Dispose of spent alks IMMEDIATELY! A Duracell leaked acid on my friend's hand.

[TigerhawkT3]

He's fine.

A while back, I gave my friend a Fenix E0 and a SLPPL3C. Some time last week, he accidentally left the ProPoly on and put it in his backpack. When he next checked on it, the cells (ordinary Duracell coppertops) were drained and creating very little output.

We stopped by Fry's to buy some new cells, and after a few episodes of Voyager, I dropped him off at his house, and he immediately started getting the light out of his car to change the battery.

About a minute into my drive home, he called my cell phone and asked me to come back and help him out because the old Duracells had leaked on his hand. I hurried back, and we rinsed the affected area with milk (a base) and water. There was no lasting visible damage.

I'm going to contact Duracell (http://www.duracell.com/care_disposal/care.asp) to see if they'll reimburse the cost of the light, since it was damaged by the leaked acid (though still operational).

Pics:

 

[NAW]

I hate Alks when they leak. I lost my Streamlight 4AA ProPoly when 2 of the cells leaked. Even if it was still godd, it has an acidic smell.

 

[MorePower]

A Duracell did not leak acid on your friend's hand. A Duracell leaked base on your friend's hand. Alkaline cells contain potassium hydroxide, which is a base. Unless you leave spilled electrolyte on your skin for a good long time, there's very little need to neutralize it with anything. Washing well with soap and water is more than sufficient.

Duracell should reimburse for the damaged light; they may want your friend to send the light and the leaking cells to them, but it's possible that they'll just cut a check for the cost of a replacement.

 

[65535]

MorePower is right, alkaline electrolyte is very weak, it's pretty harmless on the skin. Although it's not great it won't be issue for emergency.

 

[lasercrazy]

Is that all the damage to the light? You should able to clean that up pretty easy. As far as the alkaline acid I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Illum]

Is that all the damage to the light? You should able to clean that up pretty easy. As far as the alkaline acid I wouldn't worry about it.

theres something seriesly wrong here, I had 3 sets of energizers and 1 set of duracell AAs leak yesterday night....thank god they weren't in a flashlight it looked like a milk spill on my desk.

the acid originates from magnese dioxide paste and comes out milky
wash it off with water and a good scrubbing towel when its still fluid, once its dry your going to have to sand it off

 

[bill_n_opus]

I would think that if you phrased the communication appropriately Duracell would reimburse you the cost of the light ... that's negative advertising that they don't need. A pissed off customer over their lifespan alone would cost Duracell more than a ProPoly. Especially if that person is influential ...

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

I've had Rayovac alkies leak, what a pain. Ruined one light.

 

[IsaacHayes]

Yeah, Alkaline cell contains Alkaline! Go figure!
Just like a lead acid car battery contains acid! hehe.

 

[Handlobraesing]

MorePower is right, alkaline electrolyte is very weak, it's pretty harmless on the skin. Although it's not great it won't be issue for emergency.

The alkaline is extremely strong. Stronger than lye. Concentration is something like 40%. So, if get it on yourself and not notice it right away, you will get chemical burns.

 

[VidPro]

The alkaline is extremely strong. Stronger than lye. Concentration is something like 40%. So, if get it on yourself and not notice it right away, you will get chemical burns.

i was hoping somone would point that out.
acid and base chemical burns might work very SLOWLY, you might not feel anything that causes a pannic, and a pannic might not be worth having, but the "burns" show up after it has sat on the area for TIME.
and if your like me, after you stuck your finger in your eye, and wake up in the morning with skin falling off and pink eye and all, you wont REMEMBER what the heck caused it.

its nothing to get upset about, but its nothing you want on you or your clothing, or your eating areas, or on your computer mouse

 

[TigerhawkT3]

So, we should have washed the affected area with lemon juice?

 

[MorePower]

All you need to do is wash with soap and water. That should take care of it. A small amount of electrolyte from an alkaline cell, on your skin for a short amount of time doesn't need to be neutralized with anything; just washed away. I work with it daily. No big deal, as long as it's not covering a large area, and as long as it isn't in contact with your skin for a long-ish period of time.

 

[billw]

Standard "paranoid" treatment for alkali spills is to rinse under running water for ~15 minutes. If you're actually spilled on, your skin will feel slippery as the alkali converts your skin oils into soap; if you don't feel that you didn't get much of a spill. You can use vinegar or lemon juice, and soap is unlikely to hurt anything...

When a "normal" acid or base attacks your skin, it gets "used up." That means that minor spills result in minor "burns." An exception is hydrofluoric acid (suspected to be released under certain conditions from burning Li-ion type cells. I think.) It's a relatively weak acid, but the fluorine content causes it to do nasty things to your body/bones/etc (it acts more as a poison than as an acid.) Another exception involves your eyes. Since they're very sensitive, even very small amounts of alkali can cause comparatively major damage. If you get stuff in your eye, wash them a lot AND talk to your doctor...

 

[Handlobraesing]

if you use vinegar or lemon juice, the sliminess on skin washes away A LOT faster.

 

[chesterqw]

at least it leaks...

in li ion cells, it vents out flame

 

[Illum]

at least it leaks...

in li ion cells, it vents out flame

I'd rather the cell spilling its guts on my table than to mix something I dont want in the atmosphere....tossing out a tableis easy compared to trying to vent out the house completely

 

[cave dave]

I had a cell leak in a mag solitare a few years ago. I sent it to Duracell and they cut me a check for $10. More than I paid for sure. I used the proceeds for an ArcAAA.