Leaking Alkalines?

[knestle]

If you plan to use alkalines, dont store the cells inside the flashlight. They can leak and destroy the light.

I think this is an 'old wives tale', 'urban myth', whatever.

I have used alkalines in ten or twelve different lights over a twenty year period. I have left alkaline batteries in a flashlight for OVER TWO YEARS! And I have never had a battery leak!

Has anyone here ever EXPERIENCED an alkaline battery leak?

 

[greenpea76]

Yes, in my mini mags and full size mags. Several of them leaking so much that I can't open up the tail cap to extract the batteries. This is using reputable American made brands also.

 

[Black Rose]

Yes, I've had an alkaline leak inside a light.

Ruined the light....in the trash it went.

 

[Kestrel]

Some ancient ones I had in an old bike headlight finally leaked. Saved the headlight though.

A friend of mine had some new US mfg. ones in a light in his car glovebox - during the hot summer,
Edit: there is LOTS of info on CPF on this one, searching for 'leaking alkalines' provides these threads as the top two hits, just for starters:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=240634
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=171520

 

[flatline]

We just got 4 maglites back from the manufacturer. Maglite has a deal with the battery brands to fix or replace any maglites ruined by leaking batteries and charge the battery company, not the flashlight owner. I threw a maglite 3D away a couple of years ago because the batteries leaked and weren't removable...if I had kept it, I could have had it replaced, too.

This is no myth. It really happens.

--flatline

 

[Sgt. LED]

Somebody is kidding themselves. 🙄 Just because you're lucky doesn't mean leaks don't occur.

This happens all the time. Before CPF in my Maglite days I lost a 2D, a 3C, and 2 minimags to leaky cells. I had other leaks that didn't result in total losses too.

 

[45/70]

I have used alkalines in ten or twelve different lights over a twenty year period. I have left alkaline batteries in a flashlight for OVER TWO YEARS! And I have never had a battery leak!

I think you're in a small minority here, knestle. There was a poll a while back, I can't find it now, but most participants had experienced alkaline battery leaks at some time or another.

Leakage is a good part of why I pretty much quit using alkaline cells 25 years ago, that and their inferior performance under all but light current loads. Nowadays, the LSD NiMH's are an excellent alternative to the already obsolete alkaline chemistry, and leakage is extremely rare with these cells.

Dave

 

[Kestrel]

There was a poll a while back, I can't find it now, but most participants had experienced alkaline battery leaks at some time or another.

If someone else who also knows of that poll could find it, that would be interesting and a worthwhile bump.

 

[bstrickler]

I've lost 3 AA minimags to this, and numerous no-name lights to Duracell batteries. I've just learned to never leave cells in the lights for long periods of time.

I take my batteries out weekly, and make sure they're not starting to leak. First sign of leakage = trash (Soon enough, I'll just use a joule thief with a single-cell adapter).

Maybe flashlight companies should try investing in Teflon coating the insides of the lights. I wonder if that would solve the issue.

 

[alpg88]

Maybe flashlight companies should try investing in Teflon coating the insides of the lights. I wonder if that would solve the issue.

funny you should mention it, i use wax paper in my most of my lights that run on alk. i too had few issues with stock batts, and decided to wrap batts in wax paper, 2 layers, once i wraped the batts, inserted, wax paper uncoiled and stays in the light, since i strated doing it, i have not had a single battery leack, i'm pretty sure that wax paper is not the reason they don't leack, but i still can't test my wax paper in real leak situation, still waiting.

 

[clintb]

Luckily, I haven't had any alkalines leak in my lights, but that's because I don't use them in lights to begin with. 🙂 Funny how that works.

I have had them leak in a Bosch DWM-40L (digital angle finder), and a Tanita bathroom scale. I know there have been other things, but I'm changing that since there will be no more alkalines in this household, at least not in semi-expensive electronics.

Fire alarms are powered by CR123 (ADT security system), and all other electronics will have Eneloops.

 

[AMRaider]

I think this is an 'old wives tale', 'urban myth', whatever.

