Seeing that old Eveready reminded me of this old ad a friend once sent me.

http://videokarma.org/attachment.php...1&d=1329332049

aw,, as someone who has lost a dog, that is a very sad picture. But a great advert for sure. :tresbon:

My Programmable Thermostat blanked out on me this morning and started flashing "Low Batteries"
I had forgotten it even had batteries in it!

Popped it open and changed them out, they were Duracells but they weren't leaking, just tired.

Just dug out my old trusty micronta cat. no. 22-214 multimeter from over 20 years ago!I forgot i even had it and still had the original batteries in it! no signs of leakage that i can tell. The 9v. still has about a volt left on it....:D

Let us not forget about these batteries either.....LOL http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/...tches_fire.php

Hi Guys,

Let me share my experience.

Having a lot of battery powered equipment in my collection, transistor radios, micro-TVs & test gear, non-leaking power packs have always been a worry for me.

10 years ago, i switched all to Ni-Mh rechargeables. I was very happy, no leakage, but as they loose 80% of the initial charge after 3 months, most demos ended up with swapping batteries at demo time.

Since a couple of years i have swapped 1st generation Ni-Mh batteries for the newer 2nd generation sold as pre-charged and which keep their charge up to 80% of nominal after one year even if unused. These are a Godsend for the collector. Also, more importantly, none have leaked (so far).

I now differentiate according to use:
Collector items: 2nd generation Ni-Mh

Heavy duty frequent use such as LED flashlights: highest A/h rating classic Ni-Mh.

Very long term "forget when changed" items (remote controls, test gear): Lithium.

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

Oops.. forgot to take the batteries out of this remote. Found it today on a shelf with the obsolete stand-alone Sears Closed Caption Decoder it goes with.

Good ol' RadioShack "Enercell" alkalines.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...2&d=1329956934

Ed, I would consider that CC decoder as an interesting collectible item itself. If I remember right, Sears may have been the only seller of stand-alone caption decoders. Their original one had rotary tuning knobs but yours is obviously a newer one with remote control.

I just found this Eveready in a VTVM. Still reading 1.4 volts and powers the meter just fine. When was the last time a D cell sold for 25 cents? Also has the leak damage replacement flashlight guarantee printed on the side. Pretty cool how manufactures -use- to care about the integrity of their product.

I lost a cat last year, so I do concur but it is a good picture.

Almost didn't catch these in time. Couple of Maxell-AA leakers in my Fenix LED L2P flashlight! Had to use a piece of wood dowel to force one of these out. Got to check these things occasionally. Flashlight was still working fine, no indication the batteries were failing. (Scratch Maxell off the list, as a good reliable battery.)

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...1&d=1374583698

Eveready, back in the Zn-Carbon days, used to guarantee that if their
battery leaked and ruined your anything they would replace, repair, or refund.

One seriously damaged an unusual scientific instrument of mine and they
insisted on trying to repair it, though it looked hopeless, and I had expected
them to renege. So I shipped it to them, expecting a renege anytime.

But it came back, untested, looking repaired, cleaned up and several
parts replaced. I turned it on and it worked fine for another 15 years.
(This was not a battery powered device ... the battery was a bias
gizmo floating at some high voltage.) I was amazed.

Doug McDonald

Made in China.......
Watch out for high current NiMH cells (especially AA). They may be counterfeit low current relabels!
Also, had a radio come in for repair the other day. The customer had "Sunbeam" batteries in it. No corrosion but the top of the battery recessed into the cylinder and no longer made contact. Never saw that before...

Two of my mom's remotes were ruined by leaking batteries. Both just suddenly quit as I recall. Next thing we know, a lot of extra effort was required to remove the battery covers. No more alkaline batteries in her remotes, or in my remotes that actually use batteries. Lithium only. It's a wonder that the expired-last-year Energizer alkalines that came with my 1982 RCA remote when I got it in May not only hadn't leaked, but still worked. Even so, they have been removed.

