One thing I learned as an electronic technician in the Air Force: if a battery-powered device is going to be "on the shelf" for more than a month, you must remove the batteries first. I still do that with my personal equipment ... usually.
every Duracell I've ever owned (in the last decade of so) has leaked. Almost NONE of the other brands have. It's simply astonishing that they're still in business
I will NEVER buy another Duracell battery EVER! I had some sitting in a bag that I removed from my metal detector just in case they leaked... GLAD I did!
Bought a 36 pack of duracell AAs from Sam's club. Couple months later went to grab a couple and found 10 leaking in the package. Returned them to Sam's for full refund.
A lot of the old discontinued American brands are coming back stamped onto undeserving product these days. These are not your parents' or grandparents' last-forever shavers (toaster ovens, TVs, record players, stereos, and apparently, batteries).
From some reason batteries "hate" parallel connnected capacitors (bridging the internal AC resistance when batteries are exhausted). For expensive devices, lithium or rechargeables highly recommended.
With all my occasional-use devices like the CAP ESR meter, etc., I leave the batteries out until I want to use the thing. Yes, it adds a few seconds to the job, but I don't worry about them leaking. I keep the batteries in a purpose-made battery-storage container to prevent them making contact and shorting out in storage. Other devices such as the portable DMM, I leave the batteries in, and I swap old for new during the annual "spring forward" DST clock dance. It's the perfect reminder because I do the same for several AA-powered wall clocks. Cheers and be well!
Thanks for the heads up young lady!! I just remembered that I had four Duracell AA's in my $1000 metal detector!! Yikes- I just hot footed it upstairs to remove them, thankfully no leakage- but if you hadn't done this video- I might be looking for a new machine. You have just justified your Patreon subscription ad infinitum. Thank you.
Totally agree, used Duracell on my expensive collection until I found them leaking through the seams. I Change to the energizer. Luckily I was able to save the items that got damaged. Thank you for explaining the cause.
Quiescent Current - The term given to describe the amount of current consumed by a circuit when it is not performing any work (sometimes referred to as standby current). Quiescent current consumption should be as low as possible in order to prolong the battery's life.
As a testament to Ray-o-Vac batteries, I have a found a few unopened packs of AA and AAA's from the early 2000's which have not leaked, and still have a strong charge. As far as other batteries, I have a small portable fan that has a set of Radio Shack Enercell AA alkaline batteries which have not leaked, and the fan still works (though not to its full potential!), along with a green Radio Shack Enercell Extra Life AA "for transistor products" (carbon zinc) which still reads 1.29v. The green one is from the early '90s. Unsure about the alkalines, but they have the more recent logo. I also have a set of Union Carbide Eveready Energizer D cells (also carbon zinc) from probably the 1960's or 70's which have not yet leaked. These are totally dead, though, and if I remember correctly, one has a slight negative charge.
"The humanity"? I have seen worse. I once bought a Yamaha PC-100 keyboard that literally had it's feet in battery goo. It had leaked out as a liquid that had spread all over the small flightcase it was stored in. And it was the huge batteries normally found in boom-boxes. But to my great luck it had always been stored horizontally so nothing had gone into the electronics. I just cleaned all the plastic parts and it was fine - and it still is, now 15 years later. The worst I have seen is a small Wersi MAX-1 synthesizer module that died a while after I bought it. The internal rechargeable RAM battery had started leaking very slowly. But when I found out half of the circuit board was gone without a trace.
I have a vintage Vtech Battleships game that runs off 4 C batteries. Only Energiser or Boots batteries do I trust. It is about 30years old... Duracell's cans stay the hellaway from it.
I actually just had a set of rayovac batteries leak but it was in a flashlight that was left on my back porch in Florida for at least a year that I didn't know was in the bag and I believe was left on the boat for a couple years before that. It was a bag full of ropes for my mom's boat. The leak bridged the switch so the way I found it was that I came home and the light was shining on my back porch. I had only been gone for maybe 2hrs and it wasn't lit when I left.
I never had this problem. I have a list of all devices which are using batteries and checking them on regular basis. Most of my batteries are eneloops or Ikea
Thanks for the video. Something you really hate to see. That’s why I remove the batteries from devices during long storage. I’ve had to toss out too many things I had in the past because of bad batteries.
I have new Duracell Ultras still in the package leaking though they aren’t expired until 2022 or 2023. The packages are unopened and if you open them the testers do not work, but they still have plenty of power. I have a package of Duracell Optimum AA unopened not even two years old leaking.
Do you think a mobile app that tracks your devices batteries would be helpful? You could take pictures of the device and/or use QR code stickers to track the devices with a self contained database that would generate notifications to check the devices and replace the batteries. It could even have notes for type of batteries and location of device. After watching your video this seemed like a way to tackle the problem.
With batteries you have a choice to make. Do you want to remove the batteries from a little used device or do you want to try to clean/salvage a device in which the batteries have leaked? I got tired of cleaning up leaking battery cell damage so I bite the bullet and remove the cells from any device not in use.
from expérience, energizer just die after months while Duracell can last years. compared AAA and 6F22 in identical use case. Duracell just last 5 to 10 times longer. now trying Varta lithium.
I have used alkaline batteries for decades. Leaking batteries were something I remember from the 1950s. But lately I am finding that Duracell and Kirkland batteries discharge quicker and leak. I supose Kirland may be made by Duracell. Anyway they are clearly not what they used to be. The same thing has happened with flooded lead acid auto batteries. What used to last 5 years now lasts 3 years. Automotive suppliers now say brand of auto battery does not matter, that Johnson Controls is now the monopoly that makes them all.
