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- Опубликовано: 25 дек 2019
- Testing 7 different brands of AA Alkaline batteries in two different configurations over 10 months to see if they leak. Duracell, Energizer, Varta, Panasonic, Fujitsu,
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Now I'm thinking that the best test might be some small $2 farting novelty gadget that takes two AA's that has a small standby current. I could get dozens of these on AliExpress and run various combinations.
Product recommendations?
And perhaps, rather than run different brands, take the most notorious brand (Duracell) and just test those to discover the best mechanism for leakage FIRST, before testing all the brands?
I was thinking one of those solar lights with a joule thief circuit. That way you have all the worst conditions. Most die in months due to the battery rotting away any exposed metals.
Maybe some cheap wireless doorbell that will have a really small standby current ?
@@Mr.Unacceptable These are based on YX8018, they do not have that low of a working voltage. Three batteries in series might be a bit wasteful... You probably want something that can go diode low...
Would you stick a lithium battery in mix I have never had one leak and they are the only battery type I use in my test gear. Something like the energiser ultimate lithium battery’s
Non contact voltage probe?
The problem is that the cells are not in something valuable. Put them in a $100 meter and they will leak in no time.
This, and old pinball machines.
Something forgotten, high value, stored on concrete floor, in the bottom box in a stack of boxes.
Duracells took out my 121GW :(
Needs to be in something that is no longer manufactured and is therefore irreplaceable.
@@erlendse calm down satan
Murphy's Law dictates batteries will only leak in expensive equipment
Steve Taylor Only leak, not power it?
You mean "...leak only in expensive equipment."
I had them leak in a volt meter, scale, remote control, flashlight, a light that you place on your head with straps, pretty much anything that takes AA or AAA batteries. They lead even if they haven't been installed yet.
I put lithium primary batteries in my multi meters and anything else that does a lot of sitting and has a stupid screw in the battery cover. Because they will never leak.
@elnubnub really ?! You aren't a service engineer, are you ?....otherwise you would know better
I dunnno... I had some of these Chinesium Duracells leak on me IN STORAGE.
Maybe Murphy has two parts here, the second of which is "The battery will have leaked if you're down to your last 4 cells and it's 1:00am"
Anecdotally, I've had a significantly higher percentage of Duracells leak than other brands. Interestingly I've had the original Eastman Kodak alkaline AA cell in my alarm clock (Timex Indiglo) for the past ~25 years and it still works just fine. I just checked and it's down to 1.32 volts. The clock obviously has an extremely low current draw!
Wow, calculate the effective self discharge % rate on that for comparison...
@@EEVblog [edited to add more detail:] It's something like half a percent per year. And that's not even just self-discharge: that cell has been powering the clock continuously that whole time, including the transflective LCD and most of that time the alarm 5 days a week. I use the "Indiglo" EL backlight semi-frequently. I'm blown away by both the clock and the AA cell.
Hah... I used to work for Kodak and recently found a box of about 30 AA Kodak batteries from at least 1993, that was the date on the order ticket still in the box. They are all good (above 1.48v) and put 12 of them in my game camera and its been humming away for 3 weeks.
This. I use Duracell Procell for work. Around 100 a year. They are terrible for leaking. I use them because the performance/price is good but jeez you need to keep an eye on them.
There is a battery in the CPU section of my HP8566B spectrum analyser that has a date code on 1990 I believe. When I measured it in circuit last year it was still at its full marked voltage. It is soldered in circuit but I decided not to change it because it has no sign of corrosion and I'm not totally sure that a newer one would be any better. You can still buy the exact same battery on DigiKey even today.
Visit a recycling centre and look in the bins of used batteries. You'll be able to find the 'leakiest' brands since there'll be thousands to check.
At first sight this is the only recommendation to be taken serious. But unluckily you won't find out what they did and how long it took until they leaked. In most cases it takes years until they leak. All those esoteric claims like 'the device was not expensive or important enough' are dull. Modern cells leak due to age or to manufacturing faults. The cells are kind of 'made to corrode'. If they leak, the outer shell was not sturdy enough to hold back the liquids. That's all. Probably all the 'esoterics' opened their ‚valuable devices' after years, just then they recognised they should have been taking out the batteries back then. The only way to protect your device is to take those damn batteries out, as most of the manuals keep recommending.
@@pasixty6510 I got you one. I put Sunbeam brand batteries in remotes in the past and found them leaking less than 6 months time. You can pay a dollar for 4 AAA or AA at the dollar tree but the Duracell brand shown on the video got me worried.
You could sort them by the "good until" date that's been printed on most batteries for about ten years now (maybe longer).
@@pasixty6510 That is, of course, the only solution. However, I can argue that if one has to continually remove batteries, the batteries (and/or the devices) are poorly engineered. Imagine having to drain the gas out of the tank of the car nightly just to be sure it does not corrode the tank or clog the lines. No, they use better engineering with cars ... they design them to be sent to the crusher in 10 years so you don't have to worry about bad fuel. With batteries, the problem may solve itself as the devices are becoming obsolete so quickly that bad batteries are becoming irrelevant.
@@thaddeusmcgrath Unfortunately, evidence seems to show that Duracells are generally most likely to leak. I think that's because they strive to offer the highest capacity possible (and succeded in that), but they have to sacrifice longevity for that. Unfortunately Duracells are just what you get at many electronic stores when you buy battery-powered equipment and get batteries to go along with it... or at least that was when there were still Super-8 cameras and microcassette recorders for dictating which have now been replaced by your smartphone or other devices powered by built-in rechargeable batteries.