Oh yes, Lithium Ion as used in laptops and such can be nasty when something goes pear-shaped with them. Apple was the first to experience the combustible aspects of LiIon cells when they chose them for the infamous PowerBook 5300 (they switched to NiMH before it was released), and just about every other laptop manufacturer has had to deal with their flammable nature as well (not to mention Boeing with their infamous 787 Dreamliner!). I got lucky with my own MacBook Pro last year, turned it on, and saw that the battery indicator had a red 'X' over it. Looked at the bottom of the case, and saw that the top of the battery cover had swelled up quite a bit! :yikes: After some online research, I brought it to the Apple Store, and took it to their 'Genius Bar'. The guy took a look at the swollen battery, took a new one off the shelf, installed it in place of the defective one, showed me that the computer still worked, and sent me on my way. Say what you will about Apple, but they offer great customer service! :yes:

As far as other batteries go, I've had to deal with the effects of cells being left in old devices all the time. It's usually fatal to old-fashioned LED wristwatches, as the resulting corrosion eats away the battery terminals, or otherwise damages the circuitry. Got lucky with another Apple computer I have, a Lisa 2, where the internal NiCd 5-AA pack corroded a little, but not enough to destroy the board. Haven't been so lucky with my Korg Poly 800 synthesizer, which had a set of batteries left in it at one time, and suffered corrosion on the circuit board. This has led to several lingering issues, including damaged circuit traces, and a myriad of circuitry glitches. To that effect, whenever I come across a battery-powered gizmo at a yard sale/flea market/swapmeet, I always open the battery compartment to look for signs of battery corrosion. If I find any, I often don't buy the thing unless I'm sure it can be repaired.
-Adam

One VERY good reason NOT to pursue batteries with energy densities exceeding 500w/h. per pound....if something goes wrong....a LOT of instantaneous energy is released...very rapidly...BOOM!!

Only ones I haven't had leak so far (give'em time) are some Sunbeam alkalines I bought at Big Lots maybe 2 years ago. Two in another Fenix flashlight I have I checked last night after finding these Maxells leaking, Sunbeams still look perfect, at least a year older than the Maxells that leaked.

Hi to all,

When i mentioned Lithium cells in remote controls, i meant Lithium use-once non rechargeable batteries, AA & AAA sizes.

Rechargeable Li-Ion or Li-Po(lymer) are an entirely different animal.

Also Li-Ion & Li-Po have a nominal 3.7V/cell voltage whereas Lithium non-rechargeables follow the standard 1.5V/cell pattern.

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France

That's what I use, non-rechargeables. Good to know that the rechargeables should be avoided though. Oops, just realized, it's not just the chemical composition that's different, they're entirely different.

Had that happen with a Mag-Lite flashlight recently, using cheap "Ultralast" alkalines. The flashlight took a tumble, and became intermittent. Thought I'd broken something within the flashlight, but when I took out the batteries, the tabs on top of the Ultralast D-cells had been pushed in (not all the way, but definitely noticeable). Put in a fresh set of batteries, and the flashlight started working correctly again.
-Adam

I bought a package of DieHard batteries (AAA) at Kmart one day. There were 10 in the pack.

I used 4 of them, and the next time I needed batteries, I found that the other 6 had burst. I looked at the 4 I had used in remotes, and found that even though the remote still worked, they had burst, too.

I'm not too happy about this, as one of the remotes is very old, and loaded with functions that are not on the machine it is controlling!! You know this problem.

My One Touch/Animas Ping insulin pump is Energizer Lithium/Duracell/Energizer alkaline AA battery only. This device gets Energizer Lithium AA only.

I still have an original 1980s radio shack 9v that was in an RC Car remote, the battery was still reading about 8.6v when I found it.

No wonder, that would be an expensive loss.

There's a small box of batteries on my bench that are either dead or were old and removed as a precaution, I have been meaning to get rid of them. One of them *just* took a puke. The fizzling sound startled me.

