immediately after pressing the button. The discharge rate of a weak battery is a curve tending rapidly toward zero voltage from an initial max voltage, max being lower and lower as the charge available in the cell(s) gets weaker.
In other words, the instant you press the button, the most possible current will flow and start dropping rapidly toward zero.
More than likely the contacts on the switch are dirty or worn out, and (weak battery or strong) no current whatsoever is flowing, the circuit is still open. By holding the button down for some length of time, you are hoping that the minor variations in pressure or the extreme amounts of pressure placed on the switch when you really mash on the poor thing make the contact finally work and allow the switch to close and complete the circuit.
Best bet, clean the switch circuit traces and the bottom of the rubber dingus that does the moving and contacting. And change the batteries.
Oh, and for those of the Daylight Savings Time persuasion (North Americans for certain) don't forget to switch your clocks back an hour AND CHANGE THE BATTERIES IN YOUR SMOKE ALARMS THIS WEEKEND.
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