# Alkaline Battery leak prevention ?



## dydx (Dec 10, 2014)

The Pink Bunny that _"keeps on going"_ crapped in my Fenix L1D...can anyone recommend a good reading resource for the cause and how to prevent battery leakage?

The date-stamp on the alkaline cell was 2015, kept in a car, used very little.

The battery manufacturer is willing to honor repair/replacement warranty, but Fenix Outfitters offered to sell a replacement barrel for a reasonable price, and even threw in a free tailpiece. These folks are great!

But my question is on what did I do wrong, and how to prevent in the future. Any good authoritative resources out there that explains what happened?

Thanks in advance.
Cheers


----------



## MichaelW (Dec 10, 2014)

Don't use them.
Use EA91 lithium AA.


----------



## NoNotAgain (Dec 10, 2014)

Alkaline cells don't like temperature changes. 
I've had them crap out in as little as three months when stored in a light in the glove box. 
Purchase a set of NiMH cells like Panasonic Eneloops and you've fixed your problem. 

Also, a cell with a 2015 date is at least 4-5 years old.


----------



## ven (Dec 10, 2014)

As above,invest in some eneloops,better performance and holds charge a lot longer.............not to mention paid for after a couple of charges compared to buying another battery. As good as free for years


----------



## mvyrmnd (Dec 10, 2014)

MichaelW said:


> Don't use them.



+1


----------



## MidnightDistortions (Dec 10, 2014)

Switching to rechargeables is the most ideal solution! 

With that in mind other than temperature changes, alkalines don't like sitting in hot cars and ideally if you are not using the batteries it's ideal to leave them out of the flashlight and other devices. I've had a box of alkalines sitting unused and some of them had leaked. Interesting thing i have found. One of the batteries had some corrosion, that white stuff you sometimes see on automotive car batteries. I cleaned it off and threw it in a digital weather station/clock. Works fine, but some of that corrosion came back. It doesn't leak though and i monitor the batteries weekly. The last time i checked the voltage on the battery set one of the batteries was only reading 0.4volts, the corrosive battery had at least 1.1 volt. The 3rd battery has 1.1 volts as well, that was about a month or 2 ago, the weather station had the low battery indicator for that long. It certainly does not take much to run it and i could probably operate it on older rechargeables but they are all in use in other clocks.

If you want to store a flashlight in your car (i just use my EDC light) Eneloops should be good, though i don't know their operating/storage temp limits, i only found a forum post, Eneloops in car for 1 year, but i didn't search for long.

Here's a chart for the EA91 lithium AA


> operating/storage temp is at -40°C to 60°C (-40°F to 140°F)


----------



## mcnair55 (Dec 10, 2014)

Use common sense and use the battery operated product in question and you will have no problems.If the battery operated item is not going to be used on a regular basis fuel it up with either a Lithium or Eneloop type battery.

Alkaline are still the worlds most popular battery by a long long way.:thumbsup:


----------



## BillSWPA (Dec 10, 2014)

Another vote for don't use alkaleaks

In most cases your best alternative is low self discharge NiMH. However, if you are leaving the light in a car and/or are willing to pay more for longer battery life, 1.5 volt lithium primaries might serve you best.


----------



## fractal (Dec 10, 2014)

Another vote for "the only thing you should put alkaleaks in are the toys your kids get for xmas that you want to die quickly".

I too run Eneloop's in anything that is not either

a. subjected to extreme temperatures

or

b. left alone, unused, for a very long time but needs to work when you reach for it.

Anything that isn't a kids toy I want to destroy or appropriate for an eneloop gets a lithium primary. Not because I believe the "Lasts 9x longer" line. Well, it does last "up to 9x longer" at high loads. But at low levels it just works even if it is hot or cold and doesn't leak.

So, here in california my car light gets an eneloop. I might choose differently if I lived where it got hot or cold.
All my TV remotes and mice get eneloops
My DVM and smoke detectors get lithium primaries.
The remote temperature sensor for my weather monitor gets lithium primaries


... I think you get the picture.