To be fair... to be fair... they say may leak when charged so technically...
Edit: Why not use a joule thief circuit with a led? You´ll also know when it´s ready ;-)
Not a bad idea.
or a Butterizer?
I was also thinking about the joule thief. (Something I just learned of). I have never measured a AA (or any battery, for that matter) and discovered it went negative. I would not have even thought that possible. (I am NOT an expert; sorry Dave!). This is very interesting. I will be sure to follow this. There are viewers that know.
@@jlucasound it only happens when cells are in series (which is the most usual configuration) and is a good way to destroy rechargeable batteries. It's worse when you have more than 2 cells in a battery pack and one of the reasons why you should never let rechargeable packs discharge too low
@@jlucasound Actually I had a CR2032 that was wired directly to a motherboard go REVERSE voltage for some odd reason. Couldn't be the motherboard...
Duracell has been complete shit for the last 5+ years.... Everybody on the internet has noticed, all my kids toys had ALL of their duracells leak. Switched to Kirkland (Costco brand), and have had zero problems since.
Surprise, Kirkland *ARE* Duracell batteries in a different wrapper...
@@Flying0Dismount I know they're made by Duracell, at their factory, but my understanding is that they're not the same chemistry.
Kirkland are duracells
I have never had a kirkland leak and i have had so many duracells leak that i quit using them. May be made in the same factory, but they use a different species of frog legs and bat wings in their secret brews.
@@eugenes9751 I've seen the Kirkland cells leak as well-in fact, they started to get lousy at about the same time as the Duracells starting going downhill(which makes sense, as they are both made by the same company).
I appreciate the 10 months you waited to follow-up on this. That's commitment!
I have noticed over the years (decades, actually) that single cells tend not to leak but when 2 or more are in series that the most-negative terminal will start to leak first. Vinegar works really well at cleaning up the crusty Potassium Carbonate crystals (followed by a weak Sodium Bicarbonate solution to neutralize the acid of the vinegar). A tiny smear of petroleum jelly on the negative end will help stop the corrosive welding (but don't get the jelly all over the place--it is slightly conductive). Silicone grease also works but is more expensive (and non-conductive, so that's good). Find it in the plumbing section. I've had the best luck (lack of leaks) with Panasonic batteries.
it says on the label; may leak if charged, that's why a single cells don't leak because it can't recharge itself. If there's another cell or if the electronics can hold charges then it will recharge the weaker battery, hence causing it to leak.
That is, may be, partially true but not sure I have lost couple of my Logitech wireless mouse due to rusted battery in it and this mouse uses only one battery. but believe it or not, all of them were Duracell which leaked badly and I have been using Energizer since then. It's a typical issue one just can't predict. May be if the product stays idle and not moving for long time then it leaks perhaps ? yes of course battery chemistry could be the main reason. It's always disturbing when you find your costly gadget is destroyed due to battery leakage.
i built a 2-transistor joule thief once that made single cells leak without fail. ...it might be theyre just more resilient to it.
Which doesn't explain leaking battery still wrapped in the retail package.
I remember as a kid cleaning out the springs on a toy when the batteries had leaked. My face was far away, but of coarse a little piece flung off when the spring “twanged” and went straight into my eye. That hurt! I was smart enough to flush it out...
Of course the Duracells were guaranteed to fuckup the expensive device.
Vince I ‘to fuck up*’. “Fuckup” is a noun.
Duracells are horrible indeed. I always dispose of these turds right off the bat.
Been dealing with them since they were known as Mallory (1969). The would actually leak in the store battery display back then. I constantly find them leaking and destroying gear to this day. Just got in a Marantz recorder where they not only leaked but the fumes ate away half the PCB and a couple of microphones where they leaked and destroyed the electret elements. Avoid like the plague!
@@RuneTheFirst I think there's a direct correlation between the amount of advertising and how garbage a product is. ESPECIALLY Duracell.
@@RuneTheFirst Honestly, where I live (Eastern Europe) they only went down the schmitter a few years ago. The latest "Belgian" ones are weak, nasty feeling, light like feathers and oh yeah they leak more often than any other half decent model.
Actually I'm feelin they all went to moot this decade. What I could be judging them by is Wii accesories. A matter of a whole season vs 1 month vs 2 weeks tops, it's that crazy. And yeah I used to play very regularly until recently so the margin of error isn't outta this planet. Almost 10 yrs ago, we had Energizer Ultimates which held up real good, adequate standard Energizers, Philipses that never lasted long no matter the "tier" ("Ultra", Standard, whatevs), Duracells before the "Turbo Max" crap that were okay and others of various quality. And I think Varta was of a legendary level back then - yeah not too long ago.
Fast forward to 2016 - got a promo bucket of Varta High Energies or whatever, "Made in Germany" all that stuff from Sweden. They a) lasted like schmit b) had metal SO SOFT it's hilarious 😂 a 30cm drop would create a pretty substantial dent
Energizer went to crap as well... so did Duracell. Not too much trust in Panasonics either (earlier Evoltas were fine afaik)... the "Standards" feel like Duracell rebrands after all, same Belgian production... and the "Evoltas" come from Poland now 😹 no U.S.A. no Japan no nuthin'. Aerocells from Lidl are decent - for the price! - and have been claimed to be Varta rebrands. So yeah, the "premium" products leveled down to the "meh" ones, and those either stood at their "meh" ground or dropped even further... Stocking up on GPs now to be honest, they're AT LEAST affordable.
