Household of leaky batteries

[Kitchen Panda]

"Battery day" doesn't mean the same around here as it does for Tesla fans.

This morning when I got up I headed to the thermostat to turn it up for the day and found the display was blank. (Last night, when turning the temperature down, it blanked momentarily but came back). I'd changed the batteries within the last few months, but I guess I didn't clean the battery puke off the contacts - so what should have been 3 volts was less than a volt, and the thermostat stopped working. This is a little harsh..there's more than enough +24 VAC coming in to run it, but seems the power supply on the thermostat only draws from the batteries. A little scraping, swapped out another pair of AA batteries and all was well, though the ones I removed test fine, too. It had gotten a little cool in the house!

Later that day...nudged the wall switch in the laundry room preparatory to raiding the freezer and ...no lights. Hmm.

Now, this wall switch is special - I was too lazy to dig up the drywall, trench a cable over to the other wall box and re-plaster and paint, so this wall switch is actually a radio remote control that talks to a receiver mounted in the original wall box. I opened it up and discovered the batteries that were good till 2017 had puked their guts all over the inside of the thermostat. Again, scraping all the contacts, and replacing these AAA alkaleaks with the super expensive but non-leaking lithium batteries - and all seems well. The current set says it's good till 2040 and I wouldn't be surprised if they do last that long. I told She Who Must Be Obeyed it will be her second husband's problem...I'll be 81 by the time these wear out.

( Other lessons learned earlier: make sure your electrician knows which way the door will swing before you mount the light switch. When installing a remote control switch, do not pinch the antenna wire between receiver and grounded wall box as it will go off with a bang. )

So, have a look at all your gadgets powered by disposable batteries...remote controls, smoke detectors, wireless keyboards and wireless mikes, standby batteries in clock radios...if you see white or green crud coming out the end of the battery, replace it and scour the contacts with a Scotchbrite pad or other mild abrasive. I don't think I see alkalines leaking before their "use by" date, but one loses track of this important datum.

Bill

 

[WC8KCY]

"Battery day" doesn't mean the same around here as it does for Tesla fans.

This morning when I got up I headed to the thermostat to turn it up for the day and found the display was blank. (Last night, when turning the temperature down, it blanked momentarily but came back). I'd changed the batteries within the last few months, but I guess I didn't clean the battery puke off the contacts - so what should have been 3 volts was less than a volt, and the thermostat stopped working. This is a little harsh..there's more than enough +24 VAC coming in to run it, but seems the power supply on the thermostat only draws from the batteries. A little scraping, swapped out another pair of AA batteries and all was well, though the ones I removed test fine, too. It had gotten a little cool in the house!

Later that day...nudged the wall switch in the laundry room preparatory to raiding the freezer and ...no lights. Hmm.

Now, this wall switch is special - I was too lazy to dig up the drywall, trench a cable over to the other wall box and re-plaster and paint, so this wall switch is actually a radio remote control that talks to a receiver mounted in the original wall box. I opened it up and discovered the batteries that were good till 2017 had puked their guts all over the inside of the thermostat. Again, scraping all the contacts, and replacing these AAA alkaleaks with the super expensive but non-leaking lithium batteries - and all seems well. The current set says it's good till 2040 and I wouldn't be surprised if they do last that long. I told She Who Must Be Obeyed it will be her second husband's problem...I'll be 81 by the time these wear out.

( Other lessons learned earlier: make sure your electrician knows which way the door will swing before you mount the light switch. When installing a remote control switch, do not pinch the antenna wire between receiver and grounded wall box as it will go off with a bang. )

So, have a look at all your gadgets powered by disposable batteries...remote controls, smoke detectors, wireless keyboards and wireless mikes, standby batteries in clock radios...if you see white or green crud coming out the end of the battery, replace it and scour the contacts with a Scotchbrite pad or other mild abrasive. I don't think I see alkalines leaking before their "use by" date, but one loses track of this important datum.

Bill

Personally, I use a spreadsheet and keep track of what cells are in each device. If it's a primary cell, the expiry date is recorded. If it's a rechargeable, each charge cycle and test results (if any) are recorded.

Twice a year, I change out the primary cells in my smoke detectors, check the spreadsheet, and retire any alkaline primary cells that are at or nearing the expiry date. I also run a discharge/recharge cycle on all rechargeable cells at least once a year.

Sure, this takes a little extra effort, but since beginning this battery management routine, I don't have issues with leaky primary cells, and my devices powered by rechargeable cells--some of which date back to 2004--always work when I need them. Isn't that the whole point?

 

[idleprocess]

"Battery day" for me is more like Recharge-a-palooza - extract all the LSD (Low Self Discharge) from devices, replace them with the last set of charged cells I had in storage, recharge all the collected cells - a semi-annual event in my household. I should make a point of ~annually checking the likes of the cells in vehicle flashlights and other more preparedness-minded devices - some of those Li-primary cells have been deployed for 5+ years.