Got Duracell batteries 4 years ago and leak not even a year later. Then decided to switched to energizers and now in 2022 they leaked 3 months after buying them new! They sure can cut corners to make money nowadays : (
I’ve personally never really had a problem with this. Anything that I am not immediately using and that I’ve taken out of service I always take the batteries out of it. Most battery companies will also replace whatever it is that was damaged if you file a claim for them. I know Duracell & energizer both do this. If it’s something you absolutely must store the batteries in then use rechargeables if possible. Nimh 1.2V cells are dry cells and thus don’t really ever leak. Same with the energizer lithiums. Chuckles on the lantern battery. They definitely arent like that anymore. Its hard to find ‘real ones with F cells in them anymore, since nobody makes them now. So they often have lesser cells, like Ds in them instead.
I've never had carbon zinc batteries leak. Maybe the newer 'heavy duty' versions are just made differently than the old ones; while though the outside can corrodes over time I didn't know there was any liquid to leak. I've even dismantled dead cells for the carbon rod and haven't encountered anything wet.
@@eDoc2020 i've never come across 'leaking' zinc carbons, corroded outer casing, yes, but they hadnt leaked anything, zinc chlorides a different matter, i've had them leak a lot, and some i had it sounded like liquid was slooshing around in them when shook 😲
I had a pair of C cells that expired in 1941 on display with my antique cameras and radios for years and years. Never leaked. Also various Japanese brands going way back into the early days. There are several listings on eBay for old Panasonic radios and tape recorders still in the box with the batteries that they were shipped with still in pristine condition. (Lead, of course.)
Utilitech was the brand Lowes used to sell. They worked very well for me and I used them until they quit selling them although I have a few that are still not dead here and there. Duracells I have had go bad just sitting in the pack ruining them all and well before their date.. I have been getting Rayovac since.
Enjoyed this video......I try to remove the batteries from expensive items when I seldom use them......I've tried all different brands like you have but don't trust any of them! Thankyou so much for making this video, it's a keeper! Walt in Miami
I have had a lot of leaky duracell destroy my stuff even when they were not dead, my roku remote, my weather station, etc. Costco batteries are made by Duracell.
have old Duracells from the 80s from my childhood that never leaked and still work to this very day!! Those were made by Gillette. Then Gillette sold Duracells to Proctor and Scandle (in 92?) and they became crap at that point because P&S did something to cheapen them to make higher profit and destroy more of your equipment! I'm not surprised that 9V "batteries" have lesser warrantees. You can open them up and they are really just 2 rows of 3 (6 total) cheaply made paper-wrapped AAA cells.. so of course they leak quicker because its just the cheap outer thin metal shell that is the only defense from leaking. Your lantern battery I've never seen with AAs inside, but I have found them all to have 4 elongated D cell batteries. SO I have gutted the shells of all of mine and insert 2 or 4 (in series/parallel for twice the amperage, twice the wattage, twice the battery run-time because 2 of them in series is just oner 6 volts under load and they hold way more runtime than any alkaline or drycell. As for direct replacement of alkaline that is easy, just go with NiMH rechargeable. They have no downside and if you buy good ones instead of junkChinese ones sold online, they have over 2000mAh which is as good as any Alkaline really an you can recharge them hundreds of times if you ue an intelligent charger that doesn't over charge or over temp cells. They have newer technology NiMH rechageables called ULSD (ultimate low self discharge) which come precharged even and can hold a change for a couple of years just sitting. Those kinds of ULSD Nickel Metal Hydrides are the perfect drop-in no-leakage replacement for all you alkaline battreries and they will save you a ton of money versus the very environmentally unfriendly landfilling and energy resource waisting thow-away alkalines. Yes thee are some obscure chasers that can recharge alkaline batteries but my experience with those has been checkered results. If you combine quality brand NiMH (Duracells NiMHs are actually quality compared to their crappy Alkaline leaksters!) with a quality intelligent charger like PowerEx or Maha or XTar and you will truly get hundreds of recharges like the packaging says. DONT BUY DURAHELL BATTERIES (unless they are Duracell NiMH rechageables). Also I have 18650 Lithium-Ion cells from their debut in he 90s under Sony brand which still work and don't leak!
I've been using GP branded A23 batteries in a project kit that I sell on Etsy. I've gone through about 800-900 so far and they've been great. I have had a few duds from time to time but all in all I've been pretty happy with the brand.
Nice video- you seem to have the collection of weird brand batteries that I always thought about collecting, but never did. Who names those things? As for 6 volt lantern batteries, in my scientific/destructive childhood I thought they had 4 square, flat cells. Now it seems the good ones have 4 "F" cells- like a long D cell. But Duracell lantern batteries now have 4 D cells and a cardboard spacer at the bottom! What a scam. If you have to but a lantern battery, just try to balance it horizontally- if it is top heavy, it probably has the 4 D cells. And finally- there are rechargeable 6 volt sealed lead acid batteries (SLAs) that seem to work well.
That GI battery reminds me of the old communist batteries used to get in czechoslovakia back in the day. They were wrapped in paper rather than whatever plasticy type material they are today.
"Copper top" batteries used to be all I would buy up until several years ago, after they decided to cheap out and started using thinner metal for the outer can. For me, they've slimed the innards of at least half a dozen remote controls, a wii-mote, two really nice LED flashlights, ruined a vintage HP-48SX calculator and corroded the inside of an aluminum 5-D Maglight beyond recognition. Yet I've found freebie throw-away batteries labelled "Alkaline Cell" sitting dead for _years_ inside various items that were perfectly fine. So yeah, F**K greedy Duracell and their premium priced, goop leaking shiite cells.
Me too! I trusted Duracells for a long time, but foolishly. I've had so many leak and ruin things, but as they know, it's usually not worth the trouble to make a claim for reimbursement.
Early in my electronics career I spent a few years reparing consumer electronics and began a collection of those weird-brand batteries. It was very common for people to bring in radios, cassette players and other portable devices for service and the only real problem was "flat batteries". As often as not, the device still had the original cells in it and they were some unheard-of brand that came with the product. As a result, I had a wall with over 100 different brands of primary cells that always attracted a lot of attention from people who'd only ever heard of EverReady and Duracel. Ah... happy days when I had hair on my head :-)
In the 70's and 80's I used to judge the quality by how many spelling mistakes were on the sleeve, My favourite craptastic ones were marked 'Hig power' (obviously years ahead of the game and powered with Higgs-Bosons!) Now of course with Lithium batteries they do at least give you a fighting chance, who wouldn't want to charge a set of 'Ultra-Fire' cheapo's from eBay? Mmmm, toasty!
@@sofa-lofa4241 There was one brand I always hoped I could add to my collection and I was super-surprised that I never saw any of them in all my years at the bench. This brand was often "standard euquipment" for portable electronic devices, even mentioned on the box. It was the "not included" brand -- virtually all the gear you bought had a big bold label that said "Batteries: Not Included" yet, when you looked inside, they'd forgotten to put *any* batteries (let alone those bearing the branding "Not Included") in the box :-(
Duracell has been banned from my company and my home. Just say no. Interestingly, my experience is that the grey-market Duracells that usually come with devices from China aren't as bad as the domestically-sourced ones. Maybe they are just cheap knock-offs with less electrolytes. Either way, we just get rid of them.
Based on continually finding corroded "DuraLeak" batteries, I'm now avoiding them. Recently I found an old non-Duracell alkaline battery in a long-forgotten device. And it was fine!
100 % correct... while cleaning out my late father's home of 45 years, found almost all Duracell batteries had leaked at 5 to 8 years. Garbage batteries ! Do not use....no others had. I recommend baking soda if you need to clean
Be sure to have safety glasses on when removing leaking cells. I had a friend whose daughter had to be rushed to a local hospital due to the KOH (or K2CO3) popping into her eye when removing a leaking cell. The doctor said that she nearly had to have a cornea implant due to the damage caused by the electrolyte. Also - always be near a sink for emergency eye-wash and/or to wash hands after the leaking battery is removed.
5:29 Holy Crap !!~! I've concluded that recently that Duracells are LEAKERS big time ! I thought they were the best , now I'm on the hunt for the 'New Best' ...
Dave from EEVBlog recently tore down some Duracells, turns out it's overpriced to pay for all the research in marketing, not manufacturing. th-cam.com/video/5Q1MPrgea1M/w-d-xo.html
They (alkaline) ALL have troubles with leakage, regardless of brand. I've been using the Lithium-Irons for some years: not a single trouble. They are yet a bit expensive, but, IMHO, worth the cost.
@@pyromen321 Kirkland leak as bad as Duracell. Kirkland batteries are made by Duracell. I had both batteries leak in the original package and they were less than two years old.
My AA Duracells leaked while still in the package. I had them stored in cool dry place for about a year. I found them all immersed in liquid with the wrappers fallen off.
I won't buy duracell anymore. At least 5 -6 times over the last year or two, I have found AA's leaking straight out of the brand new package. Of course there's no way to check for leaks through the packaging. haha, Fran just mentioned this as I write this!!
Indeed, the name is standardized, as is probably also “Super Heavy Duty”. At the time those names were invented, they were probably better than whatever came before them, but their power output is poor compared to alkaline. The good quality ones do have the advantage of keeping their voltage for very long, as shown in this video with Kermit.
I decided to check some of my batteries after watching this and would you know it I have an "Energizer Advanced" AAA alkaline battery “made in U.S.A.” with a 2023 expiry that has just started to leak (the 2nd battery of the pair isn’t leaking). Luckily I stopped trusting all alkaline batteries a while ago after I've had dozens of them leak so I never leave them in devices I value so it has only ruined a plastic battery tray and the adjacent alkaline battery (my last two alkaline AAAs). I now mostly use Japanese Panasonic & SANYO rechargeable Ni-MH cells and various lithium primary cells, they’re more expensive but much cheaper in the long run, the price of Ni-MH cells also motivates you not to let them get over-discharged and ruined. I have Ni-MH & lithium cells just over 10 years old and none have leaked. Primary lithium cells are often guaranteed 100% leakproof with no expiry date (although they will still vent if short circuited/overheated). I can also attest to the advantage of serializing your batteries and having an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them, although it is a fair amount of effort.
Be sure to check Panasonic batteries for country of origin. They also have cheap Chinese ones, although I must say I have not had any issues with them (yet.)
@@RuneTheFirst All of mine are made in Japan, haven't encountered any Chinese made ones although I've heard conflicting rumors they have lower cycle life. I do have ones from before SANYO was acquired by Panasonic and they've gotten better since. I bought the original SANYO super-lattice alloy batteries (now branded Eneloop Pro), they made a big trade off for cycle life to get higher capacity, haven't bought them since.
Indeed - if I don't use it daily I remove batteries now, which sucks for devices that use batteries for backup power only. The battery is never used, but still leaks all over.
Hi, Fran, and Fran Fans - I recently found that Duracell alkalines had ruined my Zoom Z4 sound recorder, but then noticed that Duracell guaranteed that their batteries wouldn't leak. I contacted Duracell through their Customer Service page, and they sent me a check for the replacement value of the recorder! If something like this happens to you, give it a try. They did recommend removing batteries from devices I don't frequently use. My personal record for battery persistence was for an HP-15c scientific calculator, same set of batteries since I got the calculator in the mid-1980's.
I kind of wonder what the limit for that is. Will they honor it even if it's mostly drainage and extreme temps (outdoors from +35 C for -20C) and a $1500 data logger?
@@WorBlux For really expensive kit, I'd take good care of it. I don't leave my Fluke scope in the car over the week end, try and park in the shade, keep the scope covered with a thick old towel from the sun.
@@trespire It's kind of unavoidable. We have dozens if not hundreds of them scattered in some very remote places all over the continental US for years at a time, protected only by a thin metal box and internal dissecant pack. Paying someone to go check on them even once a month would cost a lot more than loosing one every now and then to battery slime.