Every occasion where a battery has leaked on me has been a Duracell that I can remember. I don't know why I still use them. Anecdotal I know, but my sample size is a good ten or fifteen occasions, 100% Duracell.
Edit: Can you measure the current draw in your probe, or a remote control?
Duracell has a giant ad dollar dump too and tries to 1-up their competition. Oops! 🤭
Duracell's 100% guaranteed to destroy anything you put them in in my extensive experience.
He has already reported anecdotal evidence of batteries leaking unconnected in their separate packaging. Though slow that may be the appropriate load for alkaline leakage.
Until you start buying another brand, you're only ever going to get duracells leaking 😉
@@2lefThumbs You slowly learn your lesson over the years as you stumle across TV remote's and such that have had their insides destroyed. Duracell never used to be this bad. I'd say this is simply the ols' bait and switch - live on your past name but sell a much, much shitier product.
Well timed with the Project Farm video.
Wait a second... This Project Farm video has an accent...
LOVE IT
Happy Christmas and new year Dave! Your videos are the best! Now to enjoy the video.
Perhaps drained too quickly? No charge = no leak? All of my leaks have occurred during standby, which should much less than 50mA.
Yes, I mentioned that. I was too impatient with this test and was hoping for a quicker result.
@@EEVblog I also belive that a much slower discharge rate might be the key. I remember the TV remote control of my grandparents. They used counterfeit Duracells that were sitting in that control for two years and had grown some spectacular crystal structures. You have to imagine, they only used the remote control to switch the TV on/off and make it louder once a day. If you integrate that current, you have a very low discharge rate.
But I think that short bursts of about 20mA should do the trick. I imagine a non uniform electrolyte in the battery at that burst, that has to uniform by molecular changes (cycling of the stuff inside). (I'm absolutely no battery expert but it sounds logical to me).
Also: keep up the good work :)
@@EEVblog And I was too impatient to wait for the end of the video before I commented. :) Sorry about that.
Duracell procell that's supposed Industrial battery for Duracell leaks all the time. I'm talking about if you leave your flashlight on within two days you'll have liquid coming out of it. I'm not kidding. I'd be more than happy to send you a brand new box of them for a test. USA Michigan.
@@jim9930 Want to try that again in English? 🤔
In addition to lower current draw, I'd try wrapping them in plastic wrap to seal in any corrosive vapors. I don't know that there are any vapors, but just in case, that would better replicate the conditions of a battery compartment. Maybe try raising the humidity in a test chamber. I'm not a battery expert, but I suspect showing them videos of sexy batteries might help.
I'm far from a battery authority... but have noted through the years that elevated temperatures; for example batteries in flashlights stored in cars tend to leak at a much higher rate than others... even in devices with zero standby current draw.
Yes, the manufacturers say that elevated temps encourage leakage
Not only elevated temperatures, but daily cyclic temperature variation as well.
I haven't seen these recently, but do you remind the kind of batteries that they gave with 1$ flashlights in the 90s? You could easily squeeze them and bend them; they were almost made in aluminium paper and they leaked pretty fast!
Have English speakers across the globe forgotten about the word "no?" You write: "devices with zero standby current." Andrew Yang says Amazon pays "zero" taxes. Trump says there was "zero" collusion. Is this spoken txt-speek?
tactileslut you need to put the punctuation outside the quotes ✴️.
‘no’ isn’t a question.
I've had batteries leak inside the original packaging, not even in a device.
Duracells are famous for this.
Hey Dave , i hope you and your family are safe from all the fire there is in australia right now. Stay safe and have a happy new year
lol thanks Dave!...i was sitting here for first 10mins with deja vu!
you need to try another test...mixing brands...(like originally found in your equipment)
I guess Rayovac doesn't sell their batteries in Australia? They used to be leakers too. Here in the USA my favorite cheap batteries are the Sunbeam Alkaline AA and AAA's from Dollar Tree. I've had them go dead in wall clocks and remote controls and none of them have leaked yet. BTW dont buy any Sunbeam "Super Heavy Duty" batteries or any battery labeled that. They are cheap crap zinc chloride batteries that dont last long, and they leak easily when they go dead.
Those sunbeams dont last any time but they're definitely dry cells with their weight, never had one leak either.
@@Korium84 The Sunbeams don't last as long as the major brands, but for the cheap price you can buy a lot more of them.
They are sold under a different name. Notice the Varta package mentions Spectrum Brands on the back. Same company owns Rayovac batteries and you'll see Spectrum brands on the back of your Rayovac battery package in the us.
Rayovac was bought out by Spectrum Brands then sold to Energizer!
I seen a lot of sunbeam batteries in dollar tree and target, the white colored ones, next to sunbeam light bulbs.
I remember the rayovac batteries, they used to sell them in the UK when I was a kid back in the 1980s and early 1990s then they disappeared here, I think I might have seen them a few years ago in a gas station in Rhode Island in the US.
The brand here was "Rayovac Viador" they used to sell flashlights with that brand as well, I remember the now very old fashioned black (smelly) rubber flashlights that you could put underwater and they were watertight, until the rubber case around the metal innards would split at the power switch and leak..
Those fires look like they closing in on Sydney. Keep yourself and your family safe bro. Love the content. Many people make videos Like yours, but only you make watching them fun, funny and easy to understand. Great stuff. Keep it up.
I have been waiting forever for this to conclude! So glad its finally here as I thought about this test multiple times over the past few months as I work at a battery store.
Edit: That was disappointing. I hope to see this test done again. I kinda want to try this myself.
