Duracell Industrial will get you to lunch
In a recent blog post describing our work at ESMO 18, a large conference for the leading European professional organisation for medical oncology, we touched on the number of batteries we used and recycled.
The event featured 52 meetings in 13 venues, spread across Munich and required a huge amount of equipment, much of it battery-powered to ensure another TechPro flawless delivery.
Now to many, Christmas is a time to consider batteries, with so many toys requiring them unless the big day is to be a complete disappointment, but quantity often wins out over quality.
Counted out and counted back
In our line of work, we need both quality and quantity. Over the course of the 9 days we were on-site at the ESMO event in October, we used 2432 Industrial AA Duracell batteries, all of which were recycled on our return – as required by our commitment to ISO 20121:2012.
This is always our battery of choice and as we say in the live event business, an Industrial AA Duracell will always get you to lunchtime.
It means we don’t have equipment dying during a performance and allows us to change batteries when required during the inevitable lunchtime break.
Most of the batteries we change would happily go on longer, but we prefer to change them and not risk any chance of a depleted battery causing disruption in the second half of the day.
Industrial (formerly Procell) Duracell are Alkaline-manganese dioxide batteries and appear to be made differently to normal copper-top consumer Duracell batteries.
Although the official figures all match, like nominal voltage of 1.5V and Impedance of 120 m-ohm @ 1kHz, they definitely perform differently in our radio-microphones, remote controls, etc. And given we deliver AV tech support to events all over the world, inside and out, in all weathers at all times of the year, it’s good to know Industrial are capable of operating in temperatures from -20°C to 54°C.
An output we manage
We prefer the Industrial batteries as they have a slowly declining output voltage throughout their life which we can allow for in the various bits of kit we are powering.
This compares to copper-top Duracell batteries which have a fairly constant output voltage until just before it fails, when towards the end there is a sharp drop-off, which can cause equipment to fail.
It is this differing discharge profile that indicates the Industrial batteries have a different internal structure and are not just a bit of fancy marketing through clever re-packaging.
Standard Duracell consumer batteries are also some of the most counterfeited products available today and buyers must be very sure of the source. The Industrial brand we buy is only available through reputable wholesalers with the necessary provenance.
Quality in hand
When a client strides out onto stage, nerves under control but amplified through being the third to present at that event, they have to have confidence everything will work, from microphone to video wall.
Any glitch in the technical equipment can destroy even the best’s composure.
At TechPro, we understand this and it’s why we quality check every single piece of equipment on return from an event, with repairs and upgrades made when necessary.
And when planning for an event like ESMO, we spend time calculating the likely hours of use for each radio-microphone, laser pointer etc., and ensure we have not only the right number of batteries, but the right batteries for the right job.
It sounds simple, but it’s an attention to detail shaped by 10 years’ experience of TechPro delivering flawless events that puts quality in the hands of our clients every time the flight cases leave our Tamworth headquarters.