@@WorBlux Sorry, I was presuming your data logger was used as a hand held service tool. For long term in-situ applications don't they have a solution that draws / trickle charges off the mains power being measured ? Or is it not permissible to parasitically feed off the mains in any way ? I know an engineer with a Dranetz power monitor that does.
Never buy Duracell, I've had so many fail in this manner that I've never buy them again... I made this decision years ago. Energiser are usually great, as are GP or Panasonic.
Duracell in now just a brand name lapped on any random cell, they stopped actually making batteries years ago, and are now, just like many household names, a brand applied to stuff from some other OEM manufacturer.
I had an entire package of brand new Duracells leak all over each other in a new UNOPENED package so I will never buy another one ever again. I hope they go out of business.
Back in the day, all the major brand batteries had a lifetime warranty against leakage. It instructed you to send them the device and they would either repair or replace the whole thing. They even paid the postage. Ahh, those were the days!
This has happened with every set of duracells I've purchased in the last 20 years. Learned my lesson, I'll never again buy any Duracell batteries. Owned by THE GREAT ORACLE, Warren Buffet.
I started using NiCd AA cells when I started my Undergraduate University course in 1978. Ive been using Low Self Discharge NiMH cells from the time that the Sanyo Eneloop came on the market. I have 6 brands of NiMH and always use these in any product that I purchase discarding any supplied Alkaline Batteries. I regularly change the NiMH batteries and recharge them. I have never experienced any leakage issue with NiMH batteries.
Me too. I got a good chinese nimh/li ion charger (liitokala brand) with current control and a very good display and I use Sony/eneloop batteries for almost everything, even for remotes.
Nickel metal hydride self destruct rate is just way too high, alkaline batteries in a TV remote can last years while even if their unused, they will discharge themselves in six months if they are rechargeable. Rechargeables are for everything except for things that last a long time like clocks and smoke alarms.
@ungratefulmetalpansy exactly, when you put such small amount of load on the cells, not only do they actually output the energy less efficiently and therefore reduce the capacity in half, their self discharge rate is so high that you end up replacing them after a month where alkaline would last you 6 months
"super heavy duty" batteries aren't alkaline, they also aren't designed for the same loads. they are designed for very low current draw over a very long time. these kinds of conditions kill alkaline batteries dead, but alkaline batteries survive high current loads that would kill super heavy duty batteries dead.
low current draw over an extended time (such as smoke detectors), or pulse draws, such as in a remote control. Transistor radios, clock radio, etc. If you know you're going to have a radio and use it a LOT, then use alkaline. If you're going to use it very occasionally for short times, then park it in your glove box, or drawer, then the carbon zincs are better.
I made a light thingy by soldering two AA alkaline cells I got from disposable cameras in series to a green 5mm LED and a 20k ohm resistor. Its been 7 years and the LED its still glowing and the batteries haven't leaked. So i think its more about how well they are made though its true "super heavy duty" batteries suck at high current discharge.
That's why I only use rechargeable Eneloops. Yes it's much bigger upfront investment, but it's far less wasteful than those hopeless alkaline batteries.
I checked to see if anyone else was saying this. I have Eneloops that are well over a decade old and have never had any leak. The upfront investment pales in comparison to having an irreplaceable remote for a vintage CD player or similar ruined. Even a replaceable remote will cost more than a pair of Eneloops. Unfortunately a very few of my devices won't work on the 1.2V of NiMH cells but most do.
My late grandad ran an AM radio with crocodile clips on a massive Ever Ready PP9 battery. He would religiously label new batteries with the date it was bought. They averaged 9 years, feeding a radio which was switched on for 10 hours a day every day.
Great video, in my experience Duracell leak the worst. In my fluke MM with remote display I have to remove the batteries everytime I'm done using it or they will leak.
I sold Duracell for decades, mostly Procell, Recently I was looking at some really old equipment that I was getting rid of and found Duracells with expiry dates from the 2000's and they hadn't leaked. Lately a lot of Duracell and Procell haven't even made the one year mark before leaking. Thanks for the Energizer recommendation. A side point, when Procell first came out, we used to sometimes pull the Procell cover off and find a Coppertop cover underneath.
I have Duracells from 2000 that are still fine, where I've had new ones leak in the package. The same is true for Energizers. I suspect some change in formulation was made that makes them far more prone to leak.
They always bought Procell's for the battery powered instruments at work. We had a Honeywell communicator rechargeable battery pac last ten years, don't know what brand it was!
I have a Boots branded calculator from December 1980 (Xmas present) which untill about 6 months ago was still working on the original AA batteries. I threw them out, just in case, as they were looking a bit suspect.
From my experience, those batteries like the ones you had, contain a small amount of mercury. They could last for a very long time. I have some "D" cells in a flashlight from the 1980's that still light the bulb quite well. I keep it around just to see how long it will go. BTW, they are Duracell. (The old chemistry).
To repair corroded terminals I've found that cleaning them with a dremel and then coating them with silver solder almost always saves the day as long as it didn't get the board. You can use regular solder in a pinch, but the harder silver solder holds up a lot better.Also sometimes it takes a little acid flux to get the solder to stick but I've used this to salvage the unsalvageable.
This is why I now use the Lithium-Iron AAA, AA cells, and also the Lithium-Manganese 9 Volt batteries. No more alkalines here. Too many devices damaged. And those 9 Volt alkalines? The cells within (6 of 'em) have NO VENTING MECHANISM. As in *BOOM* as they gas. Not anecdotal. Many occasions.
@@englishrupe01 I am so sorry. I jumped the gun and just assumed you had confused iron with ion. I had never heard of Lithium-Iron cells before, so it was my ignorance and not your spelling. I consider myself castigated and educated. Neil :-)
My record was my Casio fx-7 calculator from high school with, ironically enough, Duracell Coppertops. They were probably installed ca 1986 and expired in 1993, only to continue working until about 2015, so just about 30 years. I did always use the hard power switch, so that might have helped.