From personal experience batteries usually leak, when they have no load attached to them, so for instance half drained and thrown into a box for remote control usage and in the device, which is switched off for a loner time ( half a year,... ) or in a remote control which isn't used too much. (Disclaimer: this is all from personal experience, because I digitize video tapes in a small extent and thus remotes don't get used quite often)
Durasmell and Energizer are the only ones I've had leak. In the early 2000's I had some Energizer rechargeable AA and 9v's leak and explode both in the charging port and RC controllers. Cheap "house" brand ones I've never had leakage issues with. I did just have 3 out of 6 Duracell AA batteries, all from the same batch, leak, while connected to a guitar pedal with 5mA current draw. Must not have noticed the pedal was on when I packed to move, and it was unpacked about 2 months after it was quite literally tossed into a box. The three that leaked were all on one side of the power bank.
(5:55) - Very good that you you enclosed your test batteries.
I was getting ready to comment on this.
Bah !
You beat me to it.
Happy Holidays.
>
Thanks for the test!!!
I have damaged my Fluke 64 MAX IR Thermometer with Panasonic AA batteries. Fortunately I was able to revive it. But it is a design problem because these IR Thermometers have no "hard" on/off switch.....so now I am looking for non leaking batteries - hence I am here :-).
I used to manage 150 electronic door locks. Due to leakage the company switched from a generic battery to Duracell. These were in a high humidity (beach air) environment. There was an issue with the door locks that would suck hot air through the lock and cause condensation. (The AC is the cause of this.) The leaks were often. Less than 6 months. Maybe try to "damage" the seal with heat. Lots of motor stalls due to misaligned deadbolts.
Was that Hotel key card locks/contactless locks with the standard 4x AA batteries under the lid for power?
Similar. Keypad entry deadbolts. 4x AA. They were on beach houses. The batteries were on the inside, but the locks could still get hot from sun and 100F weather.
When the AC turned on and cooled the air inside the house; hot, humid air would be sucked through the keyhole (this has been addressed now.)
@@MrAwyork Glad it's addressed. It's counterintuitive but to keep the electrical passthroughs and keyholes and wallpaper dry you have to let outside air into the air conditioner. In this house I cut a hole in the floor under the central air.
Totally agree. Seems all that have leaked of mine have been in high temp/humidity situations.
@@MrAwyork - How was the issue fixed, as a matter of interest?
I’ve had customers of my tool business have Duracell’s leak and ruin test units. They have contacted Duracell and in all cases Duracell sent them a check to buy the equipment, Full list.
Hy, I'm here because the Chanel WRKits, he talks about eletronics, he is a good brasilian engeneer. Will be an honor for he to be visited by you. Tanks for the time.
Nice test, hope to see it continued. I would stick with resistors to ensure the same load.
Something that seems to 100% cause leakage regardless of brand for batteries for me is when a button gets stuck on an IR remote for a long period of time, like when getting shoved between couch cushions.
Interesting, so what doe this mean? What is the typical current draw in such situation? And in case of an IR remote, it is also a pulsing current draw. Is that perhaps a factor that contributes to leaking?
The current draw is quite a bit actually, and this is extremely interesting.
I have measured power draw of remote controls using a shunt on my oscilloscope. Some Drew as much as 150 mA but in really short pulses of the 38 kHz carrier frequency which is then used to form the ones and zeros. Most hovered around the 80 mA mark while the LED is monetarily on (33% to 50% duty cycle).
What this could tell is, is that maybe batteries leak when subjected to sudden small changes in the load, as opposed to a steady resistance
@@AndreDeLimburger yeah i was thinking it might be the non-constant pulsing that would happen.
In my own experience, I have noticed alkaline batteries leak the moment they COMPLETELY lose power. I take "dead" AA batteries out of gadgets and place them in one of those cheap, two-cell holder connected to a double alternately blinking red LED circuits that can be found in many cardboard store displays. The thing will flash at full brightness and speed for weeks until eventually slowing down and stopping. Then the batteries will leak all over the place. It happens every time.
Why do you have multiple blinking LED shop displays draining batteries to their graves lying around?
@@NeuronalAxon The real question is why don't YOU have multiple blinking LED shop displays draining batteries to their graves lying around?? :D
I wish more science and tech guys would include the failures alongside the successes. Lots of great questions raised by this video!
Yep, as other have said...Duracells have frequently leaked when Ive used them. I used to use them almost exclusively, then I bought a large quantity of AA cells from Radio Shack (when they closed up shop) and had no leakage. With the Duracell batteries, I never mixed used and new or different brands; and I still had leakage problems.
I still remember the era when Duracell was the one and the only battery make if you want to get the best. Other makes started marking of the best before date but Duracell didn’t because they were so good. I took care of TV companys waste batteries over 20 yrs ago and really don’t remember any leaks even when we had a huge metal barrel of used Duracells (Procells). But during last 10 or so years all the Duracells have been pure s**t. Some cheapos can be of much better quality.
mattikaki Your experience was likely before Procter&Gamble bought Gillette, thus Duracell.
They switched production to China. Energizer has been top since!
At least they paid for the replacement of my destroyed MagLite 2xAA from the 1990s...
"made in China" thats explain everything
dexter1981 Well, not everything. Chinese people can build extremely high quality products if the proper quality controls are in place.
But usually, stuff made in China is due to a cost-cutting measure by the company, and QC is expensive. Result : QC is reduced, or left to the chinese subcontractor. Seeing the possibility of better profits, he changes the recipe in his favor, cutting corners. Stuff becomes Chinesium.
If the QC was kept by Duracell with USA employees, the product would be as great as USA-made. Unless, of course, the company cuts in QC.
