Leaking alkaline batteries

[jayflash]

Leaking alks is a pet peeve I'd like to lose. In 40+ years of experience I've had ALL major brands leak under all conditions including new cells with an expiration date of 2014! Often, quite often, in fact, one of four cells will fail after freshly installed in a device - even after load testing to "insure" viable & matched cells. Modern cells haven't proven too much better than alks of the 70's & 80's in my experience. YMMV, however, and probably will.

Interestingly, some cells have not leaked and still have some juice left after 12+ years sitting in little used items.

 

[AndyTiedye]

Had some Kodak alkalines leak inside a 4D copper Mag even though they still lit it up

 

[NeonLights]

Brand matters. My Energizers, Rayovacs and Duracells have never leaked on me.

I've had alkalines from all three brands you've mentioned leak over the years, different size cells, often in flashlights, and I never mix batteries, they always come from the same package.

I still use alkalines in flashlights I keep around the house and check them routinely, but for the flashlights I keep in all four of all cars, it is lithium or nothing. I've had numerous alkaline cell powered flashlights leak in cars in the last 15-20 years.

FWIW I've had AAAA cells leak in several of my Streamlight Stylus lights. I typically keep most of my AAAA cell powered flashlights empty now. Too bad Energizer doesn't release lithium AAAA cells, but there probably isn't much of a market for them.

 

[ltiu]

Anyone here ever had a leaky akaline in a remote experience? Please share your story?

 

[Power Me Up]

Anyone here ever had a leaky akaline in a remote experience? Please share your story?

Yep - I've seen leaky alkalines in remotes - the most recent was in a remote for a TV belonging to my mother... Didn't totally destroy it, but it did corrode one of the springs that hold the cells in place...

I also had an alkaline leak in a wall clock as well.

 

[ltiu]

OK, since it is not possible to check on batteries all day everyday. What are your recommendations to keep batteries from leaking?

Will changing batteries every year help prevent leaking?

I know about making sure all batteries are the same type and charge and from the same pack, but what else do I have to keep in mind?

 

[TPA]

Has anyone ever sent an item to Energizer/Duracell after batteries had leaked? How did you go about it? How did it go?

I've had batteries from EVERY brand leak on me at some point, all were in very light duty service (remotes, calculators, etc). I've also had batteries leak inside their original, unopened packages, well within the expiration date.

 

[Codeman]

A salt water environment is probably hard on cells, like it is on most other things. Salt leads to corrosion which leads to leaks. Are you near the coast?

Interesting...

I just had 2 Duracell copper tops with a date of March 2011 leak on me, and a third was bulged and looked like it was ready to leak. Let's see, 3 out of 4 going bad, I must have had a matched set.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Ray,

While I agree that corrosion is hard on cells, this was not an issue with corrosion. It appears to be bad seals.

Tom

 

[Curious_character]

I've found that WD-40 makes a good solvent for removing the corrosion caused by leaky batteries and rejuvenating the contacts.

If a device is going to be stored for a long time but doesn't have to be instantly available for use, I take the batteries out and put them into a ZipLoc bag, then put that bag with the device inside another ZipLoc to keep them together. Polyethylene isn't bothered by the stuff leaked by batteries or by hardly anything else. Obviously, you still have to check from time to time to make sure the batteries aren't leaking -- leaky batteries won't be much good when the emergency comes.

c_c

 

[GarageBoy]

Every brand I've used has leaked...just gotta check WHEN they leak

 

[Codeman]

Hello Ray,

While I agree that corrosion is hard on cells, this was not an issue with corrosion. It appears to be bad seals.

Tom

Thanks for the correction, Tom!

 

[MorePower]

Interesting...

I just had 2 Duracell copper tops with a date of March 2011 leak on me, and a third was bulged and looked like it was ready to leak. Let's see, 3 out of 4 going bad, I must have had a matched set.

Tom

That's typically how these things go. A batch of anode gel or cathode mix will get contaminated with something "unhealthy" for alkaline cells, and the leakage rate for that batch will rise far above typical. Leakage is also common when gasket changes are made and the new gasket is not up to spec as far as moisture or vent pressure.

 

[Viking]

I revive this old thread because I just noticed a leaking alkaline cell in an old flashlight I found behind a closet. Obviously I haven't been using it for years.
I opened the flashlight and saw the leaking energizer cell right away. Then I noticed the expiration date of the cell saying "best before 2009".

I was convinced it was a dead battery and possibly even reversed charged. For fun I measured it with my multimeter and to my surprise it said 1.47 volt resting.
Then I measured it on my ZTS batteritester under pulse load, and it said 80 % state of charge.

 

[davesc]

Just last month I had a leaky alkaline in a flashlight. I thought I had everything changed over to Eneloops but missed one. I wonder what else I forgot? For the larger sized cells like C's and D's I use the spacers that AA's fit into.

As to cleaning up the mess alkalines have caused, I use a course grade of steel wool and a long set of needle nose pliers. I rotate the steel wool inside the flashlight tube. Then, I use some sandpaper wrapped around the steel wool chunk and rotate that till it is worn down enough to take batteries again.

 

[sll]

I revived this thread again to ask about using other batteries in the package that appear to not be leaking. I have a pack of Rayovacs AAA dated Nov 2024 with some leakage in the bottom of the original packaging. It has been stored in the house the whole time so there have been no temperature/environmental changes. I'm not sure which battery is the culprit since a few of them have the "acid" on them.
Is there a way to tell which battery(s) is the bad one?
Is it OK to use the others in the pack that have no obvious damage?

 

[NoNotAgain]

The leaker will usually have a drop in voltage.
If you don't care about the devise that the batteries are used in, use them and remove after use.

 

[LedTed]

Anyone here ever had a leaky akaline in a remote experience? Please share your story?

I've learned that if a remote stops working when set down, one of the batteries may have just started to leak. The leaky crud does not allow for good contact. If you are lucky, the batteries can be replaced at this first sign of trouble; thusly minimizing damage to the remote.

On a related note, concerning batteries with onboard voltage checkers, sometimes the battery holder or device they are in will keep the checker turned on, and cause various problems.