WOW! Thanks Fran. This was a very helpful video. We've never had such a problem with leaking batteries as we started having, once we moved to this humid part of the world. Our leaks however are a liquid. I can't tell you how many devices I've trashed or had to clean out over the past 15 years. We've always thought Duracell was the best, so we exclusively use the copper top. We will definitely change and probably to Energizer. Thanks again.
At a flea market I was in a pinch for some batteries and saw a pack of like 20 Duracell AA batteries. So I bought them, went home and opened them up then actually looked closer at the name, "Duraking". Needless to say they didn't last too long. I always look closely now.
My "favourite" off-brand battery was the Dureday Extra Super, featuring 0% Plumbum. As far as everyday alkalines go, I like the bigclive approved Poundland ones.
Fran, one strategy I use is to label things I need to keep long-term track of with a QR code sticker. I bought sheets of 1/2" square labels and used Google Sheets to dynamically generate UUIDs and turn them into the codes. Then I use AirTable to keep track of that item. Works great for warranties, batteries, borrowing, lending, service, etc.
Don't worry. Potassium carbonate is pretty safe but it is slightly basic so wash your hands after a few minutes. Potassium hydroxide is worst. It is a strong base. it reacts with the oils in your skin and make soap and glycerol. Don't ever touch leaked NiCd batteries. Cadmium is poisonous.
2 years ago I found a motorcycle intercom. This had been left in a box somewhere for at least 25 years. But the RadioShack AAA alkaline batteries that were in it did not leak yet. No voltage was measurable anymore.
I agree that leaking alkaline batteries can be irritating, but they are relatively easy to clean up after. However, they make FAR LESS mess and cause less damage than older dry cell carbon-zinc batteries. Carbon-zinc batteries also Stink when they leak. Because of experiences in the 1950's -1960's, I still do not buy Ray-O-Vac batteries of any type, because in my experience their carbon-zinc batteries were much more likely to leak than the other common brands. (I'm sure they're fine now, but it's an ingrained distrust.) People's Republic of China (P.R.C) is the official name of Communist China.
I'm sure it is not always on. It has a momentary switch that powers it up, then a mosfet that the chip triggers to keep power on until it is done saying its phrase then it shuts down
Good question. I assumed that there would be a microprocessor that had a microamp draw waiting for the button press. But I suppose it could be possible to design a circuit with no power draw waiting for the button. Sort of a semi-conductor version of a latching relay.
Procell are simply Duracells with a different label. Heavy Duty and Super Heavy Duty are NOT alkalines, After 5+years working in a battery store,, I only use LITHIUM, which seldom leak. I have a lot of expensive test equipment, As for small button batteries, use Silver Oxide in preference instead of alkaline.
"heavy duty" is the marketing term for improved zinc/carbon batteries, called "zinc/chloride" batteries. It doesn't seem to be especially a Chinese thing, as i've seen this term quite often on low-cost batteries from european manufacturers, too. Wikipedia has a short paragraph on them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc%E2%80%93carbon_battery#Zinc-chloride_%22heavy_duty%22_cell . They are still worse than cheap alkaline for (nearly?) all application. I don't think they manufacture any non-"heavy duty" carbon/zinc batteries since 30 years... It's kind of ironic to have the label "heavy duty" on the battery type with the lowest capacity and worst handling of high discharge rate currently on the market, just because 50 years ago there were even worse batteries on the market.
It's been common to use the "heavy duty" labeling on carbon/zinc batteries in the USA at least since the early 80s, when those batteries were still made in the USA.
@@tw11tube Until a few years ago I could find Panasonic "General Purpose" carbon/zinc batteries in dollar stores alongside the "Heavy Duty". You would get more "general purpose" batteries for the dollar, but obviously, less capacity than "heavy duty"
Heavy Duty is the household name for Zinc Chloride----they are better than the old Carbon-zinc. The name was to differentiate it. Not nearly as good as Alkaline though.
![[TH] FS vs BME - VCT Ascension Pacific - Lower Bracket Final](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/wnygqsR2Fig/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing I learned as an electronic technician in the Air Force: if a battery-powered device is going to be "on the shelf" for more than a month, you must remove the batteries first. I still do that with my personal equipment ... usually.
Whenever I forget to remove the batteries, it's guaranteed that those batteries will leak.
fortunately it takes like 3 years for this but remotes tend to suffer in my household
every Duracell I've ever owned (in the last decade of so) has leaked.
Almost NONE of the other brands have. It's simply astonishing that they're still in business
I have the same results you did. I had an entire package of Duracells leak inside an UNOPENED package. I will never buy another one.
Yes, the Duracells are way worse than any other brand as well as being more expensive!
I will NEVER buy another Duracell battery EVER! I had some sitting in a bag that I removed from my metal detector just in case they leaked... GLAD I did!
Same here since about 2000 before that never noticed. Energizer maybe once
Bought a 36 pack of duracell AAs from Sam's club. Couple months later went to grab a couple and found 10 leaking in the package.
Returned them to Sam's for full refund.
I had the same but contacted Duracell and they sent coupons to replace them 2x over.
Don’t buy them at Walmart or sams club,,every other store is ok
When you find big deals on batteries it's often because they're very old. Especially dollar store batteries.
I opened up an 80s boss flanger yesterday I got for a bargain and it had a green cell! Expired sep 2000! No charge left though. Love you're work Fran.
Fran - re Sunbeam make - see Technology Connections' vid about the 50s Sunbeam toaster - you won't be disappointed :o)))
I have a Sunbeam electric razor! It was my dad's in the late 60's or early 70's.
The auto toaster is pretty neat
I grew up with that toaster and was always fascinated by it - really enjoyed learning how the mechanism operated!
I am thinking motorcycles or cars.