It would be a very, very expensive financial hit. Thousands of dollars worth. That is also why it is carried on the station insurance on the technical equipment.

Speaking of batteries.

Went to pick up my modern tube receivers remote today, and noticed it was dead. It worked last night.

Went to go check the batteries, and nearly dropped it on the table when I saw this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...a.jpg~original

I saw that, and quickly realized, I need to check my remotes before THIS happens now.. The batteries expire next year..

I recall a local fundraiser being held to buy someone an insulin pump. The family wasn't rich, but they weren't exactly poor either. Like seeing eye dogs, they ought to be free of charge to those in need. I don't understand the station insurance on the technical equipment bit.
I say ditch alkaline altogether. They can go bust regardless of expiration date, even the "better" ones.

I have had exactly the same thing happen to my equipment.

First, we all have many more items that are battery operated. So, we have more opportunity to that corrosion.

I have had every brand of battery exhibit the problem. It started with Eveready batteries. They still had two years on the use by date. They corroded and ruined my Nikon Speed Light, not a cheap item. No real indication that something was going on since it still worked... a little.

Next, I don't see the battery companies even coming close to offering to replace anything caused by corrosion.

Last, one common denominator in all of the battery issues... China. Made cheaper = much higher profit for the battery companies...

That makes sense. The common denominator for almost all electronic equipment. I suppose lithium batteries aren't made there. There's one kind of equipment that will probably never be made in China though: medical equipment. Imagine the lawsuits because of crappy Chinese equipment breaking and killing patients whose lives depend on the stuff.

Made in U.S.A.
 

Been using "Made in U.S.A." D and 9V "Duracell Procell" batteries the past few years, and so far no leak problems. Various dealers on Amazon sell these. Pretty impressive life I've noticed with the D cells. I have a Sangean portable radio that uses D cells and they last a long time in that radio, pretty sure longer than any other alkaline D cells I've tried. Have not tried the AA batteries though.

http://www.videokarma.org/attachment...1&d=1378662550

Ah you have one that was STILL MADE GOOD!!

Ya I have had some batteries leak,what a mess they make in the battery compartment!!

I find that 9 volt batteries rarely leak. I saw a remote with corrosion on the battery terminals, but other than that, nothing.

That might well arise from the inner construction - many 9v batteries contain 6 AAAA cells within, so if those leak, there's still the outer "shell" to contain the mess.

Good enough for me. I had an alkaline 9-volt backup battery go dead in an alarm clock earlier this year, but no mess. The 9-volt lithiums I see would probably be overkill. I have some remotes that use 9-volt batteries. One theory of mine is that they could be made to more stringent standards (the outer shell) because of their use in smoke detectors.

Conveniently on-topic episode of EEVBlog today for those interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9JGfoLxVCo

...

The off-brand batteries that came with my and my mom's DVD players, I threw them out without even removing the plastic wrapping. Wouldn't even trust them for testing. My '87 Trinitron remote came with off-brand batteries, and my '82 RCA remote came with Energizer alkalines that had technically expired the year before. Fortunately, they hadn't leaked, and actually still worked. Tossed them anyway.
Looks like I'll be using Duracell 9-volt batteries from now on.

Speaking of leaky newer batteries again. My bluetooth keyboard for my Mac, it's got exploded AAA's in it. These are the same batteries it came with, a year and a half ago (Logitech brand, and OEM Duracell's).

:( Damn.

While stocking shelves at the thrift shop today, I discovered a remote with a single battery left in it that had leaked somewhat. Of course I turned it back in rather than putting it out on the floor.

I had a bad experience with a sealed nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) battery pack recently. The pack is used with my 2-meter FM hand held transceiver (Yaesu FT-207R); recently I found corrosion around the battery terminals in the radio as well as what appears to be electrolyte leakage around the terminals of the battery pack itself. The battery had not been used for quite a while (months or even a year or more). I'm afraid to try to charge it for fear of the thing exploding and wrecking the radio, or worse. :eek: