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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Testing 7 different brands of AA Alkaline batteries in two different configurations over 10 months to see if they leak. Duracell, Energizer, Varta, Panasonic, Fujitsu,
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Now I'm thinking that the best test might be some small $2 farting novelty gadget that takes two AA's that has a small standby current. I could get dozens of these on AliExpress and run various combinations.
Product recommendations?
And perhaps, rather than run different brands, take the most notorious brand (Duracell) and just test those to discover the best mechanism for leakage FIRST, before testing all the brands?
I was thinking one of those solar lights with a joule thief circuit. That way you have all the worst conditions. Most die in months due to the battery rotting away any exposed metals.
Maybe some cheap wireless doorbell that will have a really small standby current ?
@@Mr.Unacceptable These are based on YX8018, they do not have that low of a working voltage. Three batteries in series might be a bit wasteful... You probably want something that can go diode low...
Would you stick a lithium battery in mix I have never had one leak and they are the only battery type I use in my test gear. Something like the energiser ultimate lithium battery’s
Non contact voltage probe?
The problem is that the cells are not in something valuable. Put them in a $100 meter and they will leak in no time.
This, and old pinball machines.
Something forgotten, high value, stored on concrete floor, in the bottom box in a stack of boxes.
Duracells took out my 121GW :(
Needs to be in something that is no longer manufactured and is therefore irreplaceable.
@@erlendse calm down satan
Murphy's Law dictates batteries will only leak in expensive equipment
Steve Taylor Only leak, not power it?
You mean "...leak only in expensive equipment."
I had them leak in a volt meter, scale, remote control, flashlight, a light that you place on your head with straps, pretty much anything that takes AA or AAA batteries. They lead even if they haven't been installed yet.
I put lithium primary batteries in my multi meters and anything else that does a lot of sitting and has a stupid screw in the battery cover. Because they will never leak.
@elnubnub really ?! You aren't a service engineer, are you ?....otherwise you would know better
I dunnno... I had some of these Chinesium Duracells leak on me IN STORAGE.
Maybe Murphy has two parts here, the second of which is "The battery will have leaked if you're down to your last 4 cells and it's 1:00am"
Anecdotally, I've had a significantly higher percentage of Duracells leak than other brands. Interestingly I've had the original Eastman Kodak alkaline AA cell in my alarm clock (Timex Indiglo) for the past ~25 years and it still works just fine. I just checked and it's down to 1.32 volts. The clock obviously has an extremely low current draw!
Wow, calculate the effective self discharge % rate on that for comparison...
@@EEVblog [edited to add more detail:] It's something like half a percent per year. And that's not even just self-discharge: that cell has been powering the clock continuously that whole time, including the transflective LCD and most of that time the alarm 5 days a week. I use the "Indiglo" EL backlight semi-frequently. I'm blown away by both the clock and the AA cell.
Hah... I used to work for Kodak and recently found a box of about 30 AA Kodak batteries from at least 1993, that was the date on the order ticket still in the box. They are all good (above 1.48v) and put 12 of them in my game camera and its been humming away for 3 weeks.
This. I use Duracell Procell for work. Around 100 a year. They are terrible for leaking. I use them because the performance/price is good but jeez you need to keep an eye on them.
There is a battery in the CPU section of my HP8566B spectrum analyser that has a date code on 1990 I believe. When I measured it in circuit last year it was still at its full marked voltage. It is soldered in circuit but I decided not to change it because it has no sign of corrosion and I'm not totally sure that a newer one would be any better. You can still buy the exact same battery on DigiKey even today.
I have noticed over the years (decades, actually) that single cells tend not to leak but when 2 or more are in series that the most-negative terminal will start to leak first. Vinegar works really well at cleaning up the crusty Potassium Carbonate crystals (followed by a weak Sodium Bicarbonate solution to neutralize the acid of the vinegar). A tiny smear of petroleum jelly on the negative end will help stop the corrosive welding (but don't get the jelly all over the place--it is slightly conductive). Silicone grease also works but is more expensive (and non-conductive, so that's good). Find it in the plumbing section. I've had the best luck (lack of leaks) with Panasonic batteries.
it says on the label; may leak if charged, that's why a single cells don't leak because it can't recharge itself. If there's another cell or if the electronics can hold charges then it will recharge the weaker battery, hence causing it to leak.
That is, may be, partially true but not sure I have lost couple of my Logitech wireless mouse due to rusted battery in it and this mouse uses only one battery. but believe it or not, all of them were Duracell which leaked badly and I have been using Energizer since then. It's a typical issue one just can't predict. May be if the product stays idle and not moving for long time then it leaks perhaps ? yes of course battery chemistry could be the main reason. It's always disturbing when you find your costly gadget is destroyed due to battery leakage.
i built a 2-transistor joule thief once that made single cells leak without fail. ...it might be theyre just more resilient to it.
Which doesn't explain leaking battery still wrapped in the retail package.
Every occasion where a battery has leaked on me has been a Duracell that I can remember. I don't know why I still use them. Anecdotal I know, but my sample size is a good ten or fifteen occasions, 100% Duracell.
Edit: Can you measure the current draw in your probe, or a remote control?
Duracell has a giant ad dollar dump too and tries to 1-up their competition. Oops! 🤭
Duracell's 100% guaranteed to destroy anything you put them in in my extensive experience.
He has already reported anecdotal evidence of batteries leaking unconnected in their separate packaging. Though slow that may be the appropriate load for alkaline leakage.
Until you start buying another brand, you're only ever going to get duracells leaking 😉
@@2lefThumbs You slowly learn your lesson over the years as you stumle across TV remote's and such that have had their insides destroyed. Duracell never used to be this bad. I'd say this is simply the ols' bait and switch - live on your past name but sell a much, much shitier product.
Perhaps drained too quickly? No charge = no leak? All of my leaks have occurred during standby, which should much less than 50mA.
Yes, I mentioned that. I was too impatient with this test and was hoping for a quicker result.
@@EEVblog I also belive that a much slower discharge rate might be the key. I remember the TV remote control of my grandparents. They used counterfeit Duracells that were sitting in that control for two years and had grown some spectacular crystal structures. You have to imagine, they only used the remote control to switch the TV on/off and make it louder once a day. If you integrate that current, you have a very low discharge rate.
But I think that short bursts of about 20mA should do the trick. I imagine a non uniform electrolyte in the battery at that burst, that has to uniform by molecular changes (cycling of the stuff inside). (I'm absolutely no battery expert but it sounds logical to me).
Also: keep up the good work :)
@@EEVblog And I was too impatient to wait for the end of the video before I commented. :) Sorry about that.
Duracell procell that's supposed Industrial battery for Duracell leaks all the time. I'm talking about if you leave your flashlight on within two days you'll have liquid coming out of it. I'm not kidding. I'd be more than happy to send you a brand new box of them for a test. USA Michigan.
@@jim9930 Want to try that again in English? 🤔
I still remember the era when Duracell was the one and the only battery make if you want to get the best. Other makes started marking of the best before date but Duracell didn’t because they were so good. I took care of TV companys waste batteries over 20 yrs ago and really don’t remember any leaks even when we had a huge metal barrel of used Duracells (Procells). But during last 10 or so years all the Duracells have been pure s**t. Some cheapos can be of much better quality.
mattikaki Your experience was likely before Procter&Gamble bought Gillette, thus Duracell.
They switched production to China. Energizer has been top since!
At least they paid for the replacement of my destroyed MagLite 2xAA from the 1990s...
"made in China" thats explain everything
dexter1981 Well, not everything. Chinese people can build extremely high quality products if the proper quality controls are in place.
But usually, stuff made in China is due to a cost-cutting measure by the company, and QC is expensive. Result : QC is reduced, or left to the chinese subcontractor. Seeing the possibility of better profits, he changes the recipe in his favor, cutting corners. Stuff becomes Chinesium.
If the QC was kept by Duracell with USA employees, the product would be as great as USA-made. Unless, of course, the company cuts in QC.
@@ve2mrxB I believe P & G dumped Duracell on Berkshire Hathaway a couple of years ago. Now it is Warren Buffets problem My remotes that come with my cable boxes have the no-name Chinese batteries none of them have ever leaked. I had a wall clock at home that had a dead battery for about five years I finally decided to check the battery after all of my Duracell problems. The battery looked brand new but dead. It was an Energizer.
Norm475 Yes, it's no longer P&G's problem now. Hopefully they will improve. Too late for me, now it's Eneloop only. Low self discharge sealed the deal. Good for remotes and flashlights.
Wait a second... This Project Farm video has an accent...
LOVE IT
Good thing that you didn't use Lucas batteries, those things leak even with no load at all, when they're nearly brand new. The last shipment of them I got had all of the 9v's and most of the triple a batteries already leaking, just had to toss them entirely.
Lucas Prince of Darkness
Yes Duracell for me, changed 1x AA Duracell on my wall clock yesterday which ran out of battery 2 weeks ago and to my surprise it leaked. Btw this is the Duracell pack bought from Bunnings Exp Yr: 2024.
In my own experience, I have noticed alkaline batteries leak the moment they COMPLETELY lose power. I take "dead" AA batteries out of gadgets and place them in one of those cheap, two-cell holder connected to a double alternately blinking red LED circuits that can be found in many cardboard store displays. The thing will flash at full brightness and speed for weeks until eventually slowing down and stopping. Then the batteries will leak all over the place. It happens every time.
Why do you have multiple blinking LED shop displays draining batteries to their graves lying around?
