Alkaline alternative for LP stove igniter

The old LP stove at the family cabin was just replaced with a new one. It has an electric igniter that is powered by a single D battery.

Since my personal rule is that I don’t put alkaleaks in anything that costs more than the battery, this gives me serious heartburn. Especially in a stove that can sit for weeks at a time without use, and nearly always sits unused all winter. I don’t want to clean corrosive leakage out of that, or lose the igniter.

I’m thinking something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-3X-AA-To-D-Size-Battery-Adapter-Converter-Holder-Switcher-Case-Box-Plastic/274401850174

with 3 lithium primaries (probably Energizers, because they’re available anywhere).

Has anybody done something like this? AFAIK, the lithium primaries should be able to handle the moderate heat. The battery compartment is below, and not very close to the burners. I would guess 3xAA would have enough power for the igniter, but I don’t know.

Any safety or functional considerations I should be aware of?

TIA

That should work. As long as the 3 AA’s are in parallel, the voltage will be the same as a single cell

I agree with RobertB, it should work fine. Alkaline D cells can’t give to much current anyway because of their high internal resistance.
What might be even better than lithium’s is to use 3 AA rechargable Eneloop’s. A single one can output probably more current than a alkaline D cell.
So 3 in parallel would definetly be up to the task and Eneloop’s have a very low self discharge, about 15% a year.
Throw a Nimh charger in at the cabin and you should be good for years to come.

I thought about that, but this cabin rotates between 4 extended families, and nobody wants to get in at meal time and have to crank the generator to charge the batteries before they can cook. They’ll just manually light with a match or lighter. There’s probably 70 people that use this cabin during a season, so coordination is difficult.

I suspect the igniter circuit is pretty simple, but is the lower voltage of NiMh likely to be ok? The cabin is a 4 hr drive from my house, with no cell service, and 30 miles from the closest town. There’s incentive to make my first attempt carefully.

You would need to test with partially discharged batteries.

Energizer L91 have a bit over 3000mAh, 50% more than regular Eneloops and 25% more than Eneloops Pro.

Real D NiMH cells like this have about the same capacity as 3xL91 as you don’t waste space with an adapter but you need to test the voltage.

Nimh’s could be charged from your vehicle or 4-wheeler, anything with a 12v battery.
You just need a charger that works from 12v, a solar charger could even be a option.
I dont suspect you’ll have any lower voltage problem from using Nimh. Alkalines have quite a bit of voltage sag when you start applying heavy loads.
Nimh’s will not suffer as much under load. I dont think the loaded voltages between either battery would be much different, especially considering 3 Nimh AA’s in parallel share the load evenly. Nimh’s are just a suggestion, Lithiums should work fine.

Don’t they have lithium D cell?

I haven’t found any 1.5V lithium primaries from a reputable brand, or that have been tested to ensure its capacity and self-discharge rate. That would be ideal, if such a thing exists and is reasonably priced compared to lithium AA’s.

I can get Energizer AAs for $16/12. That’s $1.33 each, or $4 for a 3-pack D replacement. I would be willing to pay $4-$6 for a lithium primary D. If I could find one.

How long does a D cell last? If it can go the whole season, just pop in a new one at the start of each season when you’re there, like changing smoke-alarm batteries once per year whether it “needs” it or not.

Otherwise, 3 eneloops/amaloops/laddaloops in the adapter should work fine, and let whoever’s there recharge as need be.

Good point. Technically, the NiMh is probable the best, least expensive, and most environmentally friendly solution.

If everybody that uses this stove was as nerdy as me, I would lean more towards NiMh. But there are some people quite a bit older than me, and even some of the younger ones, I could tell, didn’t really buy into my plan not to ruin a $900 stove with an alkaleak. So, if it’s inconvenient, they’ll probably just stick an alkaline in it.

We’re assigned weekly turns every year, and I haven’t been the first or the last in for the season for a number of years. If I could do that, I would, but a lot of the cabin users are what we might call muggles. Anything that requires more effort or discipline might get done, or it might not. And it’s too far away for me to just pop down and do it myself.

And I have no idea how long a D cell will last. The last stove had pilot lights.

Now y’all have me thinking, though.

I’ve never had a NiMh or a lithium primary leak on me. Is there any significant difference between the two as far as probability of leakage?

I got some industrial alkaline C cells that’s are long expired but still have juice that haven’t leak yet. Maybe industrial doesn’t prone to leak as much?

From what I have seen surfing around over the years, both are very, very rare.
Energizer ultimate lithium is guarateed not to leak under normal use, for what ever that’s worth.
I kind of understand your dilemma with having so many different people using the stove and maybe a couple having to change the batteries.
From what you have said, I believe the safest bet would be to go with a couple (encase one gets misplaced) D cell adapters and the 3 AA lithium’s.
Buy a bunch of batteries placing them in a handy place like a drawer and leave a note inside the D cell adapter that says replacements in the drawer.

…and a box of matches.

Since it’s really hard to order only one, multiple AA-D adapters, probably hanging on the wall behind the stove with the blister pack of spare AAs is the current plan. Thanks for all your suggestions.

Gotcha covered. Wooden match dispenser on the wall, and multiple long-neck lighters.

Thanks, all.

Or howbow one of those fireplace lighters?

https://www.google.com/search?q=fireplace+lighter

When the pilot doesn’t always light the gas jets, those come in handy.