@@ve2mrxB I believe P & G dumped Duracell on Berkshire Hathaway a couple of years ago. Now it is Warren Buffets problem My remotes that come with my cable boxes have the no-name Chinese batteries none of them have ever leaked. I had a wall clock at home that had a dead battery for about five years I finally decided to check the battery after all of my Duracell problems. The battery looked brand new but dead. It was an Energizer.
Norm475 Yes, it's no longer P&G's problem now. Hopefully they will improve. Too late for me, now it's Eneloop only. Low self discharge sealed the deal. Good for remotes and flashlights.
I have seen many Duracells leak, more than any other brands. Most of the time, I buy Panasonic Alkaline Plus batteries, because they are way less expensive than the two expensive brands. You should add to your tests some basic carbon cells, like Panasonic ones at the dollar store. I'm sure that I have seen more non-Alkaline cells leak. I am pretty sure that the 2 main reasons for battery leakage are age and bad manufacturing. I do not think that any load is required at all to get this problem, as I have seen many batteries leak in devices where the main power switch is directly connected to the positive, so the is not current flowing at all. I don't know if you have kept these cells, but would be interesting to keep them and look at the in 2-3 years.
I just took some Panasonic carbon cells out of a shortwave radio. Both had leaked.
It has a standby clock display though, so parasitic load.
I was able to save the radio though at least!
Hey Dave, great Video!
My experience is this:
If you ever had a bad battery leakage in a battery compartment, the (springy) contacts are less electically conductive. You can't see that, but measure. So, if I ever have a heavy battery leakage, I replace the whole corroded contact. I have a small bag full of (used) new battery contacts, for good reasons!
Dave, I've been in the electronic repair business since 1972. I've pulled batteries out of things from the Simpson 260 to toys. Some leaked due to no apparent reason whatsoever! I've seen things with the old model of the brands still inside and working with no leaks. I got astronomical equipment from the red LED flashlight to the drive and focusing controllers that batteries would leak in them as well. I can usually clean or replace the spring terminals. These controllers are out into the cold as low as -18C (0 F) and inside when not in use. What I notice that if there are 2 or more batteries in the holder, when there is leakage, they all leak! Rarely do I see a battery not leaking where the adjacent ones leaked.
Yes Duracell for me, changed 1x AA Duracell on my wall clock yesterday which ran out of battery 2 weeks ago and to my surprise it leaked. Btw this is the Duracell pack bought from Bunnings Exp Yr: 2024.
Your videos are sooooo thoroughly informative, I don’t think there ANYBODY on the net that can hold a candle to you!
Cheers sir!
18:06 - Exactly, they won't normally leak if they're just sitting there unconnected (assuming there isn't a defect), they leak when they're in-circuit and there is a residual trickle current over long period of time. Unconnected batteries have sat in the container on store shelves for many years without leaking whereas batteries in unused devices quite often end up leaking in months.
I used to take care of our very expensive test equipment at a previous job, I quit using Duracell years ago because of the leak problems that occur soon after they die. Had much less problems with the Energizer but occasionally would find something with a small amount of corrosion, more to do with longer term neglect to check them than anything else. I also used to test brands against each other for capacity, heating, and fire hazard but unfortunately I don't have that information any more. Look forward to seeing your results!
Ouch! When I saw Dave open his differential probe I had to open mine...batteries still at ~1.58-9VDC BUT there was some white "frost" around some of the terminals...better safe than sorry...yellow sticky says "batteries removed"!
Close call! What brand?
@@EEVblog Energizer...thank goodness I saved my EEVBlog Probe! ;-)
BTW, hopefully you see this Dave...where did you get the DC load banana plug adapters? I made my own but like the look of the ALX adapters. Thanks!
@@PapasDino Someone sent them to me in the mailbag, custom job.
@@EEVblog2 Thanks for taking the time to reply, I know you get a gazillion notes. I fabricated two adapters that fit on my DL3021A and also got a couple of custom cables from Amazon that do the same thing. Keep up the great channels, been a fan since the garage days!
did you say that the cells were left in a window for the whole time?and long enough that the UV cracked the boxes?If so I speculate that the heat from the sun evaporated any moist type gasses that would normally collect on the colder metal during temperature swings that allows the electrolyte crystals to form.most items that have leaky batteries can be found stashed away in a dark drawer or tossed on the basement floor shelf, stashed in the sofa.if you could take your setup and put it back together again, put it in a corner of the shop and forget about it for another 10 months.just my reverse engineers observation.
The manufactures say that elevated temperatures help encourage leakage.
@@EEVblog ... what about exposure to UV itself? Heat would be IR? Consider that your probes (or our other devices) conceal the batteries in a dark environment. A joule thief in a box with an external LED. Check them as the LEDs go out and then again later. And, of course, turn the box upside down - because of, well, 'down under'? ;-)
EEVblog trick is heat with humidity I would think. Just from the chemical perspective. Dark, sealed and warm. Air conditioned office probably not the ideal environment for this.
@@jayherde0 Impossible, transparent plastics block UV rays.
@@madmatt2024 Well that's a bit general.... its not an inherent characteristic of "plastic" in general but something you achieve by design.
Cool, patience is truly a virtue.
In my case, i had 2 AAA batteries leaking in a few month without a load, they was into a microphone. I repeat: no load at all, the batteries was disconnected by a switch, and they was almost new, but they was in very small enclosure. I think this can make the difference!
I had some DURACELLS leaking even still in their package, never used.
Had some in a remote leaking after 3 weeks. Duracell not like 10 -15 years ago.
