reclaiming alkaline (and other) cells

Dave_H

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For about the last dozen years I have been scavenging battery recycle depots at various places
I have worked; and now have several years' supply of partially-used but still useful alkalines: AAA, AA
C,D, 9v and some lantern batteries. They are being used in a host of small LED devices: lanterns,
flashlights, nightlights, motion-detector lights; and other devices such as FM radio, small amplified
speaker, smoke alarms, digital multimeters, calculators, remotes, wireless mice, and more...

Cells are triaged bypassing those obviously corroded/leaking or damaged. The rest are checked with
voltmeter, usually keeping anything above 1v. Cells are rinsed, dried, somewhat sorted and bagged.
I even keep zinc-carbon if they are good. Hands are washed of course; cheap disposable gloves can be used.

Sounds like a lot of bother? Perhaps but the outcome is worth it to me.

What I find is a bit surprising. Many cells are well used but lots in the 1.2v-1.4v range (no load).
I see a good mix of name-brand plus secondary brands. Some appear virtually new (1.59v). My theory
is that people don't use battery testers much, get used and new cells mixed up but just toss the lot
and get new ones. I'm pretty sure cell vendors don't mind this as it sells more product, and takes
advantage of recycling programs which don't cost them anything.

I've developed a knack of which cells get used in which devices to extract most remaining life,
then they go to recycling. High drain devices including toys are part of the reason these cells
go out, I usually avoid (unless the cells are "new"). Some small lights using boost converters can
take cells well below 1v. Series arrangements can do this; light level decreases but this
is managed.

A 6v lantern battery typically down to 4-5v is used to power small LED desk lamp which is designed
for 4.2v supply. I can take it down to less the 3v where light is rather dim but fine as a nightlight.

As cells get run down so far there is issue of leakage. It does happen and sometimes makes a
bit of a mess. Most times it can be cleaned up. Many of the LED devices are low-cost and not the
end of the world if lost, but I keep an eye on things, try to be pre-emptive. Once battery terminals
get corroded past a certain point, device operation ceases or becomes unreliable, so I have lost
a few items, but overall not bad (I recently replaced corroded battery spring in a small LED lamp
and it is back to life).

Why do I do this? It's not that I can't afford buying new cells, but would rather not, as ones
perfectly good are going to recycle (or worse, landfill) before their time. It costs energy and time
to recycle, so getting the most out of something matters.

I also use a fair number of rechargeable cells, and battery packs in equipment. Many NiMH
recovered from recycle are usually somewhat weaker than new. Many do not want to charge
properly in NiMH fast-chargers (another battery vendor advantage) but I use slower chargers and
run them successfully in lower-drain devices. Dead/unusable ones go to recycle.

In the last dozen years I met one lady who was reusing alkaline cells, but not on my scale;
any nobody else. She stopped after converting to rechargeables.

Dave
 

Katherine Alicia

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I used to do something similar (and still use zombie lights) to drain every last watt of power out the cells. In out local hospitals cardiology unit, they have 24 hour portable cardio monitor/recorders that get used daily by different patients, by law they are only allowed to use the batteries once then they must be thrown away, or sold 10 at a time for a £1 to me! :D
they`re Duracell Pro batts and as good as new, these monitor things don`t use much power at all, I used them for nearly a decade before going 100% rechargable and Solar.
I think Anything we can do to help save the planet is a great idea! no matter how small.
 

archimedes

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I think that the net damage from leaks tends to outweigh the net gain from this kind of salvage :thinking: :shrug:

I use so few alkalines now, that I even have difficulty "using up" the inevitable and unwanted cells included with items purchased new :(
 

Katherine Alicia

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you need to make some zombie lights, then it doesn`t matter :)
here`s one I just this sec took off the book shelf next to me:

zombie-light.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

it uses a single D cell batt holder, and E10 mes bulb holder, a 33uH inductor and a QX5252 chip, then pick whatever e10 emitter you like. this will run on a D cell 24 hours a day for over a week! you can do the same with any single battery cell holder too, put it in plasic lid or a saucer then who cares if it leaks! LOL :D
 

badtziscool

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My wife keeps a bin of used alkaline batteries from various things like our kids toys, remotes, etc. One day I decided to see how many of these batteries were actually drained and to my surprise, half of them were above 1.4v. My guess is that some of the toys uses multiple cells and if one or two of the cells are drained, the toy ceases to function and thus all of the cells get replaced. Meaning the cells that still have good power are thrown out as well. I salvaged them and now I use these cells in some cheap AA lights that I don't care if the cells leak in them. It's kind of a satisfying though knowing that I'm not throwing away perfectly good cells.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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I think that the net damage from leaks tends to outweigh the net gain from this kind of salvage :thinking: :shrug:

I use so few alkalines now, that I even have difficulty "using up" the inevitable and unwanted cells included with items purchased new :(

+1
Keeping alkaleaks around just isn't worth it. Even new alkalines leak, and then get goo all over the other "good" cells being stored together. And if you're using alkaleaks in devices, you will eventually ruin the device with a leak.