@@NeuronalAxon The real question is why don't YOU have multiple blinking LED shop displays draining batteries to their graves lying around?? :D
for me it is always the batteries inside remote controls that leak. or these cheap battery powered christmas lights, especially when the device is stored in our attic for about a year. it is a very bad insulated attic, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, maybe a bit humid. in my experiance the enviromental conditions play a huge role too. i had a bunch of super cheap batteries loosly sitting in my drawer for couple of years without any problems. i think daves containers actually might have shielded the batteries from (the humidity) of the air.
Happened to my folks this year, Mom go the Christmas decorations boxes down and a few things with last years batteries left inside had all leaked even though there was a hard power switch to prevent parasitic drain.
Good one, Dave! This needs to be done! Batteries seemed to be leakproof for a spell in... when was it? 80s? 90s? Now, the much-trumpeted 'leakproof' boast has disappeared from all brands. Also, I've had batteries jam solidly in two separate D-cell Maglites, with no leakage that I could see. I wonder whether any of these batteries changed their dimensions significantly.
Ive had them leak only when they have been installed in something, like a flashlight turned off for a long time, like over a year. Ive never had them leak when not installed but only if installed even if product is switched off. I think your test should last for many months.
18:06 - Exactly, they won't normally leak if they're just sitting there unconnected (assuming there isn't a defect), they leak when they're in-circuit and there is a residual trickle current over long period of time. Unconnected batteries have sat in the container on store shelves for many years without leaking whereas batteries in unused devices quite often end up leaking in months.
What was the rate of “parasitic drain” of the instrument that wrecked the batteries you showed in the beginning? Seems like it might provide insight for the resistance to use in round 2.
Rick Olson or perhaps the Coles batteries were fully charged and the leaky ones were not?
MeppyMan the leaky ones were a year past the printed date, which superseded any other conditionings.
quiescent ?
Maybe the cells need to be kept with no load? Most I've seen leaked are in things with hard power switches.
I've never been able to see any pattern to my alkaline batt leakage experiences - except for the two times 'RS components' branded AAs leaked _neat_ KOH out, in one case leaving a wooden table with a dark 'burn' mark forever and me running to stick my fingers under a tap - nasty stuff. Other brands it seems completely random. I've read somewhere that leakage can especially occur when cell voltage < 1.0v as hydrogen can start to be produced, which pushes the internal pressure up, and etc.... dunno if this is always the case....
RS batteries were very overpriced the last time I looked and that was about 17 years ago, just for open chequebook business accounts back then, not for anyone else as the shops were cheaper for energizer etc
I remember when I was about 5 or 6 my batteries were leaking for my toy car.
So smart me at the time decided to lick the liquid to determine if it was water or leakage, I don't remember it tasting too bad or getting sick.
It was just very dumb of me lol
Leaking alkaline batteries always smell like Cheetos to me so I'm not surprised some kid tried to taste them.
Smart me didn’t get smart by not doing dumb things.
So this is why today all battery compartments of toys intended for younger kids have to be screwed in...
Batteries usually leaked after more like 5 years for me. Also, I avoid batteries and run everything on rechargeable and only use batteries the first time a device came with them.
Humidity and extreme conditions seem to be a factor in Duracell failure. Two cells in a row have leaked in a bathroom clock and a cell in a flashlight leaked in just a few months of working in a fast food place a few hours a week. The clock cells kept working even after leaking, likely from the fact that there was still a lot of electrolyte left inside them and the water in the air kept the hydrated.
In my experience time doesn't matter. Had a 36 pack of batteries that might have been a year old and after two weeks of being in an electronic candle set to turn on for five hours they would actually fail because they had been leaking.
Outer shell is connected to negative in zinc carbon batteries. Here the rod goes into zinc paste at the core of the battery and Mno2 in on the outside.
Wait I expected this to be a project farm video!
Surprisingly Project Farm just did a rechargeable battery video.
@@diesistkeinname795 Yeah, its almost as if they coordinated the releases!
I've had batteries leak inside the original packaging, not even in a device.
Duracells are famous for this.
I tried industrial grade isopropil alkohol to clean this stuff in past, it did not work at all, but tap water did work pretty well.
Remember that alkaline batteries do have an expiration date.
For interesting anectodes of batteries leaking:
- I had im my home a very old slide viewer which i recently took out to check some stuff. The batteries inside (i think 4 D type Duracell batteries, most likely expired) had leaked pretty bad. The salts formed were probably some kind of copper compound because the battery terminals were made of what looked like just sheet copper and were of two colors: some spots were of a very intense blue kind and most of the salt was the color of copper solfate. The circuit they were in was just a breaker and a small incandescent light bulb.
- Less than a year ago was about an exam at my university (electronics fundamentals) and realized right before it that my chinesium calculator wasnt working. Yes, the batteries inside (a pair of IKEA branded AA batteries) were leaking a bit. In a panic, i tried cleaning the corrosion. Nothing. I got the batteries out, went to the nearest cast iron radiator and like a caveman i scraped the battery terminals against a sharp corner. I popped them back in and they worked! I could attend to the exam. A couple of days later i checked the batteries again and sure enough they had expired in 2012. They were produced in 2007. I still have them, the negative terminal is basically destroyed and falling off, with white colored salts. When i took them off they were leaking but could still power the calculator and make it work. I should probably check the voltage now, it might be interesting.