I saw Duracell's leak in the package 25 years ago.
I stopped using Duracell batteries of any kind awhile back. I found that despite the dates on the batteries, the Duracell batteries leak. I switched to Energizer, and to this day I've yet to have a leaking battery of theirs.
This! I support several media-based classrooms and the HDTV remotes that had Duracell batteries *all* had leakage. Those I put Energizer (Lithium, not the Alkaline versions) never leaked. And still going (insert bunny beating drum).
Very good 👍
Good one, Dave! This needs to be done! Batteries seemed to be leakproof for a spell in... when was it? 80s? 90s? Now, the much-trumpeted 'leakproof' boast has disappeared from all brands. Also, I've had batteries jam solidly in two separate D-cell Maglites, with no leakage that I could see. I wonder whether any of these batteries changed their dimensions significantly.
Is the "Duracell are the ones that leak"-feeling maybe a bit biased because they tend to be one of the most popular brands that people buy?
Possible.
Exactly what I'm thinking. Especially when I see comments like "I use duracell and only duracell has leaked in my experience".
Compared to other batteries they seem to leak more. I have some enercell batteries that RadioShack used to sell here in the US, and they haven't leaked yet. And yet I have Duracell's exploding outside devices...
I have seen more Duracell leak VS any other brands in my devices and I tried many brands.
treborrrrr No. Back in the day Energizers were leakers and Duracell’s didn’t. In any case, I use 1.5V lithium primary cells in my equipment now. In US, Energizer has exclusivity for that technology.
get an Nintendo Wii controller - and check the load when turned off - they bring any alkaline batteries to to leak within 2 Month (I mostly use Duracell, Enermax, Panasonic, Varta) - this is probably the best "bring-them-crystals-to-grow"-Recipe ;)
Wow, that was news. Never heard about reversed battery. Love this channel :0)
Happy Christmas Dave.
Start by characterizing a device (and the ambient conditions that device lived under) in which you know the failures occur. Then, set up tests for each of the operating/idle states of that device. Vary temperature and humidity also. And, yes, focus on a known bad brand until you can formulate a replicable failure procedure.
Yep, that's the plan now.
Good thing that you didn't use Lucas batteries, those things leak even with no load at all, when they're nearly brand new. The last shipment of them I got had all of the 9v's and most of the triple a batteries already leaking, just had to toss them entirely.
Lucas Prince of Darkness
I clicked on the thumbnail thinking it was a project farm video ! Obviously I was no less happy to hear Dave !
Dave, I picked up a pack of AAA, AA and 9V energizer batteries in 2015 or 2016. Much more in number than I needed. I never ran out of battery supplies till couple of days ago when I opened up the storage box to find out that all of them had leaked except the 9V ones. I trashed them all. Lesson learnt, batteries will leak whether on load or in storage. Save your expensive equipment by keeping them without batteries when not needed for a long time.
for me it is always the batteries inside remote controls that leak. or these cheap battery powered christmas lights, especially when the device is stored in our attic for about a year. it is a very bad insulated attic, hot in the summer, cold in the winter, maybe a bit humid. in my experiance the enviromental conditions play a huge role too. i had a bunch of super cheap batteries loosly sitting in my drawer for couple of years without any problems. i think daves containers actually might have shielded the batteries from (the humidity) of the air.
Happened to my folks this year, Mom go the Christmas decorations boxes down and a few things with last years batteries left inside had all leaked even though there was a hard power switch to prevent parasitic drain.
I have 4 young grandchildren, so we use a lot of batteries. They have some toys that can drain 4 AA or AAA batteries in less than 2 months. I have noticed that the Duracell batteries leak if they are not removed within 3 months of dying. These are new batteries that have years left on their expiration date. They are just drained during regular use. I have not had the same issue with other batteries, regardless of branding . Cheaper no-name batteries may have a shorter life, but they don't leak as quickly.
Use NiMh for rechargeable AA/AAA cells - works out much cheaper IME.
@@NeuronalAxon Some Eneloop and a good charger will make the difference. I have a bunch of them that are well over ten years old and still have 80-90% of their original capacity and work fine.
I had bought Duracell Alkaline batteries, without taking them out of the package and using them, even though there were a few years left to the expiration date, it leaked acid inside the package! I am glad that I did not use these batteries! Because it damages my things!
I recently dug up a pair of LED bicycle lights which I haven't been using for around 20 years. The batteries, which I left in of course, were still okay. The lights even turned on! Amazing.
what brand and model were they?
Ive had them leak only when they have been installed in something, like a flashlight turned off for a long time, like over a year. Ive never had them leak when not installed but only if installed even if product is switched off. I think your test should last for many months.
I'm seeing that others have reported similar experiences. I too have seen many, many Duracell batteries leak in the recent years, many more than with any other brand I've tried. (Not even the super cheap off-brand batteries leaked that often!) I'd never ever ever recommend Duracell batteries to anyone.
Burretploof junkacell
I was just looking at the Wikipedia article on alkaline batteries, and it has a screen shot from this video of Dave's HV probe in it to illustrate leakage :)
Most leaks I had were in remote controllers, where those batteries were siting for years. The worst thing is that I always found crystals on the battery cover, while remote was still working, so batteries weren't dead. They just leaked over the time.
The old alkaline cells that are still working are very likely from when mercury was added to the formulation. Starting in the mid-1990s regulations resulted in the switch to low and no mercury cells.
Which resulted in untold property damage due to inferior batteries. Lovely.