I have used alkalines in ten or twelve different lights over a twenty year period. I have left alkaline batteries in a flashlight for OVER TWO YEARS! And I have never had a battery leak!

Has anyone here ever EXPERIENCED an alkaline battery leak?

Ya. Over the years, I have left Alkalines in various devices and come back to find them leaking. I remember I had one Maglite (2 D cell, I think) corrode and seal itself because of battery leakage. I was unable to open the light (probably for the best as the thing had a nasty smell to it ), but I would estimate the batteries were somewhere between 15 and 20 years old. Good quality cells should be ok for a couple years unless exposed to extreme conditions.

These days, most of the cells I use are lithium primary and secondary as well as NiMH (Eneloops) and I havn't had any problems with leakage.

 

[45/70]

Maybe flashlight companies should try investing in Teflon coating the insides of the lights. I wonder if that would solve the issue.

Why not just use battery cells that don't leak? 😉

If someone else who also knows of that poll could find it, that would be interesting and a worthwhile bump.

****Here is the poll I was referring to.**** It was done by Lynx Arc.

Dave

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I think you're in a small minority here, knestle. There was a poll a while back, I can't find it now, but most participants had experienced alkaline battery leaks at some time or another.

Leakage is a good part of why I pretty much quit using alkaline cells 25 years ago, that and their inferior performance under all but light current loads. Nowadays, the LSD NiMH's are an excellent alternative to the already obsolete alkaline chemistry, and leakage is extremely rare with these cells.

Dave

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=218653
the poll had 62% of people experience 1 out of 100 (or less) of their batteries leaking with 34% switching to lithium because of alkaline leakage. This doesn't include those using LSD cells more instead of alkalines.

 

[jayflash]

These bad alkies would have leaked just sitting on a table. Being inside a light usually has no effect, unless a circuit or bad switch constantly draws a small current. I've had new alks leak in the manufacturer's unopened package.

Lights causing alks to lead is a myth, in most cases.

 

[flatline]

These bad alkies would have leaked just sitting on a table. Being inside a light usually has no effect, unless a circuit or bad switch constantly draws a small current. I've had new alks leak in the manufacturer's unopened package.

Lights causing alks to lead is a myth, in most cases.

As I understand it, the more a battery is used, the more likely it is to leak. Fresh batteries stuck in a flashlight and never used for years are less likely to leak than batteries that are used a bit every now and then for several years. This might just be true for carbon zinc batteries where the reactive material is part of the shell, so the more the battery is used, the thinner the shell gets...don't really know.

--flatline

 

[Lite_me]

I've had many, many alkalines leak in various devices over the years. Too numerous to count or even remember.
Oh yeah, it's a reality alright!

 

[Hondo]

I've had many, many alkalines leak in various devices over the years. Too numerous to count or even remember.
Oh yeah, it's a reality alright!

BIG +1 ^

 

[Larbo]

I really dont understand the big backlash against alkalines.
As someone that buys then in 36 and 48 packs at least once a month and sometimes more I have not had a real problem with leakers, the exception being the kid toy let turned on and lost for months, and we have all kinds of toys in addition to mine (gps, portable transceivers etc). Either I have been lucky or not draining the batteries to low has worked out. I even have a 3D cell light that has cell that "expired" a year ago, these cells have about 5 minutes of use on it and yes...the cells will be changed soon. I also never leave partially discharged cells in anything of value.

 

[Marduke]

I really dont understand the big backlash against alkalines.
As someone that buys then in 36 and 48 packs at least once a month and sometimes more I have not had a real problem with leakers, the exception being the kid toy let turned on and lost for months, and we have all kinds of toys in addition to mine (gps, portable transceivers etc). Either I have been lucky or not draining the batteries to low has worked out. I even have a 3D cell light that has cell that "expired" a year ago, these cells have about 5 minutes of use on it and yes...the cells will be changed soon. I also never leave partially discharged cells in anything of value.

How much does each of those mega packs cost you?

Just a couple months worth would easily pay for half a decade's worth of NiMH cells.

Alkalines are about 100 times more expensive in the long run, not counting replacement costs for electronic devices they destroy.