----------



## SaraAB87 (Dec 10, 2014)

I have alkalines in my thermostat and some of those cheap coin counting jars. I have one in my wireless mouse but that is monitored daily and monitored by software as well so I know when it's low.

They are also in my smoke alarms, never had problems with them.

Everything else is lithium or eneloops or dura loops.


----------



## Norm (Dec 11, 2014)

:welcome:

As most members have stated there's nothing that will stop Alkaline Cells leaking, I've had brand new cells leak in the retail packaging. 

Have read all the existing threads?.

Norm


----------



## mcnair55 (Dec 11, 2014)

Norm said:


> :welcome:
> 
> As most members have stated there's nothing that will stop Alkaline Cells leaking, I've had brand new cells leak in the retail packaging.
> 
> ...



In 2014 that is a total disgrace to have cells leaking in a blister,as I never experience the leaking problems many get I am beginning to wonder as the UK is not a very warm country even in summer if that changes anything.


----------



## Big_Sam (Dec 11, 2014)

I've just chucked three packets of C cells that have lived indoors in the UK and all leaked, they were in date, but about 6 years old. 

The only other batteries I've had leak were in a timer for 8 years. 

I've not had any leak that have at least 3 years on the date, but I'm probably just fortunate. 

I now use eneloops for everything, no leaks and last ages. Also cheaper after a couple of charges.


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight (Dec 11, 2014)

Low-self-discharge NiMH rechargeables make a lot of economic sense if you need to replace batteries more often than about once every 2 years. Eneloops cost about 5x as much as quality alkalines, and should last at least 10 years. So alkalines only make economic sense if you'd use less than 5 of them over 10 years. Remote controls, clocks, and seldom-used gadgets may fall into that category. However, if you include leaking-alkalines in your cost, it probably makes sense to use rechargeables in everything. I use Eneloops in everything that takes AA or AAA cells.

I also use low-self-discharge NiMH 9 volt rechargeables (Tenergy Centura 9v batteries). Again, the price difference is about 5x. I'm not sure if the Tenergy batteries will hold up as well over the long-term as Eneloops, but since I have to replace my 9v batteries every year in my smoke detectors and some other stuff, I may as well just recharge the battery instead. In 5 years, the rechargeables will pay for themselves.

I've never had a destructive leak in a 9v alkaline, so I still use a few in stuff where it doesn't make economic sense to use rechargeables. Stuff where a 9v alkaline will last years without replacing.


----------



## N8N (Dec 11, 2014)

MichaelW said:


> Don't use them.
> Use EA91 lithium AA.



This is the correct answer. Either Energizer lithium or some flavor of LSD NiMH (Eneloop, Duracell Ion Core, Maha Imedion, Tenergy Centura etc.)

Friends don't let friends use alkalines. Seems that current production is even more likely to leak than ~10 years ago, or maybe we just have more battery operated devices, but I've had a LOT of leakage incidents over the past couple years, and have been slowly eradicating alkalines and moving towards NiMH for everything save for seldom used emergency lights which get lithium (either Energizer AA or else Surefire CR123A.)


----------



## N8N (Dec 11, 2014)

fractal said:


> Another vote for "the only thing you should put alkaleaks in are the toys your kids get for xmas that you want to die quickly".
> 
> I too run Eneloop's in anything that is not either
> 
> ...



I know it's outside design parameters but I've actually been using Eneloops in a remote temperature sensor (2nd gen I believe) and they are still working fine.


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight (Dec 11, 2014)

N8N said:


> I know it's outside design parameters but I've actually been using Eneloops in a remote temperature sensor (2nd gen I believe) and they are still working fine.



Me too. It gets down to -30C, and they work fine in my outdoor sensor. Probably because it's a very low load on them; I'm not sure how they'd handle a high load at that temperature. I know they work okay in flashlights at about -20C, but I don't usually go for walks when it's colder than that.


----------



## MidnightDistortions (Dec 11, 2014)

Norm said:


> :welcome:
> 
> As most members have stated there's nothing that will stop Alkaline Cells leaking, I've had brand new cells leak in the retail packaging.
> 
> ...





mcnair55 said:


> In 2014 that is a total disgrace to have cells leaking in a blister,as I never experience the leaking problems many get I am beginning to wonder as the UK is not a very warm country even in summer if that changes anything.