Reading through the comments, you'd think Duracell would explode into crystals if you looked at 'em wrong. Could it be that decades of marketing have made them enormous top-selling brand? Maybe we're just seeing more because there's quantitatively more, not per-capita percentages more? Also, add my vote for a joule thief circuit. Maybe you made the RUclips gods angry by not including LEDs in an electronics project!
Ted McFadden Not all Duracell are manufactured in the USA. Those from China are less reliable from my readings.
But it is a probable bias in anecdotal evidence.
@@ve2mrxB Good tip. Bearing that in mind, and the fact that Duracell seems to license their brand to anyone with cash, it would be interesting (but impossible, probably) to determine if these leakier cells are made by entirely different battery companies.
Ted McFadden That's one reason why it will be difficult to trust again. Multiple manufacturing plants often mean different quality.
Comes to mind (I read) that there is Dr Pepper from the original plant, tasting much better than the other plant serving most of the country. Or the multiple Pepsi plants each having a variant of the US flavor.
But the biggest joke was seeing a car lead-acid battery with the Duracell or Energizer brand (don't remember which)! They don't make lead-acid batteries!
Brand licensing are a pain as you never know when the contractor changes...
I tried industrial grade isopropil alkohol to clean this stuff in past, it did not work at all, but tap water did work pretty well.
Leakage happen to all of you so quick ? Wow ! I only had leakage after YEARS of leaving the batteries in some device. Cheers !
when eevblog and project farm post a battery test video at the exact same time...
I had some Duracell Procell D cells leak inside a long pink Maglite, well enough to corrode it together absolutely solid. There was no way of unscrewing the end. I sawed the end off and found the cells had corroded into the tube (which was anodized, but the chemicals seemed to strip that off rather well) and wouldn’t budge. Tossed the whole lump into the battery recycling! I’m absolutely sure it was switched off when I left it a few months earlier.
I’ve also seen cells leaking inside their blister packs in the shops with 4 or 5 years still left on their best before dates. Wonder if there are a lot of convincingly-looking fakes around which won’t be as well engineered as the real thing?
Well, maybe the counterfeiters are the ones tasked at producing the batteries for Duracell?
They are made in China...
bigjd2k You could have asked Duracell to pay for the replacement, they have a leakage warranty.
Yeah, I lost my big 3 or 4D MagLite to bad batteries. I tried really hard to get the batteries out. I don't remember if I ever got them out, but I did end up giving up and tossing it.
TechnoTinker In my case, a piece of cell label stuck to the side. Of course, it was the cell the deepest in the flashlight, inaccessible!
I managed to knock that cell out by violently knocking the flashlight on the desk (not the greatest idea, the desk has marks now).
But without removing the label piece, I cannot put a new cell in.
Oh well, I got the LED upgraded one!
Right, you need to use a very low discharge. I've had several clocks run on Duracells leak. They run ~100uA if I remember. I don't use Duracells anymore.
Thanks for doing this. You are a true chad.
I stopped using alkalines few years ago. Nowdays the rechargeable (Eneloops) are so good and quite cheap that there is no reason using alkalines. In really low discharge applications I have Energizer lithiums but mostly eneloops everywhere
And IKEA LADDA which are very similar to Eneloop but a lot less expensive
In some applications Eneloops cannot be used because they are slightly larger/wider than alkaline AA batteries and will not fit into the battery compartment.
Many (most) devices will get terrible short life when you use rechargeable. For example camera might only gets a few shots before showing "low battery". A XboxOne controller will stop working at about 1.15V which would have taken almost all of a Alkaline (initial 1.55V), yet perhaps only 1/2 of a NiMH that started at 1.3V.
I've tried over the years, but really it's just SO much easier to use Alkalines in devices designed for Alkalines.
@@CuriousFocker I had one metal detector where the NiMH batteries would fit in the compartment, but the terminals wouldn't quite touch the contacts, but regular alkalines would. I think I got around it by bending the battery box terminals slightly.
@@johncoops6897 I had this problem with only one device (thermometer) that gets low contrast on LCD below 1,5V. That is stupidly designed device. I would say the opposite - 95% of devices work fine on Ni-Mh. 5% have problems. Btw at 1.15V at no load those eneloops have only like 5% charge left so they are dead anyway. Their discharge cure looks very different compared to alkalines. Have you tried with eneloops or other low self discharge cells? They have slightly higher voltage compared to regular ni-mhs.
Ahh you used Leakycell (R) batteries, so no surprise then there.
The Duracells that was in your probe were non-retail versions. "Original Equipment Accessory" The type that comes as "free" in products. I'm sure duracell and other brands make these B2B batteries that are typically included with remotes, etc... at a lesser quality to lower the cost.
EEVBlog: the questions everyone wants to know but didn't know they wanted to.
I've had this happen a few more times than i would like to admit to. My witches brew of choice was baking soda - sodium bicarbonate.
The trouble is with the wash down, keeping the wet uck away from the circuit boards and components and such. If you can isolate it is a smooth
process. Done before you know it. Ya know you're effed when it has leaked from a few cold hot cycles over time. It gets everywhere !!
The nickel plate holds up well for a while, till it gets to the copper. Then it eats all the copper from within the plating - and if given long enough
all the metal. Time to fab some new contacts.......This is the huge let down with really nice rare " stuff " from years ago.
It looks great - till you open the battery box.....Wahhh wahhh wahhh. But if there is enough desire a way will be found to resurrect.
Creativity is the key here. If you want it bad enough you WILL make it work.
I remember when I was about 5 or 6 my batteries were leaking for my toy car.
