Leaking IKEA Ladda AAA 900

[Aurora Jackalis]

Hi guys,

Will all rechargeable batteries leak eventually?
10 years?
20?

Or did I just get unlucky?

Thanx

 

[LRJ88]

I reckon you just got really unlucky with it. You haven't noticed the bottom being dented or anything before this? This looks pretty unlike most leaked cells i've seen, it's leaking from the completely sealed end too.

 

[AstroTurf]

w0w, talk about some batteries that haven't had a charge in a while...

how often did you check/use this device? 20 years or so?

looks nasty.

no one to blame but the device operator, imo.

Jim

 

[Aurora Jackalis]

how often did you check/use this device? 20 years or so?

It's an old toy. It's been a year or two.

no one to blame but the device operator, imo.

Why's that?

You haven't noticed the bottom being dented or anything before this?

Nope. Nothing different.

 

[AstroTurf]

It's an old toy. It's been a year or two.

Why's that?

Nope. Nothing different.

rechargeable battery devices and care dictates more frequent inspections and charging than 1 to 2 years...

more like every 6 months.

hope you are able to save your toy.

 

[LRJ88]

rechargeable battery devices and care dictates more frequent inspections and charging than 1 to 2 years...

more like every 6 months.

hope you are able to save your toy.

Care and maintenance aside, a NIMH cell leaking from the bottom isn't very common, especially not to this degree. That'd be if there's any typ of short causing initial microarcing as well which can indicate larger issues.

 

[letschat7]

I had an Apple AA leak while I was away in prison. They are all rebadged Eneloops.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

The only NiMh battery i have ever seem leak were some offbrand D cells, I have hundreds of AA, AAA and a dozen C and D and a few PP3(9V), they normally don't leak unless severely overcharged, especially with the smart chargers we have today.

when i first started using rechargeable 30+ years ago, they were all NiCd and the chargers were super dumb and simply charged for a fixed amount of time regardless if the battery were already full, leading to the wrappers melting, almost every NiCd battery use to leak with white crystals on the positive end after a few years.

 

[cave dave]

I wonder if the corrosion was from a previous Alkaline leak that went unnoticed when swapping batteries?

 

[letschat7]

Here was a leaked one.

 

[snakebite]

Looks like crud left behind from an alkaleak.
They leak from the negative end.
Any leakage from nicd/nimh would come from the positive.
Short of a flaw on the can.
And nicad nimh dont rust springs.
Greenish to white deposits that mostly just brush off

 

[cave dave]

These are the only leaking NiMh I've seen, and as Snakebite said they leaked grey fluff out the positive button end.
Note they leaked in the storage box shown.

 

[TPA]

I've used eneloops since 2005 and no leakage. I easily have between 100-200 of them here. Some are very badly abused in applications where alkalines are guaranteed to leak, but no leakage of the eneloops.

 

[Aurora Jackalis]

Care and maintenance aside, a NIMH cell leaking from the bottom isn't very common, especially not to this degree. That'd be if there's any typ of short causing initial microarcing as well which can indicate larger issues.

Would this microarcing be found anywhere within the toy's circuitry? Or at the battery contact point only? You've got me thinking.

If an alkaline battery had previously leaked could it have reduced the conductivity of the terminal (spring). Could this be the the cause of the microarcing you're referring to?

I've always wondered about only cleaning the terminal til it works vs doing the best job you can.

 

[Aurora Jackalis]

The only NiMh battery i have ever seem leak were some offbrand D cells, I have hundreds of AA, AAA and a dozen C and D and a few PP3(9V), they normally don't leak unless severely overcharged, especially with the smart chargers we have today.

I use the Nitecore D4 as it was recommended on this forum to be the best at the time of purchase.

 

[Aurora Jackalis]

I wonder if the corrosion was from a previous Alkaline leak that went unnoticed when swapping batteries?

Couldn't be because the device doesn't work now. It worked previously.

It's possible that previously there was a very minor alkaline leak that left residue. Could that chemically cause a problem with a rechargeable?

 

[Aurora Jackalis]

Looks like crud left behind from an alkaleak.
They leak from the negative end.
Any leakage from nicd/nimh would come from the positive.
Short of a flaw on the can.
And nicad nimh dont rust springs.
Greenish to white deposits that mostly just brush off

It couldn't have been that bad. The toy wouldn't have worked. At the least I'd have removed any liquid leak with an ear cleaner.

 

[Aurora Jackalis]

I've used eneloops since 2005 and no leakage. I easily have between 100-200 of them here. Some are very badly abused in applications where alkalines are guaranteed to leak, but no leakage of the eneloops.

When are alkaline guaranteed to leak?

 

[LRJ88]

Would this microarcing be found anywhere within the toy's circuitry? Or at the battery contact point only? You've got me thinking.

If an alkaline battery had previously leaked could it have reduced the conductivity of the terminal (spring). Could this be the the cause of the microarcing you're referring to?

I've always wondered about only cleaning the terminal til it works vs doing the best job you can.

Previous gunk can definitely have done it, if any old stuff was left in there it could have sped up the corrosion of the bottom of the new cell. Microarcing would more be semi-poor contact with the cell moving around and causing it to etch into the bottom.

 

[fulee9999]

just to add one more theory, the contacts of the toy could have been made from something that is prone to corrosion so in reality the contacts went and while oxidizing they rusted the batteries. I had something similar happen in a different application, where a lagscrew was made out of prime chinesium and after a few weeks the silver candycoat wore away and rust started streaming down the connection.