AA AAA and small electronics

[Eliot Mess]

Looking for some info/advice...

We all own many small electronics, many/most with batteries that are replaceable.

The kitchen scales. The cheap electric shaver you only use when you run out of blades.
The Laser Measurer. The dictaphone. The travel penlite. The camping headlamp. The other wireless mouse that should be somewhere....

The inevitable scenario is that a few (or more) of these devices, being used only occasionally, fall victim to a battery leaking and critical damage. It's plain that that this must happen, as there is no detection of flatness in a device lying idle. It almost seems like a conspiracy.

It's even happened to me even before the batteries were fully flat... in a TV remote, still working, but one battery crusting and leaking..(onya Duracell China)

I don't think going around with battery tester once a week is at all practical.

What do you do?

[Wombat]

For less frequently used items, i stick a bit of paper between the batteries and terminals, saves them going flat and also prevents leaking.
I've never had a battery leak in frequently used electronics, maybe try Varta, made in Germany and cheap at Bunnings

[Eliot Mess]

For less frequently used items, i stick a bit of paper between the batteries and terminals, saves them going flat and also prevents leaking.
I've never had a battery leak in frequently used electronics, maybe try Varta, made in Germany and cheap at Bunnings

I was going to say.."Good Idea".

I went and opened my LED camping headlight, which had dimmed recently after only two months of occasional use only on the single red lens, and much sooner than the usual 6 months. Still going faintly though.

Inside, the AAAas were coded Mar 2024. One of them had leaked a grey-green paste over an area the size of 10 cents. Aghast, I set about cleaning it out with cottontips. This sludge was 1-2mm thick in places. Underneath it, the plastic shell of the battery compartment was actually digested like broken teeth. I've written a complaint to Duracell.

You see what I am saying? I cannot believe you've never had a battery leak? Ever?

[Wombat]

Yea, ive had a batteries that leaked, but that was in a label maker that wasn't used for a year or so. Which is why i started taking them out/the paper trick.

Your example sounds nasty, I wonder if it was a faulty batch of batteries or the headlamp had a shortcircuit that drained them faster than usual. Only other thing i can think of is if you left the headlamp in the sun or it got hot in another way.

[Eliot Mess]

Yea, ive had a batteries that leaked, but that was in a label maker that wasn't used for a year or so. Which is why i started taking them out/the paper trick.

Your example sounds nasty, I wonder if it was a faulty batch of batteries or the headlamp had a shortcircuit that drained them faster than usual. Only other thing i can think of is if you left the headlamp in the sun or it got hot in another way.

Good thoughts...but it's a bedside unit. Never in the sun. And it was dimly going...so one would not expect a leak.

Q: why do they leak when they are spent?

I just did the paper thing in a TV remote on a TV that's rarely used. It makes good sense.