Eneloops cost less than a penny per cycle. It's just not worth the hassle and risk of dealing with alkaleaks to save a penny.
 

Dave_H

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+1
Keeping alkaleaks around just isn't worth it. Even new alkalines leak, and then get goo all over the other "good" cells being stored together. And if you're using alkaleaks in devices, you will eventually ruin the device with a leak.

Eneloops cost less than a penny per cycle. It's just not worth the hassle and risk of dealing with alkaleaks to save a penny.


I anticipated this reaction from some. So the people who don't like (or hate) alkalines
can continue to do so, and I will continue tapping into a nearly-free resource. To me,
opinions matter but the up-votes or down-votes don't.

I've used rechargeables since NiCd AA capacity was 450mAh. These days I use NiCd and
NiMH, some primary Lithium (AA), lead-acid (gel-cells), and 18650's plus all solar garden lights
are rechargeable.

I'd have almost no need for alkalines except to benefit from other people's wastage, but get
satisfaction knowing the product is fully used before going to recycle (or landfill as the case may
have been). Just one more facet of a toss-away society and a bit of an eye-opener for me.

Rechargeable alkalines and recharging primary alkalines was tried and the return was marginal
at best, at least I know what to expect.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Would rather talk about some of the fun/interesting uses...

A number of the small yet useful LED devices come from the dollar store (here typically $1.25 plus tax)
so the dollar loss is minimal from leakage; yet it doesn't happen that often if an eye is kept on things.
I've learned how to minimize and mitigate.

Similarly some items come from second-hand stores, including nice 3-4 C or D lanterns
for typically around $5; same story. Some have incan flange-base bulbs which can be replaced with
LED drop-in. Some have suffered from leakage in which case they are usually left behind, depending on
the item and whether it looks salvagable.

I use solar garden light with plastic cover and battery hatch removed, flipped upside down so a cell
can be easily popped in and out. Those with on/off switch are a bonus. Makes a nice night-light. I've even
attached a 2D holder to one of these and run cells well below 1v, as the light itself is designed for
around 1.2v total.

People have fun with Joule Thief to run cells down; I have not made one yet.

Dave
 
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Dave_H

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Oddly it seems those who dislike alkalines so much and I are actually somewhat on the same side.

People who don't use alkalines are lowering consumption, and I'm advocating for lower usage due to
less wastage.

Seems like it may be lost on a lot of people amount of energy and other resources needed to mine, manufacture,
package, ship, sell, and later recycle (or landfill) the product.

As a side benefit of this exercise, I get to justify (as if I need to) acquiring all sorts of small LED devices
to use up the cells, in the process getting a good idea which of them perform better a lower voltages. Sort
of interesting that a lot of recovered "good" cells are in the range 1.2v-1.3v which leads me to wonder how well
the devices these cells were used in would perform with rechargeables.

I can think of several use cases where rechargeables don't do so well: C, D, 9v, and lantern batteries;
plus a bunch of smaller, special types which account for low overall volume.

Dave
 

Katherine Alicia

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to be honest I would never buy another primary cell if I didn`t have to, and would never use an alkaleak in something I valued (unless it was a closely monitored experiment, such as the C01 testing), but sticking them in cheapo battery holders and trying all sorts of different zombie circuits is kinda fun. I`m pretty much at the stage Archimedes is at when he said:
I even have difficulty "using up" the inevitable and unwanted cells included with items purchased new :(

in fact that D cell in the pic above is out of my old doorbell (I swapped it out for an 18650 in a battery holder with croc clips), but I just Know that somewhere along the line I`ll probably end up with some more again, only Now I have a guilt free way of using them :)

as a sidenote, I also do exactly the same to my Li-ion batts when it`s the end of their life, I totally discharge them in the same way, thank them for their service and off to recyc they go!
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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I can think of several use cases where rechargeables don't do so well: C, D, 9v, and lantern batteries;
plus a bunch of smaller, special types which account for low overall volume.

I use plastic holders to convert AA Eneloops into C and D size. Not the best capacity, but better than wasting money on alkalines, IMO.

I even use 9v NiMH batteries (Tenergy Centura) in smoke alarms. I just have to make sure I recharge them twice a year (when the clocks change), because they're not really LSD (despite what Tenergy claims). Though, it's probably not worth it, with the 9v batteries.
 

Katherine Alicia

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I even use 9v NiMH batteries (Tenergy Centura) in smoke alarms. I just have to make sure I recharge them twice a year (when the clocks change), because they're not really LSD (despite what Tenergy claims). Though, it's probably not worth it, with the 9v batteries.

