Battery Leakage

Hi, I would be grateful if you could provide some infor regarding batteyr leakage. Carbon-Zinc batteries leakge is a copperish red colour correct? What colour is battery leakage form alkaline battreries, how acidic is it? Can it damage plastic? What is it's texture?
Thanks a lot for!

I believe leakage from alkalines is basic, not acidic. You can get info on battery chemistry from manufacturer's sites, like Duracell, Energizer, etc.

I had a 3-D Mag that had leaked pretty badly, eating away a lot of the aluminum in the tube. I dissolved the corrosion with Coka-Cola, which is very acidic. There was too much metal gone though, and the light was useless.

The whitish corrosion itself was a chemical combination of the battery "juices" and the aluminum of the light. It was flaky but some of it was really stuck to the metal. About like white rust.

Another light that went trasho was a Pelican dive light. After several years of storage with a forgotten pair of batteries inside, the plastic became extremely weak and the switch broke off. They didn't leak liquid, so I assume it was a gas problem of some sort. No corrosion or discoloration, just chemically messed up plastic.

Scott

alkaline is opposite of acidic. acids have a PH of less than 7 while alkaline substances have a PH of more than 7 with water being about PH7 in pure form. Most alkaline battery leakage tends to end up looking powerdery white but I have had some that was liquid. Typically liquid alkalines are greasy slippery feeling while acids are more squeaky grippy feeling if they don't feel like they are burning you that is. Both can be harmful and corrode/eat most metals in concentrated form.... but for the most part alkaline cells tend to be a little less problematic when leaking than heavy duty cells... perhaps partially because they cost more to make and possibly higher quality in construction although latley I have noticed energizer AA alkalines no longer seem to be steel cases but have an metallic like sticker tape wrapped around them which if caught right can be peeled off somewhat.

Thank you very much for the info. I was told that alkalines do not leak but this is obviously not true. Something else I neglected to ask, does leakage from heavy duties eats away paper? A strange question but I have suffered a lot of electronical equipment damage from heavy duties in the past so when I do not use a flashlight I store the batteries in a carton. Still I wont to know if this is likely to contain the electrolyte in case of leakage. Thanks again
Themis

It is best to store batteries in plastic as paper/cardboard can literally wick the leaking electrolyte to the surface around it if the cell leaks. I have had alkalines leak liquid when nearly/fully disharged and it is as messy as heavy duty cells. Heavy duty cells tend to leak more often than alkalines but honestly I don't think anyone has figured out which cells/brands leak more or less than another.

My guess is generally alkalines leak considerably less often than heavy duty of similar quality/brand. When in doubt put the batteries in a plastic bag within the carton. You can use a ziplock if you wish also. I tend to store batteries in plastic boxes/drawers myself so I can readily inspect them to see condition and amount to know if I need to buy more.

Also don't store batteries in expensive lights for extended periods of time... perhaps anything over 4-6 months. I keep batteries in cheap 2D and 6v lanterns and pull them out of my expensive nice lights when I don't use them for several months. You can always grab the cheap incan or LED light just long enough to load up your uber lights with fresh cells.

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Themis said:
Thank you very much for the info. I was told that alkalines do not leak but this is obviously not true. Something else I neglected to ask, does leakage from heavy duties eats away paper? A strange question but I have suffered a lot of electronical equipment damage from heavy duties in the past so when I do not use a flashlight I store the batteries in a carton. Still I wont to know if this is likely to contain the electrolyte in case of leakage. Thanks again
Themis

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if you have destroyed by battery electronics, and have used primo name brand batteries, and live in the US, read the battery label.
used to be long ago in a far off land of quality and responcibility, Ray-O-Vac would fix or replace a unit that was damaged by thier batteries.

they fixed one and replaced another for me, stuff that thier battery certannly did damage, and it only cost me shipping to them.
it was a long time ago, before rechargables replaced that stuff for me.

There was a time, maybe 10 years ago, when premium alkaline cells had a steel jacket. They never leaked. I have some gadgets with 15 year old Energizers and there is no leakage.

It appears that Energizer and Duracell have ditched the full metal jacket in their idiotic quest for the last milliamp-hour. Now all exhausted Energizer and Duracells leak... they leak quickly and they leak predictably.

I've had good luck with Ray-O-Vac cells when I forget to change out the batteries.

Somebody needs to tell the suits at Duracell and Energizer that capacity is important but not everything. I especially like my one-of-a-kind electronic creations and it would be nice not to get slimed by the power source.

I buy only Ray-O-Vac now. They're way less expensive too...