A lot of the old discontinued American brands are coming back stamped onto undeserving product these days. These are not your parents' or grandparents' last-forever shavers (toaster ovens, TVs, record players, stereos, and apparently, batteries).
From some reason batteries "hate" parallel connnected capacitors (bridging the internal AC resistance when batteries are exhausted). For expensive devices, lithium or rechargeables highly recommended.
Dave Jones also did a few videos on batteries, and trying to measure when they would leak.
One thing I haven’t heard much discussion about is counterfeit batteries.
With all my occasional-use devices like the CAP ESR meter, etc., I leave the batteries out until I want to use the thing. Yes, it adds a few seconds to the job, but I don't worry about them leaking. I keep the batteries in a purpose-made battery-storage container to prevent them making contact and shorting out in storage. Other devices such as the portable DMM, I leave the batteries in, and I swap old for new during the annual "spring forward" DST clock dance. It's the perfect reminder because I do the same for several AA-powered wall clocks. Cheers and be well!
Thanks for the heads up young lady!! I just remembered that I had four Duracell AA's in my $1000 metal detector!! Yikes- I just hot footed it upstairs to remove them, thankfully no leakage- but if you hadn't done this video- I might be looking for a new machine. You have just justified your Patreon subscription ad infinitum. Thank you.
Totally agree, used Duracell on my expensive collection until I found them leaking through the seams. I Change to the energizer. Luckily I was able to save the items that got damaged. Thank you for explaining the cause.
Putting a note giving the date on the cells when ever you change them, is the best idea to beat the leaking problem. I do it for my quartx clocks.
Quiescent Current - The term given to describe the amount of current consumed by a circuit when it is not performing any work (sometimes referred to as standby current). Quiescent current consumption should be as low as possible in order to prolong the battery's life.
As a testament to Ray-o-Vac batteries, I have a found a few unopened packs of AA and AAA's from the early 2000's which have not leaked, and still have a strong charge.
As far as other batteries, I have a small portable fan that has a set of Radio Shack Enercell AA alkaline batteries which have not leaked, and the fan still works (though not to its full potential!), along with a green Radio Shack Enercell Extra Life AA "for transistor products" (carbon zinc) which still reads 1.29v. The green one is from the early '90s. Unsure about the alkalines, but they have the more recent logo.
I also have a set of Union Carbide Eveready Energizer D cells (also carbon zinc) from probably the 1960's or 70's which have not yet leaked. These are totally dead, though, and if I remember correctly, one has a slight negative charge.
Never put a Duracell in a Maglight. I've thrown away several now.
Duracell sucks. I've turned to Energizer and NiCad
This happened in my $600 camera flash. Wasn't too pleased.
"The humanity"? I have seen worse. I once bought a Yamaha PC-100 keyboard that literally had it's feet in battery goo. It had leaked out as a liquid that had spread all over the small flightcase it was stored in. And it was the huge batteries normally found in boom-boxes. But to my great luck it had always been stored horizontally so nothing had gone into the electronics. I just cleaned all the plastic parts and it was fine - and it still is, now 15 years later. The worst I have seen is a small Wersi MAX-1 synthesizer module that died a while after I bought it. The internal rechargeable RAM battery had started leaking very slowly. But when I found out half of the circuit board was gone without a trace.
Ahh... back on topic. I followed this channel for electronics and tech stuff... much better than random rants.
I have a vintage Vtech Battleships game that runs off 4 C batteries. Only Energiser or Boots batteries do I trust. It is about 30years old... Duracell's cans stay the hellaway from it.
I actually just had a set of rayovac batteries leak but it was in a flashlight that was left on my back porch in Florida for at least a year that I didn't know was in the bag and I believe was left on the boat for a couple years before that. It was a bag full of ropes for my mom's boat. The leak bridged the switch so the way I found it was that I came home and the light was shining on my back porch. I had only been gone for maybe 2hrs and it wasn't lit when I left.
I never had this problem. I have a list of all devices which are using batteries and checking them on regular basis. Most of my batteries are eneloops or Ikea
Thanks for the video. Something you really hate to see. That’s why I remove the batteries from devices during long storage. I’ve had to toss out too many things I had in the past because of bad batteries.
I have new Duracell Ultras still in the package leaking though they aren’t expired until 2022 or 2023. The packages are unopened and if you open them the testers do not work, but they still have plenty of power. I have a package of Duracell Optimum AA unopened not even two years old leaking.
Do you think a mobile app that tracks your devices batteries would be helpful? You could take pictures of the device and/or use QR code stickers to track the devices with a self contained database that would generate notifications to check the devices and replace the batteries. It could even have notes for type of batteries and location of device. After watching your video this seemed like a way to tackle the problem.
With batteries you have a choice to make. Do you want to remove the batteries from a little used device or do you want to try to clean/salvage a device in which the batteries have leaked?
I got tired of cleaning up leaking battery cell damage so I bite the bullet and remove the cells from any device not in use.
from expérience, energizer just die after months while Duracell can last years. compared AAA and 6F22 in identical use case. Duracell just last 5 to 10 times longer.
now trying Varta lithium.
I have used alkaline batteries for decades. Leaking batteries were something I remember from the 1950s. But lately I am finding that Duracell and Kirkland batteries discharge quicker and leak. I supose Kirland may be made by Duracell. Anyway they are clearly not what they used to be. The same thing has happened with flooded lead acid auto batteries. What used to last 5 years now lasts 3 years. Automotive suppliers now say brand of auto battery does not matter, that Johnson Controls is now the monopoly that makes them all.
Got Duracell batteries 4 years ago and leak not even a year later. Then decided to switched to energizers and now in 2022 they leaked 3 months after buying them new! They sure can cut corners to make money nowadays : (
Lol. Fran try teaching public school. You will end up with graphing calculators with battery crust due to where they store them over the summer.