Alkalines did not leak that much in the past. At least before 95' when i had my first leaky battery experience. It was in a toy. Since then i had an alkaline leak in a gameboy, a couple of remotes and flashlights. Thankfully NiMH technology came out and i was impressed, except for the cheap chargers that came with them of course. I had 2 or 3 Rayovac chargers die on me, or at least i thought it was the chargers, could have been the batteries, but i momentarily switched back to Alkalines leaving them out of devices that were not in operation such as my gameboy, flashlights and portable cd players.

With that being said NiMH technology has greatly improved and i have been slowly replacing all my Alkalines with Eneloops. I have not bought alkaline batteries since 2004  (mostly because people give them to me since i used them for projects and what not). Rechargeables do pay for themselves in the end, maybe not up front but after 3 or 4 charges you will be saving. Switching to rechargeables may not be easy at first but put them in your high drain devices first and within a month or 2 you'll see it was well worth it. I use the older or crap cells in low drain devices such as clocks, tv remotes, keyboards and mice. The payoff is no more leaky batteries, keep the environment clean/less resources used and more money in the wallet . That would be the best prevention of alkaline battery leakage.


----------



## BillSWPA (Dec 11, 2014)

I have Eneloops in the remote sensor for my weather monitor, and last year they kept working through temperatures that reached -40F including the wind chill (I do not recall the temperature without wind chill but it was probably closer to 0F). I also use them for clocks, and at this point have gotten a year out of them in a clock without having to recharge it. I have only been using rechargeable cells for about a year, so we'll see how long it goes.

At this point I am only buying NiMH in AAA, AA, C, D, and 9v sizes. Anything that would cost me more than $40 to replace has NiMH, and ultimately anything that uses these cell sizes will use NiMH, including kids' toys. The ear thermometer we use to monitor our kids health gives a low battery signal with Eneloops but otherwise works fine. Only our thermostat loses some functionality without the slightly higher voltage of alkaleaks.


----------



## SaraAB87 (Dec 12, 2014)

I see the most leaks in toys. I think it has to do with parents who forget about the toy and don't take the batteries out or the fact that most toys from my experience drain batteries unevenly aka they will drain one cell almost completely then the other cell will be totally full as if it were new. Some toys also get left turned on which means the batteries will completely drain which is more likely to cause a leak. Because of this I would be extra careful with alkalines and toys.


----------



## mcnair55 (Dec 12, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> I see the most leaks in toys. I think it has to do with parents who forget about the toy and don't take the batteries out or the fact that most toys from my experience drain batteries unevenly aka they will drain one cell almost completely then the other cell will be totally full as if it were new. Some toys also get left turned on which means the batteries will completely drain which is more likely to cause a leak. Because of this I would be extra careful with alkalines and toys.



An excellent posting and with the price of toys these days.


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight (Dec 12, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> I see the most leaks in toys. I think it has to do with parents who forget about the toy and don't take the batteries out or the fact that most toys from my experience drain batteries unevenly aka they will drain one cell almost completely then the other cell will be totally full as if it were new. Some toys also get left turned on which means the batteries will completely drain which is more likely to cause a leak. Because of this I would be extra careful with alkalines and toys.



If a toy drains cells unevenly, then it's best to remove the batteries in them, whether they're alkalines or rechargeables. You run the risk of reverse-charging a cell, which could harm it.

But if you absolutely have to leave batteries in toys that will be left on and run flat, then I suppose throwing away a rechargeable battery is better than throwing away the toy because of a leaking alkaline.


----------



## BillSWPA (Dec 12, 2014)

What is it about a device that would cause it to drain a group of cells unevenly, particularly when those cells are used together, usually in series, but possibly in parallel?

I have seen this happen, but am curious about why.


----------



## BillSWPA (Dec 12, 2014)

Kids toys also see periods of heavy use followed by periods of little use followed by being put in storage. Obviously taking the cells out before putting it in storage is smart but not all of us will remember to do this every time.