Those fires look like they closing in on Sydney. Keep yourself and your family safe bro. Love the content. Many people make videos Like yours, but only you make watching them fun, funny and easy to understand. Great stuff. Keep it up.
I used to take care of our very expensive test equipment at a previous job, I quit using Duracell years ago because of the leak problems that occur soon after they die. Had much less problems with the Energizer but occasionally would find something with a small amount of corrosion, more to do with longer term neglect to check them than anything else. I also used to test brands against each other for capacity, heating, and fire hazard but unfortunately I don't have that information any more. Look forward to seeing your results!
Thanks for the test!!!
I have damaged my Fluke 64 MAX IR Thermometer with Panasonic AA batteries. Fortunately I was able to revive it. But it is a design problem because these IR Thermometers have no "hard" on/off switch.....so now I am looking for non leaking batteries - hence I am here :-).
I've had Duracell and Energizer brand batteries corrode when still in the package before I got around to using them, and WELL before the date listed on the package. So far, I've NEVER had a Panasonic battery corrode, and they cost significantly less than Duracell or Energizer, and last just as long.
Just before watching this I found a leaked Duracell in a wall clock. The back of the clock is open to the air so build up of any gases was not a factor here.
The leaky Duracell batteries are passed their expiration date, 2011. Is this the missing link?
When Duracell and Energizer were in their heyday in the 80s I never ever saw them leak. Only old school Rayovac 9 (with the cat) and other carbon batteries would leak.Then around the 2000s all batteries started sucking and leaking. I have had Energizer and Duracell batteries leak and damage equipment. They both used to offer guarantees where they would "repair or replace, at their option" any device damaged by the batteries.
I have heard this had to do with the 1996 law in the US that banned the use of mercury in batteries, which supposedly prevented the leakage. So the Leak Renaissance may be due to environmental regulations.
Makes you wonder if all the equipment destroyed by leaking batteries might have a larger environmental impact to replace than the removal of mercury from batteries. I don't know, but government meddling often has unintended consequences.
Cat jumping through 9 logo was Eveready, not Ray-O-Vac.
@@edwatts9890 Good point!
Indeed. Government meddling is always a negative-sum process. Every law passed takes a bit of freedom away from somebody.
Just a week ago I found a box of 40 Duracell cells. 22 had leaked (quite horribly, too). They were purchased 2014 and labelled as good/guaranteed til Dec 2023 - so much for that! I've seen similar (but lower) leakage rates with a box of 40 Fujitsu cells labelled for Jul 2019. Oddly, of the Varta cells, I've never seen one leak in packaging despite having many of similar age. My most reliable leak-causing device is a rarely-used MBT-1 battery tester. Seems to have a standby current of 50uA, with 4 cells in series.
From my own experience, these batteries tends to leak more when they're past their "best before date"
Duracell used to be good but now they always leak, sometimes when they still have enough power left to run the device. They must have changed something about a decade ago.
I have noticed leaks when they were not discharged/discharging and were just sitting unused in devices.
Every MagLite flashlight I have bought has come with Duracell batteries. Every single one of them leaked, and would usually ruin the light. I started to throw away any Duracell battery.
Maglite Flashlights/torches used to come supplied with only energizer batteries years ago, then they seem to have changed.
Some batteries would leak inside the torch/flashlight and react with /attack the aluminum metal of the torch body, fusing the end cap on with a kind of chemical weld that ruined the whole flashlight/product, the crystals would jam the screw endcap thread solid and also the aluminium would be attacked and then the resulting byproducts would eventually dry out/neutralize the leaky electrolyte from the corroded battery and that would be the end of that, using a vice and plumbers pipe pliers, spraying with WD 40, immersing in isopropyl alcohol or even gasolene, none of it would work..
The problem for maglites was the aluminium/aluminum metal being susceptible to strong alkaline salts in solution i.e battery electrolyte and also the fact that mmaglites were always popular as gifts and with the outdoor market, they were good flashlights and were big sellers at Christmas as gifts and also during summer ass gifts and as self purchases for people going camping and fishing, in between those times they could lie on shop/store shelves for months and sometimes even years and would sell in the end, the quality and reliability of maglites made them fast and popular sellers at Christmas and during summer and slower to sell at other times as they kept on working and you would have one or two each and not need more, you would put in the battery/batteries that came with it unless you were very clued up/savvy as they were included/"free" with it and those batteries could have been sitting for years with the terminals open to possibly damp/humid air and beside a damp paper instruction leaflet or cardboard insert..