I’ve personally never really had a problem with this. Anything that I am not immediately using and that I’ve taken out of service I always take the batteries out of it. Most battery companies will also replace whatever it is that was damaged if you file a claim for them. I know Duracell & energizer both do this. If it’s something you absolutely must store the batteries in then use rechargeables if possible. Nimh 1.2V cells are dry cells and thus don’t really ever leak. Same with the energizer lithiums. Chuckles on the lantern battery. They definitely arent like that anymore. Its hard to find ‘real ones with F cells in them anymore, since nobody makes them now. So they often have lesser cells, like Ds in them instead.
Funny how that copper top makes them look high-end.
The GP batteries are zinc chloride which are low self drain.
I too remember the carnage of zinc carbon cells. :-(
I've never had carbon zinc batteries leak. Maybe the newer 'heavy duty' versions are just made differently than the old ones; while though the outside can corrodes over time I didn't know there was any liquid to leak. I've even dismantled dead cells for the carbon rod and haven't encountered anything wet.
@@eDoc2020 i've never come across 'leaking' zinc carbons, corroded outer casing, yes, but they hadnt leaked anything, zinc chlorides a different matter, i've had them leak a lot, and some i had it sounded like liquid was slooshing around in them when shook 😲
I had a pair of C cells that expired in 1941 on display with my antique cameras and radios for years and years. Never leaked. Also various Japanese brands going way back into the early days. There are several listings on eBay for old Panasonic radios and tape recorders still in the box with the batteries that they were shipped with still in pristine condition. (Lead, of course.)
@@RuneTheFirst Lead?
the outer cases of zinc carbon and zinc chlorides are zinc, not lead..
Utilitech was the brand Lowes used to sell. They worked very well for me and I used them until they quit selling them although I have a few that are still not dead here and there. Duracells I have had go bad just sitting in the pack ruining them all and well before their date.. I have been getting Rayovac since.
Enjoyed this video......I try to remove the batteries from expensive items when I seldom use them......I've tried all different brands like you have but don't trust any of them! Thankyou so much for making this video, it's a keeper! Walt in Miami
Frans lab seems to be a rather toxic place with leaking batteries and vintage electronics decaying, giving off gas.
Agreed! Never buy copper tops again, I have recently found several devices filled with corrosion. Energizers all the way.
I have had a lot of leaky duracell destroy my stuff even when they were not dead, my roku remote, my weather station, etc. Costco batteries are made by Duracell.
Best problem so far!
FYI commercial aired prior to your video
have old Duracells from the 80s from my childhood that never leaked and still work to this very day!! Those were made by Gillette. Then Gillette sold Duracells to Proctor and Scandle (in 92?) and they became crap at that point because P&S did something to cheapen them to make higher profit and destroy more of your equipment! I'm not surprised that 9V "batteries" have lesser warrantees. You can open them up and they are really just 2 rows of 3 (6 total) cheaply made paper-wrapped AAA cells.. so of course they leak quicker because its just the cheap outer thin metal shell that is the only defense from leaking. Your lantern battery I've never seen with AAs inside, but I have found them all to have 4 elongated D cell batteries. SO I have gutted the shells of all of mine and insert 2 or 4 (in series/parallel for twice the amperage, twice the wattage, twice the battery run-time because 2 of them in series is just oner 6 volts under load and they hold way more runtime than any alkaline or drycell. As for direct replacement of alkaline that is easy, just go with NiMH rechargeable. They have no downside and if you buy good ones instead of junkChinese ones sold online, they have over 2000mAh which is as good as any Alkaline really an you can recharge them hundreds of times if you ue an intelligent charger that doesn't over charge or over temp cells. They have newer technology NiMH rechageables called ULSD (ultimate low self discharge) which come precharged even and can hold a change for a couple of years just sitting. Those kinds of ULSD Nickel Metal Hydrides are the perfect drop-in no-leakage replacement for all you alkaline battreries and they will save you a ton of money versus the very environmentally unfriendly landfilling and energy resource waisting thow-away alkalines. Yes thee are some obscure chasers that can recharge alkaline batteries but my experience with those has been checkered results. If you combine quality brand NiMH (Duracells NiMHs are actually quality compared to their crappy Alkaline leaksters!) with a quality intelligent charger like PowerEx or Maha or XTar and you will truly get hundreds of recharges like the packaging says. DONT BUY DURAHELL BATTERIES (unless they are Duracell NiMH rechageables). Also I have 18650 Lithium-Ion cells from their debut in he 90s under Sony brand which still work and don't leak!
I've been using GP branded A23 batteries in a project kit that I sell on Etsy. I've gone through about 800-900 so far and they've been great. I have had a few duds from time to time but all in all I've been pretty happy with the brand.
wow how do you go through so many?
Enjoyed the video.
I label stuff like batteries and light bulbs with the install date. that way I can tell how long it lasted.
I run princess auto power fist batteries ,,,they’re cheap and never give me trouble and they last ages in my kids Xbox controller.
Takes the batteries out. Still works.
Haunted Kermit!
The old tried and true 70% alcohol with an old tooth brush on the white powdered contacts have recovered my remote controls for decades
BAttery management is very important!
Nice video- you seem to have the collection of weird brand batteries that I always thought about collecting, but never did. Who names those things? As for 6 volt lantern batteries, in my scientific/destructive childhood I thought they had 4 square, flat cells. Now it seems the good ones have 4 "F" cells- like a long D cell. But Duracell lantern batteries now have 4 D cells and a cardboard spacer at the bottom! What a scam. If you have to but a lantern battery, just try to balance it horizontally- if it is top heavy, it probably has the 4 D cells. And finally- there are rechargeable 6 volt sealed lead acid batteries (SLAs) that seem to work well.
Have to say that Duracell batteries seem to suffer more than others......no more Duracell for me........
That GI battery reminds me of the old communist batteries used to get in czechoslovakia back in the day. They were wrapped in paper rather than whatever plasticy type material they are today.
