (from 1.3V downwards). [9] Batteriser has counter-argued that the bench power supply test is flawed, because of the definitions used by Jones to define device functionality, the inherent differences between power supplies and batteries on the basis of Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR), and different measures of voltage (confusion between open circuit voltage and closed circuit voltage). [12] [13]

A final source of controversy is whether or not the Batteriser may shorten battery life in devices that undergo only intermittent use, because the Batteriser is always drawing power to boost the voltage, even when the device is idle. [14]

Roohparvar noted that many critics have drawn conclusions without actually having tried the product. [15]

Potential dangers

Davis Jones on EEV Blog raised the concern that because the Batteriser acts as a ground for the boost converter circuit, any nick in the insulation might result in a direct short, and potentially a fire. [16]

Foul play

In the wake of Dave Jones' video about Batteriser, his video was disliked by a torrent of IP addresses located in Vietnam. [17] Other bloggers with Batteriser-related videos experienced similar activity from addresses in Vietnam. The bloggers involved suspect that either a click farm in Vietnam was engaged to disrepute those attacking Batteriser, or a single computer with many fake or stolen Youtube accounts utilized proxied IP addresses to cover its tracks. [18] Due to the anonymous nature of the attacks, it is currently unknown who was responsible. Batteroo has received a lot of criticism due to circumstantial evidence, but suspicion is present that Batteroo's competitors attempted to generate bad publicity for the product. [19]

References

  1. 1 2 Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser.com". Retrieved 2016-04-26. Tap into 80% more energy with Batteriser.
  2. ↑ Roohparvar, Fariborz Frankie (2010-09-20). "Patent US 20120121943 - Structure and Method for Extending Battery Life". Retrieved 2015-10-23. Claim 3 ...comprising a voltage regulator circuit...
  3. ↑ "Batteriser: Extend Battery Life By Up to 8x.". Indiegogo. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser FAQ". Batteriser. Retrieved 2016-04-26. No, the sleeve is covered with a non-conductive coating, which prevents shorting.
  5. ↑ Roohparvar, Bob (2016-04-07). "Batteriser Indiegogo Updates". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2016-04-26. We’re happy to also provide you with some photos from our manufacturing line of Batterisers in China...
  6. ↑ "No Joke: New $2.50 Gadget Makes Batteries Last 8 Times Longer". Yahoo. 2015-06-02. Retrieved 2016-04-26. We tested the Batteriser sleeve in our lab and we confirmed that the Batteriser taps into 80 percent ...
  7. ↑ Gray, Richard (2015-06-03). "Will this make batteries last EIGHT times longer?". Daily Mail (UK) Online. Retrieved 2015-10-23. Dr Kiumars Parvin, a materials scientist who specialises in magnetism at San Jose State University, explained:
  8. ↑ "UL Garmin Report" (PDF). UL. 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  9. 1 2 Mills, Chris (2015-09-22). "Don't Buy The Bullshit This Indiegogo Campaign Is Selling". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2015-10-23. For some particular high-power devices (really, the only example are old-skool cameras that run on AAs)...
  10. ↑ Phillips, Jon (2015-06-01). "Batteriser is a $2.50 gadget that extends disposable battery life by 800 percent". PCWorld. Retrieved 2015-10-23. Roohparvar gave me a demonstration of Batteriser’s effectiveness.
  11. ↑ Dipert, Brian (2015-08-13). "The Batteriser: scam or savior?". EDN. Retrieved 2015-10-23. ...Batteriser ... represents an impressive ... case study ... of today's DC voltage boost and regulation capabilities.
  12. ↑ Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser FAQ". Batteriser. Retrieved 2016-04-26. Batteroo has a link to a video below demonstrating the fallacy of using a power supply...
  13. ↑ Dipert, Brian (2015-09-16). "The Batteriser: Defenders and Detractors". EDN Network. Retrieved 2016-04-26. In the same video, he mentions that “most electronic devices have boost circuitry” making Batteriser useless. One cannot have it both ways.
  14. ↑ Francis, Hannah (2015-09-17). "Batteriser battery life extender: scam or saviour?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015-10-22. In some cases using Batteriser could even shorten a battery's life, Jones said, because the product is effectively drawing power to boost voltage all the time, even when a device is idle.
  15. ↑ Libaw, Oliver (2015-07-27). "Exclusive: ‘Breakthrough’ $2.50 Battery Booster -- Batteriser's Big Promise, Lots of Questions". Yahoo! Makers. Retrieved 2015-10-24. Roohparvar notes that all his online detractors are speculating about a device they haven’t actually tried out yet.
  16. ↑ Benchoff, Brian (2015-06-06). "Crowdfunding Follies: Debunking The Batteriser". Hackaday. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  17. ↑ Russon, Mary-Ann (2015-09-07). "Hackers spamming YouTube videos with dislikes using hijacked Vietnamese IP addresses". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2015-10-22. ...received hundreds of dislikes on his 30 August video debunking a product called Batteriser, which claims to greatly extend the life of alkaline batteries.
  18. ↑ Stewart, Joe (2015-09-03). "Negative Feedback - Attack on a YouTube Channel". Dell SecureWorks Security and Compliance Blog. Retrieved 2015-10-22. Dave Jones’ EEVblog, came under attack after having published a series of videos debunking a product claiming to vastly extend the life of alkaline batteries.
  19. ↑ Anderson, Martin (2015-09-04). "Youtube Dislikes for Sale, DDoS Style". The Stack. Retrieved 2016-04-26. Neither can one blame Batteriser, whatever one thinks of the circumstantial evidence...
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