When I was starting to buy NiMH to switch from alkaline, I reserved my NiMH for devices costing over $40, using up my supply of alkaline in devices costing less until I used up my supply and acquired enough NiMH. Often the items costing less than $40 would be a kids toy.


----------



## mcnair55 (Dec 13, 2014)

BillSWPA said:


> Kids toys also see periods of heavy use followed by periods of little use followed by being put in storage. Obviously taking the cells out before putting it in storage is smart but not all of us will remember to do this every time.
> 
> When I was starting to buy NiMH to switch from alkaline, I reserved my NiMH for devices costing over $40, using up my supply of alkaline in devices costing less until I used up my supply and acquired enough NiMH. Often the items costing less than $40 would be a kids toy.



Very small children just switch things on and have no idea about switching stuff off,my daughter suffers from messed up insides often with a 2 and 4 year old in the household.Alkaline are still the cheapest source for power over recharge and can be picked up at every supermarket under the sun and mainly with offers and also at the checkouts so they are in your face.


----------



## Phil2015 (Dec 13, 2014)

I have had energizer alkaline AAA batts in my outside wireless thermometer for 3+yrs now for my weather station and they are still going strong, but I havent checked the batts since installing them.


----------



## jkingrph (Dec 13, 2014)

Phil2015 said:


> I have had energizer alkaline AAA batts in my outside wireless thermometer for 3+yrs now for my weather station and they are still going strong, but I havent checked the batts since installing them.


Same here, but think I will replace them with some energizer lithiums.


----------



## mcnair55 (Dec 13, 2014)

Phil2015 said:


> I have had energizer alkaline AAA batts in my outside wireless thermometer for 3+yrs now for my weather station and they are still going strong, but I havent checked the batts since installing them.




Me to and I still get my daily temps so I know they are still working fine.


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight (Dec 13, 2014)

mcnair55 said:


> Me to and I still get my daily temps so I know they are still working fine.



I've seen alkalines leak plenty of times while they're still working. Chances are your alkalines are not leaking (most of the time they don't), but just because they're still working doesn't mean they're still okay. You need to check them regularly if you want to be sure, and don't use them past their expiry date.


----------



## BillSWPA (Dec 13, 2014)

WalkIntoTheLight said:


> I've seen alkalines leak plenty of times while they're still working. Chances are your alkalines are not leaking (most of the time they don't), but just because they're still working doesn't mean they're still okay. You need to check them regularly if you want to be sure, and don't use them past their expiry date.



I have seen the same thing.


----------



## SaraAB87 (Dec 13, 2014)

I have specifically seen one battery full and one battery almost completely empty in an rca remote.

I have seen so many toys with corrosion I cannot count, it's such a huge problem it happens almost every time I buy a second hand toy. Some so severely that the leaking actually seeps through the battery compartment onto the back of the toy. This is definitely something parents want to watch out for, especially in toddler and baby toys where ironically I see the most leaks. I would imagine most parents don't want their kids coming in contact with battery acid. I am not an overprotective type I am just saying this is a very real problem that a lot of parents don't think about.

If you can remember I would go through with a battery tester and check every toy every 6 months and replace or recharge everything that is low or discharged. This will help but they could still leak. Check a toy before the kid plays with it, especially if it's a handheld toy they could put in their mouth.

I have stopped buying second hand toys, at least ones that obviously have alkalines in them. I am not buying for kids but I am a toy collector and sometimes I pick up a cheap toy or handheld video game at the thrift for my collection. I have stopped though and for now I will be satisfied with what I have.


----------



## Norm (Dec 13, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> I would imagine most parents don't want their kids coming in contact with battery acid.


There's no acid in an alkaline battery :

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery



> The alkaline battery gets its name because it has an alkaline electrolyte of potassium hydroxide, instead of the acidic ammonium chloride or zinc chloride electrolyte of the zinc-carbon batteries. Other battery systems also use alkaline electrolytes, but they use different active materials for the electrodes.



http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery#Leaks



> Alkaline batteries are prone to leaking potassium hydroxide, a caustic agent that can cause respiratory, eye and skin irritation.[note 2] This can be reduced by not attempting to recharge disposable alkaline cells, not mixing different battery types in the same device, replacing all of the batteries at the same time, storing in a dry place, and removing batteries for storage of devices.



