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Dreadful modern batteries

Tony L

Tony L

Administrator
Just a warning really for those who haven’t figured it out yet: modern Duracell, Energiser etc batteries really are absolute crap and often leak within a year or so of being in any equipment even if there is 5-10 years still to elapse on the ‘use by’ date. Today I found a leaked Duracell AAA in a Lego Technic digger I built to annoy the cat with a couple of years back and a couple of months ago an Energiser AAA had shat itself in my Rega CD remote. Both at least half a decade from the ‘use by’ date. Thankfully I got to both fairly earlier so was able to clean the terminals with some vinegar and they are now fine, but just take it as a warning to check everything now and again, and never store or leave anything idle for long with modern batteries installed. No idea if it is Chinese production or just general cost-cutting to blame, but they really are junk. I think I’ll be moving to Panasonic Eneloop rechargeables in the hope they are more stable long-term.

PS For comparison I bought a beautiful 1964 Avo Model 8 MkII bakelite multimeter about 5 years ago. Much to my horror there was a 1960s or early 70s Ever Ready battery still in there, the type with the blue card shell and red/white logo. Not only hadn’t it leaked, it still reads at over a Volt! I kept it as an ornament.
 
Modern Duracells are notorious for this - I usually buy the RS pro alkaline and haven`t had a problem yet, fingers crossed.
 
Is nothing sacred ? Why is there no regulation that they don't leak before the Use By date ? Imagine if supermarket cartons were like that.
 
are they - just had my TV remote tell me its AA duracells were going low. They have been in just over 4 years and seem fine. My AMP remote not used for about 7 years, AAA Dura batteries long worn, but no sign of leaking
 
50779470611_18d39e7ba1_b.jpg


Here’s a comparison of the leaky modern Duracell crap and the batteries I took out of the aforementioned 1964 Avometer, which I guess might actually be original to it (I bought the meter as alleged NOS, it is certainly mint).

PS I can’t blame China either as the Duracell claims to be made in Belgium.
 
Seems related to whether the batteries are fully discharged or not - I have had many Duracell (and Duracell manufactured Costco versions) leak, and most if not all were when they had been fully discharged. I have never experienced a leak from unused Duracells.
 
I had a pair leak badly into an expensive computer mouse last week when in date and still above 1.4 V
Another set destroyed a Cambridge Audio remote, dissolving some tracks on the PCB
 
You were lucky the U2 didn`t leak, that`s how I lost my first torch, aged 10. The B121 was made quite differently, like most of the HT batteries, and lasted much longer without leaking.

My impression is that newer Duracells are worse for leakage than they used to be, though this may just be that as you get older time seems to pass more quickly.
 
Joe P said:
Lithium* is the answer, but I think those batteries are available only in AAA, AA and 9-volt.

Joe

* Must ... not ... make... Star... Trek ... reference.
Click to expand...

I`ve heard you can do something with Lithium that takes it out of this world?
 
I suspect that there are a lot of fake duracells out there, particularly the ones you buy in markets and pound shops. I've had really bad experience of Panasonic branded batteries from B+M which I suspect to be non genuine. They don't leak but seem to just be crap from the get go and can't power a camera. Morrisons own brand seem quite good and research leads me to believe they are genuinely made by Panasonic.
 
Not had any leakages from Duracells either just cool does the design look on that U2 Ever Ready battery. They should bring it back.
 
I bought a couple of sets of Panasonic Eneloop Pro and the matching charger a while back when I bought and refurbished a Sony Walkman Pro after doing so reading and concluding they are about the best performing of the current crop of rechargeable batteries. They’ve certainly been fine so far and I get the impression from a bit of googling now that they can’t actually leak as they don’t actually contain a liquid electrolyte. The worst they can do is sweat a bit at end of charge-life on the charger, which is obviously the time to bin them. I think this is my cue to replace every battery I have with them or the similar non-Pro Eneloops. I’ve just ordered a pack of 8 of those for various remotes. The annoyance is they don’t come in larger sizes, I have a couple of 80s keyboards that use batteries and they are the larger C or D type. I tend just to use a mains adapter or take the batteries out there. I certainly take batteries out of any kit in storage (CD players etc).

Here’s Dave at EEV blog on the case:


PS A couple of other examples that come to mind: I had a Maglite torch that a Duracell took a dump in and swelled up to such a degree I needed to bin it as I couldn’t get the damn thing out. More recently an Energiser AA started leaking in an ancient Sony CRT TV remote (I have the TV set up for old 8 bit computers, BBC B, Spectrum etc). Thankfully I caught that one early and there is no damage to the remote, but it was hugely annoying as they’d only been in there about 3 months! I’m convinced the modern stuff from these brands is utter junk.
 
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I tend to use rechargeable batteries and have good results with most but especially Eneloop which used to be a Sanyo product but are now Panasonic. Are rechargeable batteries less prone to these problems as so far I have yet to discover one that has done a ‘Duracell’?
 
Whaleblue said:
Maybe useful
https://www.thecounterfeitreport.com/product/106/Duracell-Coppertop-AA---AAA-Batteries.html
https://www.thecounterfeitreport.com/product/106/Duracell-Coppertop-AA---AAA-Batteries.html
Click to expand...

Yes, I’ve been worried about that in the past so have always been careful where I buy, e.g. in the Before Times I bought from Asda or Tesco, more recently I bought from Amazon’s Duracell store, i.e. not third-party sellers. Even then I’d not guarantee what I have is legit. To be honest I’m done with both brands now. I’ll migrate to entirely different battery technologies.
 
Snufkin said:
Are rechargeable batteries less prone to these problems as so far I have yet to discover one that has done a ‘Duracell’?
Click to expand...

Apparently so, the Eneloops claim not to have the liquid electrolyte at all, i.e. can’t leak as what leaks out of Duracells and Energisers doesn’t even exist in that technology. I’d like to see more evidence, e.g. a proper tear-down to see exactly what is in one.


Here’s Dave Jones again on fakes and what is inside the typical Energiser, which is horrible wet muddy stuff.
 
colasblue said:
fake duracells
Click to expand...

indeed. I have stopped buying batteries from Amazon Marketplace and Ebay. Had two lots of fake Duracells.

Worst was the fake Nokia phone battery, that started smoldering a few days of insertion, replacement from amazon marketplace swelled up so much the back of the phone popped off.
 
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