Forgot to add, Maglite (mag instrument) torches were sold almost everywhere and that large supply availability coupled with the reliability was the reason surprisingly that they could still sit on store/shop shelves for quite long periods of time.
Maglite are the only torch manufacturers that I have ever seen that sell spare /replacement parts for their torches/flashlights such is/was their customer focus and ethics of supporting customers.
I remember buying a complete Maglite AA and AAA service kit with special tools, glass and plastic lenses, end caps with and without spare bulbs/lamps inside, O-rings, tailcap springs, lens holders, reflectors, multipacks of spare bulbs and the red bulb holders all inside one repair kit box from the USA, I was also able to buy wrist straps/lanyards, metal pen style pocket clips, belt pouches, complete new flashlight bodies/tubes and tailcaps with clicky on/off rubber switch buttons on the end to convert twist action flashlights to tailcap switches.
For a time Maglite also sold converter kits to change AA and AAA flashlights from incandescent bulb to LED and sold wire-in separated switches for mounting the torches as well..
(multiple edits due to mobile phone "autocorrect" changing words/causing typos)
YUp, I had a Maglight ruined with Duracell batteries.
Duracell’s leak always. But Procter and Gamble compensates you for the damage if you call them. Did that a few times because I bought 30 pack and all of them leaked.
I had Varta all blue industrial not leaking but they have so many different colors that I am unsure which one is the same as I had before...
I bought a big pack of Duracells, left them unused, fully charged in a plastic battery storage container. Every single one of them leaked after a few years (years before the 'good before' dates on the batteries) without seeing any use at all. Leaky batteries probably are just mainly manufacturing errors, impurities etc
I had a bought a gameboy printer with stable 6 Duracell batterys expiry date of 2002
I've fixed over a thousand units from battery leakage.
Take the unit apart. Clean with a wire brush, relay contact burnisher, q-tip with isopropyl alcohol on ALL of the plastic and metal parts.
Add flux paste, tinn the spring and plate with a good amount of solder. Then I use Chemwic. Clean again with the alcohol and the contacts are Good As New.
Added: If they are soldered to a circuit board, desolder from the board first and then you can easily repair with a Helping Hands holder or mini vice. This method will prevent the traces from overheating from soldering and wicking process.
You might try battery holders that have tighter tolerances, with a strong spring so it's difficult to put the battery in or take it out. I seem to notice correlation between tight holders and leaking batteries. Perhaps the constant compression breaks a seal?
Cool. I would have expected at least some to leak. Maybe heat would help. Here in Texas leaving stuff in a car is bad news. The temperature can get to 140 to 150F pretty quick in the summer. (60-66C). Plastic cases warp and melt. Hot glue drips out. Dash cams stop working. You could leave the test boxes in the back of a vehicle or in a storage shed that isn't air conditioned.
The control module in many gas appliances only uses 100uA when powered and running. I see blown batteries in those all the time. Duracell is one of the worst from my observation. Remotes also draw very tiny current when in standby. Remotes are more prone to leaks, probably due to their proximity to living beings producing high amounts of CO2. Gas appliance modules are usually down low at the bottom of the case where the heaviest gasses reside...co2.
That "seal" on the Fujitsu is actually a short circuit preventative plastic washer. And most Fujitsu alkaline batteries are not made in Japan, they're made in Indonesia.
It looks like most of them were in a +/- balanced pair, even the symmetrical ones but just a few mV. The last pair looked to be +/- 300 mV though.
Leaked Cells in you probe: March 2018 so lots of time to work past the seal. But cells leak tested still in date.
Duracells used to be really good years ago, Duracells seem to leak nowadays and I think they maybe changed the formulation or internal makeup of the batteries, I've had full packets of new unused Duracells batteries with 5 and 6 years to go on their use by dates where the whole packet has leaked before opening, ive also been sitting in a quiet room and heard the seeking sounds and had a new packet with 2 or 3 batteries squeeking/venting at the same time.... straight into the recycling collection bin/recycling trash can..
The spread of brands we used to have, have disappeared over the last 10 years and we are left with Duracells and energizer mostly on the shelves of the stores..
A bit of looking a rounded gets varta batteries, they apparently got taken over by energizer recently?
There's LidL and aldi branded grocery store ones in the UK (made in Germany)
Not so many generics outside of supplied in New TV remotes/toys with most flashlights/torches now coming with Chinese or USA made Duracells inside/packaged beside them.
Interestingly depending where you shop in the UK the Duracells are made in- the USA, China, Malaysia, Indonesia or Belgium, the energizers are made in Switzerland, the USA, Japan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia...
Supermarket brand ones are made mostly in china..
I think I will go to Costco and pick up some of the Kirkland ones, I think they are made in the USA and might be quite good..
There's alkaline batteries and lithium batteries, hardly ever see zinc chloride ones apart from when I was in the usa where they were common, they were really for clocks and television remotes..
