Question about Laundry...

[Mundele]

Yes, it's battery related. Went camping. Had a spare Energizer AAA lithium cell in my pocket (brand new, backup battery). Forgot to take it out. Washed the clothes and when I took them out of the dryer I found it. So I expected it to be fully drained, after floating around in the soapy water for 20 minutes. The battery seems fine.

Why didn't the soapy water short the battery out and let it drain itself?

--Matt

 

[MarioJP]

Water does not conduct electricity very well especially at those very low voltages. I would be concern about the contacts becoming corroded if not dry. You could say that the water acts as a super high resistance to a 1.5 volt battery.

 

[drmaxx]

Just to add some additional explanation: Besides the fact, that even soapy water has quite some resistance, no electrons are flowing at low voltages. Water does not conduct free electrons and 1.7 V is generally not enough to induce electrolysis.

 

[45/70]

While it's not recommended to "wash" your batteries in with the laundry, I find that, in particular, my LF-2 and MJP Extreme III's, which frequently are missed during the "pocket check", always come out "sparkling"!

Dave

 

[Illum]

You could say that the water acts as a super high resistance to a 1.5 volt battery.

pure water yes, a little sprinkle of salts [really any form will do, NaCl, KCl, etc] the contacts on the battery will be eaten up by currosion is a day or so, not to mention heating up:candle: