Segway wireless InfoKey Controllers use a Lithium button cell battery and many owners of Segway PTs are making a big mistake when they replace an exhausted battery with a cheap, low-quality brand. If you're paying less than $15 per battery then you're probably using the wrong brand. You'll quickly begin to damage your InfoKey's buttons, or find yourself stranded far from home. We'll explain why below. Prevent this happening and buy top quality, long-lasting Swiss-made button cell batteries direct from Segway New Zealand:

• ONE Renata CR2430 Lithium button cell battery: $25 (includes delivery and GST)
• TWO Renata CR2430 Lithium button cell battery: $40 (includes delivery and GST)
• THREE Renata CR2430 Lithium button cell battery: $50 (includes delivery and GST)

Order today by email (segwaynz@icloud.com) or call 0800 2 SEGWAY. Here's why using anything but the very best quality replacement battery will shorten the useful life of your InfoKey.

1. When the battery gets weak, the screen dims when a button is pressed, and transmission range decreases
2. Users react by pressing the button in harder and for longer (remember, only a light press is required with a good battery installed)
3. Pressing hard weakens the "spring" under the button, drastically shortening the useful life of the InfoKey
4. The "weaker" the button becomes the harder a user presses it - weakening it exponentially faster....until it no longer works at all and you need to buy a new InfoKey ($495 including GST, programming to your Segway PT's serial number, and delivery)
5. When the button stops working or as soon as the battery is too weak to transmit a command you're left stranded and unable to start up your Segway PT

We tracked down, tried and tested every brand of CR2430 we can find for sale in New Zealand. We've concluded most brands underperform when used in a Segway InfoKey. They last only a few weeks or months....sometimes, only days in cold conditions! Worse, even though they are weak in terms of transmission power, they do not trigger the 'InfoKey Controller Low Battery Icon' warning on the display, increasing the chances a rider will be left stranded without warning. This also leads users to press the button ever-harder, thinking the issue they're experiencing is about electrical switch contact rather than lack of battery power.

We found several top-tier US and Japanese brands give good performance. One indicator of top quality is 'Made in Japan' printed on the packaging. These brands can often be purchased at jewellers/watch repair stores for between $15 and $20 each. The under-performing brands are typically manufactured elsewhere in Asia, and may be a well-known "name brand" or a "chain store brand" or even an "I've never heard of that brand before brand". Prices typically range from $5 to $15. Such cells either don't work properly in Segway InfoKeys (i.e. the screen does display the time, but dims or disappears completely when a transmit button is pressed), or last only a short while. Also, because poor quality cells deliver low transmission power, the signal strength is weak. Not only is operational range annoyingly short, but it is degraded further in environments where there are high levels of radio interference from nearby transmitters using the same frequency (i.e. every WiFi hotspot and Bluetooth device within range, etc). Remember, the colder the weather, the worse any battery performs. So right now is a good time to stock up on top quality CR2430 button cells batteries for your Segway PT.