LR44 or SR44 batteries. Is any one type preferred for Vector 3?

Garmin recommend LR44’s
Its all here https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/garmin-vector-3-power-meter-review.html

Garmin have not made a recommendation either way publically as far as I can tell. Ray, a blogger who is not affiliated with Garmin, has said they told him something offline. That's not the same as Garmin recommending something so until they do, the official stance is that both are supported and you are fine to use either. Ray is a great source of info but he is not Garmin and neither is he an official Garmin spokesperson.

While I do totally agree that Garmin should have the LR44 vs SR44 thing somewhere on Garmin.com explaining the differences, the actual quotes in that post regarding battery life (indeed, legit quotes) are straight from the Garmin Vector product team. Fwiw...

/// From the post:

As for using LR44 versus SR44 batteries, that’s a good question which many readers asked since launch. I went back to Garmin on this after your questions and asked what was the difference, specifically, in their recommendation of using LR44 versus SR44 batteries. They said they started to validate both LR44 and SR44 cells, but found “much more consistent performance” with the LR44’s than the SR44’s. They noted that “in the validation, we found overall that the SR44’s had higher variability and some even performed worse than the LR’s”. Interestingly, as part of that testing they did find that SR44 was giving longer battery life, but that given the variability they saw they settled on LR44’s as the official recommendation, coming in at 120 hours (on LR44’s).

Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't suggesting that you didn't get it from Garmin, just that while their website says they support both with no caveats that is the official position. I've noticed though that it's almost impossible to specifically buy one or the other because the labels seem to be used interchangeably and most packaging has all the labels for that size/shape/voltage. Duracell and other premium brands seem to be more specific, but I'm not spending that much on coin cells!

The Vector 3 development team tested a number of brands in both LR44 and SR44 chemistries. For the brands we tested, the SR44 was found to outperform that same brand's LR44. However, some brands' SR44 were found to perform poorly compared to other brands of LR44. The LR44 generally presents the best cost/performance tradeoff but riders can choose the chemistry and brand that meets their needs. The highest performing battery we have tested is the Energizer SR44.

t_smit I've been having some battery issues - I'm on my 3rd pair in my right pedal with under 3 hours of total usage. I tested the most recent pair with my multimeter and I'm noticing that each battery is about .5 V (not 1.5V). I'm using brand new Energizer SR44s, but I'm wondering if this is why my pedals keep crapping out. Maybe that's also what is happening to other people?

Maybe it's my multimeter that's not working? I donno - I've tested batteries from walgreens and amazon and I get the same thing, about 0.5V per battery (vs 1.5V which is on the package - Energizer 357 SR44s).


Update: I put new a new battery in my multimeter - now the reading is 0.9V per battery. Still lower than 1.5V. Not sure if that is expected.

Both of these battery types should read well above 1.3V (or more) on a multimeter when new. This said, this particular battery size is one of the most counterfeited on the internet and, in my experience, authentic versions cannot be purchased on Amazon; period. Go to a reputable supplier like Digi-Key.com or use the much less counterfeited single cell lithium battery.

thanks C._B._Dane
crazy that walgreens would also have counterfeits but I think it could be possible. Those batteries were also under 1V out of the package. Going to double check with a friend's multimeter.

On my new set of pedals I got a low battery warning about 75 miles into a 100 mile ride so I looked into the fit file to look at the battery voltages at the start of the ride. Voltage at the start of the ride was 2.62V voltage at the end was 2.58V, I believe the pedals will shut down at 2.35V . I will let these (Garmin Stock Batteries) go until they reach the shut down point and see where they end up hour wise, they currently sit at 73hrs. :)

Bart

Hi Bart,

Are you still getting dropouts with your new pedals? I bought mine recently and suffer from the same issues as quite a few others on the Vector 3 boards.
In my case, having new batteries and battery doors does not lead to a problem-free experience.

I wonder if there's any point in asking for an exchange...

Thanks,
Nick