There don't seem to be many rechargeable ones for sale nowadays in retail stores which makes me think its partly due to the retailers wanting return customers and also the chemicals being phased out/reduced/semi banned..
I watched the previous video 👍
Thanks for the great update David
Does anybody remember when energizer used to be called everready energizer and before that they were black and gold coloured batteries that were called Everready Gold seal?
You could buy packs with 1 or 2 as opposed to today's packs of 4,6 (4+2 free and 10) many led torches/flashlights take 3 AAA cells 🙄
I also remember when varta used to sell 4 packs in waterproof sealed heatshrink with the paper label tucked inside, as did Panasonic, and Panasonic used to sell in completely plastic heat sealed/heat welded retail clip strip/blister pack "carded" shelf hook hanger packets, which were quite handy as they were waterproof packets and good for long term camping/damp area storage...
Forgot to add, I was wondering, does anybody think that some manufacturers pulled out of battery making due to the changing policies in environmental rules/factory site standards/pollution release regulations? Also I wonder how many single use battery makers pulled out of the market to change over to making rechargeable "inbuilt" batteries for tablet computers, mobile phones and portable technology? perhaps some far east manufacturers changed to concentrating on this market/outlet with all the gadgets made out there in recent years..
Could the absorbtion of dampness/moisture in the air together with possibly paper processing chemical residues or the ink used in the box/packet artwork hasten/speed up the demise of new and unused /unopened packets of batteries? (through the conductivity of damp cardboard retail packaging or the slimline cardboard boxes that the "industrial" variations are sold /stored in)
I am thinking this because since the fully plastic battery packaging mostly disappeared and the plastic film top blister packs (with cardboard back but with the battery terminals top and bottom covered by the plastic film) also disappearing, leaking unused batteries straight from the packet are a much more common occurance even in "good" as per the recommendations storage conditions...
Damp cardboard packaging from just dday to day humidity/air moisture, acidic paper used in the cardboard, salts and bleaching agents used in the processing/manufacture of the paper/cardboard and the chemicals involved in the box printing process may all come together to form a kind of acidic or alkaline (depending on the paper processing) semi wet mat/cloth or even paste that may act as an electrolyte conductor and could start the discharge and corossion/crystal growing process leading to degredation/failure/leakage..
Just a thought, it could partly be attributable to/due to the packaging used these days?
A change to the paper/cardboard used in the biodegradable packaging could help, coating with a fine wax on the inside and/or gluing the box together in two distinct halves, the hot glue (which could be vegetable or natural wax based) could act as a dielectric/insulator and reduce instances of terminal to terminal electron flow by being sufficiently insulating on its own and by also acting to hold a small/thin air gap between the two halves of the cardboard box if they should become wet/damp and hopefully stop the cardboard from becoming a wet conductive mat/electrolyte wick between the battery terminals..
IKEA's own brand rechargeable LiMh AAA/AA/9V cells are pretty good for the price IMO.
At least all cells are steel-jacketed nowadays. When I was a youngster the batteries had only cardboard jackets over the zinc case and one that was pierced the electrolyte spilled out and ate away the rest of the equipment, usually a bicycle lamp or torch. But in the 70s the company I worked with had a lot of expensive portable test equipment which ran on "dry" (i.e. non-rechargeable) batteries. Several were destroyed by technicians not removing the batteries before storing the instruments over the summer months.
3 new Sony aaa and one led, little candle lamp, leaked after 3 weeks when it was still working, not great but also, not dead battery. Put in unbranded but, 2 grams heavier, still burn like new, 2 months later. Now I saw the unused Sony battery, it came from a 4 pack, leaking on my “ expensive “ table 😳 😬. Happy New Year ✨🎁💫 from Belgium 🇧🇪.
The batteries that said "may leak" referred to what might happen if you attempt to recharge the batteries. On the back of the batteries from Coles it said not to handle leaking batteries with exposed skin.
Stack `em to decrease their ohmage across their open terminals , I learn it`s usually the middle ones as the end ones weaken n take reverse charge similar to how they place in satellite to prevent and lessen leak. In fox hunt tx er`s double duty in middle must be on also i see laptop batterise have program to center batteries.
every 10 degree lower temp (in large unsealed box) will result in a 2 fold lower chemical rate, try smaller space, insulated and lower load !
You seriously just appended the new footage in the end of the old one? :D I think a single link to that video would have been enough. Only small cuts here and there, but I can run the two videos parallel :D
I have this old Eveready 412 Bettery, it come from an old multimeter from my old School, and the teacher put the date on it and it said 25-7-80. It has no signs of leakage at all, it may even have a bit of voltage charge left? it is a real old school looking batter and has union carbide on it.
Maybe find out how your high voltage probe pulls power from the batteries first, as both have died there(?) And maybe you need 2good+2used ones with higher voltage difference between the good and the used ones(?)