So smart me at the time decided to lick the liquid to determine if it was water or leakage, I don't remember it tasting too bad or getting sick.
It was just very dumb of me lol
Leaking alkaline batteries always smell like Cheetos to me so I'm not surprised some kid tried to taste them.
Smart me didn’t get smart by not doing dumb things.
So this is why today all battery compartments of toys intended for younger kids have to be screwed in...
Sincere sympathy to all those in Australia. The fires look horrible. We hope all of the Jones’s stay safe. Best wishes to you all.
Ive got a DURACELL brand cells with those built in test strips to check its charge and it ruined a camera flash back in the day. All of the cells just kept checking themselves due to the tight space of the battery compartment and i had a leakage down to the circuit board. It destroyed many proprietary components and needed to throw into scrap
Dave keeps saying, "Nope, that's fine." But I think I'm seeing a negative on all the half discharged cells!
I can't even read the negative sign on that cheap meter he's using. Wasn't that the same brand that had extremely slow autoranging during continuity tests that naturally alternate between 0 ohm and ∞ ohm ?
It’s an eye disease called floaters.
@@HighestRank No, it's a tiny indication in a standard definition (not HD) player.
You did, but only millivolts.
@@johncrowerdoe5527 Cheeky.
I've given up alkaline batteries altogether. I switched to NiMH rechargeables for AA & AAA batteries and non-rechargeable lithium 9V batteries in expensive equipment like multimeters.
Lithium batteries are the way to go for AA and AAA! Never had a problem with them!
@@hestheMaster the unrechargeables?
Alkaline AA batteries are 1.5v and NiMH are 1.2v, so they don't last as long.
@@arthurgarthur No. Ikea Ladda NiMH (also sold as Panasonic Eneloop Pro) AA batteries have a capacity of 2450mAh. That's close enough to an alkaline AA as to be indistinguishable.
@@RabidBadger_ It's the voltage that is 1.2v www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/ladda-rechargeable-battery-70303876/ while alkaline is 1.5. So in series (as in most electronics like remote controls ) you'll only get 2.4v vs. 3v. The amp hours can be the same but the fully charged voltages are substantially different.
Humidity and extreme conditions seem to be a factor in Duracell failure. Two cells in a row have leaked in a bathroom clock and a cell in a flashlight leaked in just a few months of working in a fast food place a few hours a week. The clock cells kept working even after leaking, likely from the fact that there was still a lot of electrolyte left inside them and the water in the air kept the hydrated.
yes the number of toys that come with those duracell batteries including that leak and corrode terminals is crazy. The seals on them don't look the same as normal duracell but I'm going to stop using them. Now I'll watch the video and see if I can gain some inside as I should have to vigilantly remove and keep batteries for every device separately.
Both you and ProjectFarm upload videos about AA batteries within the same hour.
Strange coincidence?
What was the rate of “parasitic drain” of the instrument that wrecked the batteries you showed in the beginning? Seems like it might provide insight for the resistance to use in round 2.
Rick Olson or perhaps the Coles batteries were fully charged and the leaky ones were not?
MeppyMan the leaky ones were a year past the printed date, which superseded any other conditionings.
quiescent ?
I like this channel by indicating WRkits channel
I recently came across a National-branded horseshoe camera flash module from the (late?) 1980s that belonged to my grandfather. He had left it in its original box with the batteries still in it. Both of them were Duracell batteries, and both had not only not leaked, but still had a very tiny amount of charge left in them (they were able to charge the capacitor in the flash module about half way). When I looked closely at them, I noticed they had “Made in Australia” printed on the label. I had no idea Duracell ever even made batteries here! Suffice to say that little incident fascinated me in many ways.
Unfortunately, I have no clue about chemistry, but in my personal experience the battery mostly start leaking during standby conditions. Last time observed inside a wireless mouse with energizer batteries. Over the period of two or three weeks vacation they started leaking and totally destroyed the product.
By the way, for some reason, I would hesitate to put "eclipse" branded batteries inside a flashlight ;-)
With that sort of time frame it's got to be manufacture fault
Was that mention of "library.tv" at the end just a joke? That site only comes up as a domain squatter page for me. *EDIT:* I discovered it's spelled LBRY.tv, not Library. Obviously they haven't done the SEO to ensure that it comes up when people search for Library.tv.
A couple months ago I opened a remote that had some energizers from 2005 or so, they both leaked all over.
Energiser Lithiums are the only ones I use in any device that only gets used periodically or needs to have a long standby.
Expensive, but don't leak, don't self discharge, and have very good capacity.
I always get my batteries from Aldi (in Germany). In my experience they last the longest and I have never had one leak. Duracell and Energizer leaked equally often, or in other words every time either came with a product. Can't say anything about Varta cause I'm too chronically broke to buy them.
Edit: spelling
Varta make the aldi and lidl batteries (shh 🤫)
Varta AAs are less expensive than Aldi here in Australia.
I think that Varta use thier name on cells of different ends of the quality scale.
I use white vinegar to clean up battery corrosion, works a treat.
Add some baking soda to neutralize the acids (vinegar and battery)
Where did you get your Acid AA batteries? All mine are Alkaline
Nick Bolhuis - if you don’t believe me how about you try it for yourself, it works, I keep a small bottle of white vinegar on the shelf above my bench just for this purpose. The vinegar eats the corrosion off, I then use IPA to clean off the vinegar.
Interesting idea, I think the sealed containers prevented corrosions my new theory is that the air and oxidation help to eat through the seals to cause leaks.
Dave you have simply demonstrated the reliability of Sod's law!