Alkaline battery leak. Is it dangerous?


----------



## Kurt_Woloch (Dec 14, 2014)

I haven't yet have a device damaged by a leaking alkaline battery. I had some destroyed by leaking cheap zinc-carbon batteries though. Some alkaline batteries did leak, but I just wiped away the powder and/or liquid. In one case I even continued to use the already leaking batteries until empty because they still had juice in them. I just took care of wiping off whatever came out of them regularly. These were an old set of 6 Duracell Ultra "D" cells which I used as an interim solution in the summers of 2009 and 2010 before getting the rechargable LSD's I use now. Those Ultras actually were bought back in 2000 as an emergency for my portable keyboard when I accidentally forgot its power supply at home, but, although they are Ultras, they will only power the keyboard for at most 2-3 hours, using up only 20% of their total energy (while the keyboard can be run on the LSD D cells for up to 8 hours without problems... at least I had it up for over 2 hours without showing any signs of weakness).

I'm actually not very worried about alkaline (or any) batteries leaking. There are also different kind of zinc-carbon batteries with a different chance of leaking. The cheapest ones do leak while the heavy duty type is often more leakproof than alkalines and dries out instead (I think that's why Varta called them "Super dry" at one time). These often come pre-installed in or packaged with remotes.

Most batteries that leaked for me did so in storage, and most of them were way past their expiry date. I also had batteries just break down without leaking although they were not actually used. This could actually explain the different charge state of batteries in one device like a remote... the weaker battery didn't get used more, but its chemistry broke down over the years.

I think the batteries most prone to such break down's are actually 9V's because they are built to deliver a relatively high current despite their small size, with the disadvantage being that they also self-discharge rapidly. I had a Duracell 9V that was barely used self-discharge in about 7 years. I got it when I played at the Christmas party of my company and my own 9V NiCd rechargable didn't last for the duration of the gig in the delay pedal I was using it in.

I do not try to avoid alkaline batteries because of leaking danger, but because of the economics. I did buy an 8-pack some years ago for the transmitter of my RC car because I figured I'd only rarely use it and it would probably last about 8 years at my rate of usage. And in 1999, I bought 10 Daimon alkaline "C" cells for a portable multitrack recorder for making some recordings for the public radio station I was member of back then. I only used them for about 4 field recordings until 2002, after that I stopped doing field recordings, and in 2005 I left the station. Although I didn't use them up, those 10 cells since have all broke down except for one which still powers my kitchen wall clock.

Other than that, I only use those alkaline or zinc-carbon batteries that come with devices. Sometimes, however, if they come with a high-drain device, I immediately replace them with rechargables and put the alkalines into storage (as I have done with my first electric toothbrush).

I never tried Lithium primaries, but I think those could be useful for those devices which don't work properly with the lower voltage of a NiMh battery because, contrary to Alkalines, they stay at nearly 1.5V for most of their life while Alkalines will suffer continuous voltage drop, so in those devices, Lithium primaries may actually achieve a much longer life than alkalines just because of this. However, I don't think I've got any such device in use currently.


----------



## magellan (Dec 14, 2014)

N8N said:


> This is the correct answer. Either Energizer lithium or some flavor of LSD NiMH (Eneloop, Duracell Ion Core, Maha Imedion, Tenergy Centura etc.)
> 
> Friends don't let friends use alkalines. Seems that current production is even more likely to leak than ~10 years ago, or maybe we just have more battery operated devices, but I've had a LOT of leakage incidents over the past couple years, and have been slowly eradicating alkalines and moving towards NiMH for everything save for seldom used emergency lights which get lithium (either Energizer AA or else Surefire CR123A.)



I'll second that about the leaks, but wasn't sure it was just me until now.


----------



## magellan (Dec 14, 2014)

Norm said:


> There's no acid in an alkaline battery :
> 
> http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery
> 
> ...