I recently pulled out a Duracell AA battery from an old calculator. The date on the battery said best before 2001 and it has probably been in the calculator since 1999. It had 1.35 Volts and it still worked fine! I'm not saying Duracell are generally awesome, though. I generally wouldn't trust any battery for more than ~3 years.
The worst experience I had was with some Chinese brand battery that came with a little pocket flashlight. It heavily leaked after just three or four months and it totally destroyed the battery contacts in the back of the flashlight, doesn't work anymore.
by the way I haven't bought any Duracell or other big brand name batteries for a long time. I generally buy the discounter brand from Aldi (Germany) because independent tests have shown more than once that these are really good. Haven't had a complaint for many years. Still wouldn't trust them for more than ~3 years.
@EEVblog Dave, I had a Streamlight 4AA led flashlight, If we let this flashlight run 4 to 6 hours, the flashlight will run hot, and you let it rest a few weeks and used it for an other 6 to 8 hours and get hot. Usualy that when one of the batteries will leak. Now one thing I've notice with a 4 cell flashlight, one batterie next to the led head, will be always be drainned compared to the three others. Now I think you find something with the half drain battery that does reverse it's polarity.
Now with the flashlight I mentionned, we do get some batteries leaking. Now what if the reverse polarity cause this issus in the first place in a 4 cell compartment. And the funny thing it's not the weak battery that will leak, it's always the battery before the last one who is the weakest (drained) in series that does leak. I think you should do this experiment again with a good load. Flashlight should give you the proper load to do this test with a 4 cell batteries power. Hope this gives you a the solution to the problem. Oh one more idea: Counterfit brands batteries will leak even if they are fully charged and look like the original.
Where is the result of this video? Which batteries leaked the fastest? I've watched Part 2 and Part 3 and in none of those do you actually give the result of this original experiment. I am a physical science teacher in Florida and I am trying to show my students this but I can't find the final video. Please advise.
Should just test the standby current draw of the high voltage probe and replicate that.
Duracells seem to leak constantly in anything i put them in, the generic shop brands seems to be much better .
What about putting batteries in the freezer for long term storage ? Your thoughts.....🔦
Are you Sure it’s not a temperature thing. When things leak on me there normally buried in a drawer with a small load. Cheap 2way radios tell to do it well.
A couple months ago I opened a remote that had some energizers from 2005 or so, they both leaked all over.
All you need is an aluminum bodied flashlight... like a $35 Maglite or similar.... the aluminum flashlights are almost guaranteed to make batteries leak it seems... it is to the point that I don't leave batteries in them anymore... I've got about 6 or 7 of them that the batteries leaked in them.
I find remotes are the worst. For another data point, suspiciously coincidentally 30 minutes before seeing the notification of this video, I pulled out some Altronics supplied Nexcell AAA that were leaking in our Daikin AC remote.
I don't recall how many small flashlights I have had to toss out when the 3 AAA cells leaked inside. No current draw for either the Duracell or Energizer. They were off and sitting in a drawer for about 3 to 4 years. I don't know how discharged they were prior to being stored.
Uni-T, UT513 Insulation Resistance Test Apparatus Is it used in the ability to measure the ground voltage?
Some new batteries in my battery bin have corroded from just sitting in the bin unused.
I'm guessing that the half discharged cells from the big name brands were more effective at collecting reverse charge, and thus when you got to a equal magnitude reverse voltage, the net output was zero and you went steady state.
Am I missing something: How could the fully-charged cell attempt to charge the partially-discharged one if they are wired up in series? If wired in parallel, then I can see it trying to pull up the voltage of the partially-charged cell, and thus reverse-charge it. Also be interesting to see if you could get low-self discharge NiMH batteries to leak.
You need to over discharge to 0.5v per cell and then you needed to do high Amp about 2 C or 4 C rate and you need use faster 15min to 1H faster with 6.4A change and or 8A so the problem is you can recharge then but the result I got was 100 cycles with low capacity of 100 mah of 1200 mah capacity aa batteries Abe I had 300 mah and some 650 .ah but 960 mah and 1300mah so far the problem is they've not do More than 100 ma to 250 ma to 900 ma drain or the batteries get hot to touch with hands and results resistance was 100 and 400 and 237 and 700 and 900 so I still thinking they hold the capacity but 1 has high self discharge 1.28v after 2- 19 maybe hours 1.0v
Try to keep them in a dark, slightly humid environment.
Leaking GP alkaline AAA batteries killed my Agilent multimeter one day. Luckily I change it for a brand new one under warranty the damaged multimeter still had by the time. So I buy Energizer made in the USA only after the case. I blindly believe that it prevents me from any further leaks.
My experience is typically it takes about a year and a half for batteries to leak so your 8 months is cutting a perfectly good test way too early.
I agree a lot of the failures are in expensive things that have low current draws. TV remotes, meters, calibrators, DMM, etc.
We used to get our batteries at Costco, the large Duracrap flats of batteries, but virtually every Duracrap we've gotten in the past couple of years has rotted. Last we bought them there were 4 of the AAs rotting in the flat and we ran thru packs in about 8 months. No excuse!
