WP34s Drain battery power

[John Galt]

The most likely cause is bad or poor quality batteries.

Beware that counterfeit batteries are very common and are generally of very poor quality. They may outwardly resemble quality Duracell or Energizer batteries, so conclusively identifying a legitimate battery is nearly impossible.

The converse - conclusively identifying a fake - is easier, but it is very difficult to impossible to identify fakes by their external appearance. The best assurance you are buying legitimate batteries from retail vendors is to purchase them from a reliable vendor. Amazon is not a reliable vendor.

References: I emailed both companies regarding this topic. The response I received from Duracell was by far the more comprehensive and addressed my concerns in extensive detail. They suggested inspecting the packaging, because packaging is relatively expensive and more difficult to reproduce. Counterfeit battery manufacturers tend to use cheap packaging.

The response I received from Energizer was poorly written and dismissive of my concerns. They essentially denied the existence of fakes. For that reason I no longer purchase Energizer products and no longer include them in any products I sell.

The Panasonic batteries that HP included with their 30b calculators were almost certainly genuine, but they do not last as long as genuine Energizer or Duracell batteries. Still, they should last for years in storage. I recently had several unopened HP 30b calculators, five years old or more, whose Panasonic batteries still worked upon first use.

Bottom line: Your WP 34s batteries should last at least a year, unused in the calculator. Given intense, daily use in your position as a structural engineer, they may last as little as three weeks. Under more casual semi-daily use, mine last about nine months.