Great info, Norm, thanks. As I have asthma, this sort of info is even more important for me.


----------



## dydx (Dec 16, 2014)

@Norm, Thanks....that's the references I was looking for. Appreciate it.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery#Leaks

Alkaline battery leak. Is it dangerous?


----------



## InHisName (Dec 18, 2014)

Kids toys today arent like what they used to be. Used to be "batteries not included", now included with try me ! in the store. I've bought a toy or two Dec 28th and it still worked ! The factory included batteries were unknown chinese alkaleaks. No leaking ones all volts > 1.5, two of four cells were still 1.6+. Now can leave it on and toy goes to sleep for months and battery dosen't go down my much at all. My toys needed 2 or 4 "D"s and were dead by Dec 26 !

The go to sleep feature of Fisher-Price and others for infants and toddler is one great improvement. Maybe as great as LED replacing incandecent flashlight bulbs. I have 20 Duraloops waiting for the wearing out of the orig. batteries, waiting, waiting, waiting......

Two used toys had rust and corrosion that I had to clean up, then it worked. (With some Duraloops)


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight (Dec 18, 2014)

InHisName said:


> I have 20 Duraloops waiting for the wearing out of the orig. batteries, waiting, waiting, waiting......



You don't actually have to wait.


----------



## BillSWPA (Dec 18, 2014)

There is at least one thread on this forum regarding no-name alkaleaks. If they have a warranty at all, the company may or may not be around to honor it. Duracell and some other well known names will replace items damaged by leaking alkaleaks. So, I give no name cells a lot less time than known quality brands before replacing them with Eneloops.


----------



## SaraAB87 (Dec 18, 2014)

Yeah I have a speak n math that takes like 4 C or D batteries or something ridiculous and lasts 10 hours according to the manual. The toy is basically a glorified calculator so I don't know how it uses that much power (must be a lot of power processing in there or something...) 

In comparison a game boy advance lasts 18 hours on 2 AA batteries and a game boy color lasts 10 hours though neither have backlit screen. Leap pads and innotabs can drain 4 AA alkaline in a day though but all the newer ones use rechargables now so that is not a problem. 

Most toys just use lights and sounds so those don't drain too badly or hardly at all, it's just a matter of having enough batteries on Christmas morning to supply all the new toys then you probably won't have to change them for a long time. Toys that have movement will drain more, I am sure I went through quite a number of AA's on those battery operated animals ( to the point where I actually sat on Santa's lap one year and asked for batteries and specific kinds too.. I was like 5)


----------



## Grijon (Dec 19, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> I actually sat on Santa's lap one year and asked for batteries and specific kinds too.. I was like 5



That is GREAT!


----------



## Kurt_Woloch (Dec 23, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> Yeah I have a speak n math that takes like 4 C or D batteries or something ridiculous and lasts 10 hours according to the manual. The toy is basically a glorified calculator so I don't know how it uses that much power (must be a lot of power processing in there or something...)



According to the Wikipedia, it's C batteries. And the 10 hours might very well apply to zinc-carbon batteries (or are alkaline specifically mentioned in the manual?) which were very common back in 1980 when they sold much better than alkalines due to their low price. Those only have a fraction of the capacity of alkalines. Back in 1981, Philips rated theirs at 1650, 1900 or 2800 mAh at a draw of 10 mA (if I remember correctly), depending on model. And since there are a few hours unusable at the low end of the charge, this would mean an actual current draw of about 110 to 180 mA according to my estimations. Keep in mind that the Speak & Math contains a microcontroller to control the overall program in addition to a speech synthesizer and an amplifier. Maybe it also contains a fluorescent display, but I can't see that in the Youtube video. All of this takes power... I can remember the electronic games with VFD displays appearing in 1980-1982, which usually also took 4 "C" batteries and lasted about 20 hours on a set of alkalines, so using zinc-carbons would put this even under 10 hours. The words spoken on the Speak & Math were not stored as samples, but encoded in LPC and decoded on the fly to calculate the samples (I think 8000 samples per second) which does take some processing time (at least 20 values get calculated for each sample with a multiplication and two additions each).