I seems that Duracell changed something in their recipe about 5 years ago because they used to be one of the least leaky batteries and then suddenly they're the most leaky.
On a strange note the 'cheap-O' weird throw-in batteries found in new products I've never seen leak. I've had them for multiple years in products and they finally go stone dead and still don't leak. I've recently been coveting them because of this.
I've gone to the EverReady Lithium ones with 10 year shelf life and really like them.
I always found that the Duracell Industrial (red top) batteries leaked like a bitch compared to the regular Duracells (copper top). They also seemed to have much lower capacity for their supposedly intended industrial use compared to the regular ones.
EEVBlog: the questions everyone wants to know but didn't know they wanted to.
After watching this video, I checked some batteries and found a leaking Duracell inside a rarely used remote control. All others are zinc-carbon type. In fact, I've found that this brand is the only one available here for alkaline batteries. And many of them leaked even inside the original package. That's why I abandoned the use of alkaline batteries.
Why don't you connect the Probe you have to a PSU, measure the power consumption and then redo the test with that Information?
A few years ago, I did a capacity test with my Pico scope, comparing the generic Jaycar to energizer AAs.
Turns out, the Jaycar brand were slightly better...
Speaking of the bounce test for checking the state of a battery, I used to have to argue with someone at my last job over whether or not a battery was dead. They would use the bounce test to try and prove the battery I had was fine and they didn't need to give me a new one (this person also controlled the company's supply of AA batteries and was a bit stingy with them). I would always have to point out that an actual voltage measurement (and the fact the device, in this case a wireless mouse, wouldn't power on at all) showed that the battery was in fact quite dead.
i wish you got different batches from different retailers, because one batch doesnt really prove too much.
They do always seem to leak in your expensive test equipment and not the cheap throw away stuff. lol
I've done a similar experiments with batteries.Just a bit more in dept.
Try putting a 1/2 dead generic Alkaline and a fully charged "name brand" Alkaline battery in the same circuit. After about 1 month the "name brand" battery should spew it's guts out and the generic battery will be in perfect condition and most likely fully charged.
For my collection of vintage calculators and pocket computers (can you have too many hp48 ?) or instruments/meters, I avoid Duracell particularly, and sometimes alkalines altogether and prefer to use Ni-MH rechargeables to avoid damage by leaks. Long shelf lives and not mixing batteries matter for sure, but I have found alkaline batteries reverse charging even though they'd come from the same pack.
A couple thoughts: maybe the mixing battery types really matters, or maybe voltage matters, such that 6V is much, much more likely to cause the problem. 🤷🏻♂️
Perhaps a more confined space and no light exposure?
How about trying those flat ones back inthe holders but with a small resistance connected across? Once one leaks in a device maybe the crystals then form a conductive path futher discharging others and causing more leakage? Maybe being discharged plus actual cell age in years plays a part and yours are still too new. Further testing needed I think.
after charge alkalime batteries, then they usualy leaks. alkaline batteries can be charged, but then they can leak.
Maybe the boxes are too big so the gas concentration can't get high enough to build up crystals
Bounce test ?? OMG that blew my mind
Well, has it something to do with dark and maybe a bit moist places?
Somehow it looks to me at least that the batteries that are in a box with other stuff that is just 'stored' in a bit more moist (so normal here) environment together with other batteries will leak the most. That includes batteries which are new in packaging in the same box...
Also a lot of times batteries that are in my bicycle-bags so have been moved a lot but still in origiginal packaging. There seems to have to be a 'starter cristal' or something like that to really make it start to leak. Maybe the movement of the chemicals inside the batteries, temperature-fluctiations and/or air-pressure that cause the seals to start to 'vent' some gas that in time corrodes around the small opening and makes the chemicals run out. If there is one, many times more in the same box, with another box next to it no problems at all... too much ventilation?
From what I've seen.. leaking correlates to age as well not just load, it's in the chemistry and according to the interwebs, will take 7-10 years to self-discharge.. with a bit of load or none at all you looking at a test which will prob take 2+ years.. I'd be interested in watching it live stream ;p
I've only witnessed leakage in devices that were shut off for a long time with batteries installed, so you'll probably get better results closer to the self-discharge rate (which would take freakin forever). Would be a cool experiment to check in on every month or so and see which batteries start to go first, but you would be a more patient man than I to pull it off haha.
How long does the reaction take for potassium hydroxide to turn to potassium carbonate, is it immediate?
I switched over to Ni-MH rechargeable and every time I need to charge them I feel good about the batteries I'm not wasting money on.
You need to remove the load after they are "flat". When they recover, the corrosion begins!
I feel like it has to be a real slow drain like a year or something and humidity probably helps and temp maybe too
Why not do the test again but a condition with the humidity been high. The moisture in the air may cause the battery to leak.