I`m sure everything you`re doing is fine and you`ve tested it, but Please be careful doing this, these 9v batts don`t run down like regular batts, they just go dead! giving you absolutely No audible warning from your fire alarm.
it`s exactly the reason I can`t use them in my Psion projects, they just go dead and I lose the contents of RAM without the warning that I would get with a regular batt.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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Yes, I know how long they last (about a year before going dead), so there's plenty of extra time. The detector is supposed to beep when they get low, but I've never tried them that long. Not sure if it would beep for very long, given that they'll be almost depleted at that point. Detectors are definitely made for alkalines, and it's the one thing I'd consider going back to alkaleaks for.
 

Katherine Alicia

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yeah I figured you`de have looked into it, but it`s worth noting that these things go from a perfect 9v to 0v instantly, there`s no 8.5v or such, the boost circuit simply cuts out when the LiPo cell gets too low, there would be no beep from anything.
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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yeah I figured you`de have looked into it, but it`s worth noting that these things go from a perfect 9v to 0v instantly, there`s no 8.5v or such, the boost circuit simply cuts out when the LiPo cell gets too low, there would be no beep from anything.

Well, these are NiMH batteries, with 7 "AAAA" cells inside the 9v case. So, they generally stay around 8v-9v for most of their life, but will grind down to a few volts before they're fully depleted. There's no sudden cut-off, like the 9v cells that use a lithium-ion battery inside with a boost circuit. I think the smoke detectors start beeping low voltage around 7v-8v, but I've never ran them down that far.
 

Dave_H

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I have not bought any alkalines in the better part of a decade, except special types like small cylindrical
12v used in remotes, and button cells. Everything else is courtesy of their former owners.

Personally I avoid rechargeable 9v in any smoke detector. Besides, busy using up a bunch of Eveready "gold" 9v
(hate to think how much they sell for). Many tested as high as 9.6v, virtually new.

Early "9v" NiCd were typically only 7 cells so not truly 9v. Charging/discharging seven series cells eventually
(sooner rather than later) leads to one shorting, which is the end of it. I never got close to 1,000 or even 500 cycles.

Alkaline/zinc-carbon 9v consist of 6 AAAA's (or something very close) in series.

Rechargeable C and D in the NiCd days were either half-empty with low capacity (you can tell by light weight)
or very heavy if they had anywhere decent capacity. NiMH these days are somewhat better but overpriced for what you
get usually; almost nobody seems to use them. You just have to look at how few C/D chargers are on the
shelves.

I tried C and D adapter shells with AAs and they do work but as noted with limited capacity; may go back to
these once I use up the shoebox full of D's. There are good 4D cell adapters around to use in place of square lantern
battery, regardless of D cell type used.

I've run down numerous alkaline cells to below 0.5v and most did not leak, in the short-term usage pattern.
Most of the problems seem to come from leaving stuff around and not checking it often enough.

Dave
 

Lynx_Arc

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There have been dozens of threads where people "rescued" lost power from used alkaleaks. Back when rechargeables were either unobtainium or too expensive and underperformed vs alkaleaks and LEDs were nowhere near as efficient as today I would drain primaries to next to zero energy in them. Fast forward to today and you have LEDs that use 1/5 (or less) energy as those back when alkaleaks were king and rechargeables have gone from 1200mah AA nimh to 3500mah 18650s the "need" to rescue those lost lumens is about 1/50th what it was back then plus add in lights with many low modes to the mix and you end up wasting a lot of time for very little real savings. If you are truly concerned about the environment the best thing to do with all that time spent is to work and make money and buy chargers and rechargeable batteries for someone and educate them on proper use. It is sort of like fishing for someone to feed them vs teaching them how to fish themselves IMO.
I've had my fill with leakalines throughout my life the time wasted cleaning up after them and tossing batteries with less than 5% of the energy used because they spewed their guts in something costing 100 times more than the battery that threw up does is not worth me NOT recharging an 18650 or other battery a dozen times for a fraction of a cent.
 

Katherine Alicia

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If you are truly concerned about the environment the best thing to do with all that time spent is to work and make money and buy chargers and rechargeable batteries for someone and educate them on proper use. It is sort of like fishing for someone to feed them vs teaching them how to fish themselves IMO.

I do that too :D
 

Dave_H

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you need to make some zombie lights, then it doesn`t matter :) here`s one I just this sec took off the book shelf next to me: it uses a single D cell batt holder, and E10 mes bulb holder, a 33uH inductor and a QX5252 chip, then pick whatever e10 emitter you like. this will run on a D cell 24 hours a day for over a week! you can do the same with any single battery cell holder too, put it in plasic lid or a saucer then who cares if it leaks! LOL :D
A bit sad that a lot of people can't speak about alkalines in anything other than the derogatory. Anyway, an interesting site with solar garden light devices/circuits which should work on primary or rechargeable cells: https://skootsone.yolasite.com/solar-led.php Dave
 
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