----------



## SaraAB87 (Dec 24, 2014)

I am sure the manual specifically mentions alkaline as most toys did back then from what I remember. Getting parents to buy the right batteries was tricky due to the price points. Also KB toys had a massive campaign to recommend only alkaline batteries at that point as I remember they put stickers on almost all toys that said Kb recommends alkaline batteries.


----------



## Norm (Dec 24, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> I remember they put stickers on almost all toys that said Kb recommends alkaline batteries.


In the past Alkalines were a far better at not leaking when compared to the Carbon Zinc alternatives.



> ]These cells have a short shelf life as the zinc is attacked by ammonium chloride. The zinc container becomes thinner as the cell is used, because zinc metal is oxidized to zinc ions. When the zinc case thins enough, zinc chloride begins to leak out of the battery. The old dry cell is not leak proof and becomes very sticky as the paste leaks through the holes in the zinc case. The zinc casing in the dry cell gets thinner even when the cell is not being used, because the ammonium chloride inside the battery reacts with the zinc. An "inside-out" form with a carbon cup and zinc vanes on the interior, while more leak resistant, has not been made since the 1960s.[6]


Norm


----------



## MidnightDistortions (Dec 24, 2014)

SaraAB87 said:


> I am sure the manual specifically mentions alkaline as most toys did back then from what I remember. Getting parents to buy the right batteries was tricky due to the price points. Also KB toys had a massive campaign to recommend only alkaline batteries at that point as I remember they put stickers on almost all toys that said Kb recommends alkaline batteries.



I remember seeing some of those, back then i wasn't sure if it was a joke or not considering i thought all batteries were alkalines, at least until i discovered Ni-Cad.


----------



## LiteTheWay (Dec 25, 2014)

Like all the others here, I replace alkaleaks with lithium or NiMH - especially in valuable gear like multimeters which are come with alkaleaks in them.


----------



## MidnightDistortions (Apr 5, 2015)

I just had an AAA Duracell leak with the expiry date (or best used by date) for March 2017. It didn't leak much, the cell is still holding 1.5 volts. It was being stored but now i just threw it in a light but keeping the cells out of the light when it's not being used. I'll probably get the cells drained out in a few days.


----------



## Keeper Oath (Apr 5, 2015)

I have been able to clean the connection in my Radios where the AA Alkaline Batteries have leaked a bit. I am thankful for that, but I've notice that the run-time of my Alkaline Batteries have been way down of late. I am switching to the eneloop AA 2000 mAh batteries.


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight (Apr 6, 2015)

MidnightDistortions said:


> I just had an AAA Duracell leak with the expiry date (or best used by date) for March 2017. It didn't leak much, the cell is still holding 1.5 volts. It was being stored but now i just threw it in a light but keeping the cells out of the light when it's not being used. I'll probably get the cells drained out in a few days.



You're taking a risk using alkalines that have already started leaking. The more alkaleaks are drained, the more hydrogen gas builds up in them to push that corrosive goo out even more.

Give your alkaline collection to someone you really hate.


----------



## zipplet (Apr 6, 2015)

Spot on advice from WalkIntoTheLight there, I have also taken that risk in an "emergency" with a low drain device (TV remote control). I spent longer cleaning up the mess than it would have taken for me to go to the store and get some new batteries...


----------



## MidnightDistortions (Apr 6, 2015)

WalkIntoTheLight said:


> You're taking a risk using alkalines that have already started leaking. The more alkaleaks are drained, the more hydrogen gas builds up in them to push that corrosive goo out even more.
> 
> Give your alkaline collection to someone you really hate.



lol, i could just leave the cells in the lobby of my apts, someone will probably take them and try putting it in their remote. Anyway the cells are in a chamber for easy access, i'm not worried if they leak further, i'm checking the cells every 15 minutes when they are being used and afterwards are taken out to avoid this. They are already at 1.2 volts, when they reach 1.1 volts i'll stop using them and toss them in a device i don't really care about like a non working temp sensor (which shows the temp but doesn't transmit).


----------

