The lab timer conundrum
18 February 2026
I remember when digital watches first became a thing. I was never allowed one. Everyone who owned one was eyed with a mixture of envy and fascination. My uncle had one – a gift – and I spent an entire afternoon "testing" it. I had no idea what I was doing. By the end of the day I had somehow set the alarm to 2 am, waking him rather rudely in the middle of the night. He had no idea how to change it, so he eventually took it to a watchmaker and had the battery removed. Problem solved.
Those watches ran on tiny button batteries. Friends of mine attempted to change them, often failing spectacularly and scratching the back plate in the process. But here is the thing: those batteries lasted two years. Minimum. Often longer. In the 1980s.
Fast forward to today. 45 or so years later. The age of Artificial intelligence.
The good timer
My current favourite lab timer has a large, clear display and four separate countdown functions. Four is overkill, frankly. Two is genuinely useful. Students mostly want to use their phones these days, which would be cheaper and functionally identical, but they are not allowed: even in a containment level 1 lab, phones are not allowed because GMOs could transfer out. So we are stuck with dedicated timers. Which I think is perfectly fine.
Despite liking this particular model, I was surprised to discover I need to change its single LR44 button cell every nine months or so. How is it that a digital wristwatch with vastly more functions, running on a smaller battery, lasts well over two years, while this simple lab timer drains its power in under twelve months?
Still, I suppose nine to twelve months is manageable. After all, the display is somewhat bigger.
The problem
Lab timers have a tendency to go walkies. Some disappear deliberately. Others vanish accidentally – an experiment gets moved, the timer goes with it, everything comes back except the timer. Students occasionally drop them on hard floors, which generally results in disassembly into a very surprising number of parts. Replacements are needed.
So I bought what I thought was a slightly newer version. The numbers were smaller. Why? If at least the display was smaller this should be a good thing: less screen, less power consumption. But the display is only minimally smaller. The functionality was nearly identical, still featuring four separate timers. The first warning sign: this model requires not one but two LR44 button cells.
Well, I reasoned, two batteries plus a slightly smaller display must surely mean we are pushing towards two years of battery life.
I could not have been more wrong.
These things die constantly. Left, right and centre. I have yet to see one last six months.
And as if this is not enough, the battery compartment also does not close well. The plastic cover wobbles, even when fully closed, and I had timers turn off in the middle of counting down. Just like that. Of course, button batteries are using a metal strip as contact that acts as a weak spring, and two are enough to lift the plastic cover. Occasionally. The old one uses the round cover that needs to be screwed in tightly. This is always a bit of a nuisance. The shape indicates that you can use a coin, but this never works. But then, I bought a dedicated lab tool box a long time ago, so we have large screwdrivers available.
The environmental disgrace
Our department recently joined LEAF – the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework – by implementing substantial measures to reduce waste. Lower volumes, recycling plastics, specialist disposal for hazardous materials. It represents significant effort and genuine commitment to sustainability.
And then Fisher sells a lab timer that requires twice as many button batteries as the previous version and lasts a quarter as long.
It is absurd. Environmentally, it is indefensible. These devices generate more battery waste in six months than the older models produced in two years. And I regret to report that what I thought was a different model from SLS behaves identically. Slightly different appearance. Exactly the same battery consumption problem.
If you're considering purchasing lab timers, I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere. These particular models are, to put it mildly, not fit for purpose.
A request
If anyone reading this has found a lab timer model that actually lasts – one that might conceivably survive until March without requiring new batteries – I would genuinely appreciate recommendations. I will happily buy several. Throwing the set of current timers will produce some unnecessary plastic waste, but this should be compensated by saving dozens of LR44 batteries. Frankly, in 2026 we should be able to do better than this.