GP Batteries is based in Hong Kong and has been around for 50 years.
ALGO almost force people to watch this.
Check out the price per battery on a "AAA" or "AA" when you buy in a 4 pack vs a 40 pack. Your jaw will drop.
When the tv remote starts to go who on here opens up the back and rolls the batteries backwards and forwards a few times 🤣
I always do !!😊
My Samsung's remote frequently stopped working, even with new batteries. It helped to roll them, but it was so often, I had to change the remote.
In a real pinch, warm them with your hand (without extracting them) to get a little more power out.
Yup. I do that with many battery-powered devices. It helps to scrub oxides off the contacts.
I simply press the buttons harder.... 🤣
"Copper top" batteries used to be all I would buy up until several years ago, after they decided to cheap out and started using thinner metal for the outer can. For me, they've slimed the innards of at least half a dozen remote controls, a wii-mote, two really nice LED flashlights, ruined a vintage HP-48SX calculator and corroded the inside of an aluminum 5-D Maglight beyond recognition. Yet I've found freebie throw-away batteries labelled "Alkaline Cell" sitting dead for _years_ inside various items that were perfectly fine. So yeah, F**K greedy Duracell and their premium priced, goop leaking shiite cells.
Me too! I trusted Duracells for a long time, but foolishly. I've had so many leak and ruin things, but as they know, it's usually not worth the trouble to make a claim for reimbursement.
I've never said, "Oh, no, the humanity!..." when finding leaky batteries -- but I will from now on!
Me neither, I usually go into a wild cursing fit. 🤣
I say it every time I see a huge zeppelin crash and when I find leaky batteries. It's not very often nowadays.
I will not.
I usually go with "Well, ffff..."
I thought maybe she meant to say humidity.
Humidity stops battery watches from working.
Early in my electronics career I spent a few years reparing consumer electronics and began a collection of those weird-brand batteries. It was very common for people to bring in radios, cassette players and other portable devices for service and the only real problem was "flat batteries". As often as not, the device still had the original cells in it and they were some unheard-of brand that came with the product. As a result, I had a wall with over 100 different brands of primary cells that always attracted a lot of attention from people who'd only ever heard of EverReady and Duracel. Ah... happy days when I had hair on my head :-)
xjet did you loose your hair because of all those rotting batteries? 😂
@@ghiagoo :-D
In the 70's and 80's I used to judge the quality by how many spelling mistakes were on the sleeve,
My favourite craptastic ones were marked 'Hig power' (obviously years ahead of the game and powered with Higgs-Bosons!)
Now of course with Lithium batteries they do at least give you a fighting chance, who wouldn't want to charge a set of 'Ultra-Fire' cheapo's from eBay? Mmmm, toasty!
@@sofa-lofa4241 There was one brand I always hoped I could add to my collection and I was super-surprised that I never saw any of them in all my years at the bench. This brand was often "standard euquipment" for portable electronic devices, even mentioned on the box. It was the "not included" brand -- virtually all the gear you bought had a big bold label that said "Batteries: Not Included" yet, when you looked inside, they'd forgotten to put *any* batteries (let alone those bearing the branding "Not Included") in the box :-(
Omg, I would love to see that board! Did you take a picture of it at some point?
Another thumbs down on Duracell, especially the AAs - I stopped buying them.
Duracell has been banned from my company and my home. Just say no.
Interestingly, my experience is that the grey-market Duracells that usually come with devices from China aren't as bad as the domestically-sourced ones. Maybe they are just cheap knock-offs with less electrolytes. Either way, we just get rid of them.
I also had a lot of problems with Duracell so I no longer use them.
Based on continually finding corroded "DuraLeak" batteries, I'm now avoiding them. Recently I found an old non-Duracell alkaline battery in a long-forgotten device. And it was fine!
Agreed, I stopped using Duracell years ago. Out of all the various brands Duracell were the ones that invariably leaked.
100 % correct... while cleaning out my late father's home of 45 years, found almost all Duracell batteries had leaked at 5 to 8 years. Garbage batteries ! Do not use....no others had. I recommend baking soda if you need to clean
Be sure to have safety glasses on when removing leaking cells. I had a friend whose daughter had to be rushed to a local hospital due to the KOH (or K2CO3) popping into her eye when removing a leaking cell. The doctor said that she nearly had to have a cornea implant due to the damage caused by the electrolyte. Also - always be near a sink for emergency eye-wash and/or to wash hands after the leaking battery is removed.
Good advice
5:29 Holy Crap !!~! I've concluded that recently that Duracells are LEAKERS big time ! I thought they were the best , now I'm on the hunt for the 'New Best' ...
Dave from EEVBlog recently tore down some Duracells, turns out it's overpriced to pay for all the research in marketing, not manufacturing.
th-cam.com/video/5Q1MPrgea1M/w-d-xo.html
That's damn right! Duracell is the king of leakers. I neved had any other brand leaking, only the frigging Duracell.
They (alkaline) ALL have troubles with leakage, regardless of brand.
I've been using the Lithium-Irons for some years: not a single trouble.
They are yet a bit expensive, but, IMHO, worth the cost.
Kirkland have been my go-to for the last 10 years. I’ve only had one leak in that time.
@@pyromen321 Kirkland leak as bad as Duracell. Kirkland batteries are made by Duracell. I had both batteries leak in the original package and they were less than two years old.
My AA Duracells leaked while still in the package. I had them stored in cool dry place for about a year.
I found them all immersed in liquid with the wrappers fallen off.
Wow!🤬
I bought a bulk carton of Energizer, and 3 out of the 20? Leaked. Powder not liquid. The Duracell piss out it's contents inside.
I won't buy duracell anymore. At least 5 -6 times over the last year or two, I have found AA's leaking straight out of the brand new package. Of course there's no way to check for leaks through the packaging. haha, Fran just mentioned this as I write this!!
spicy pillows more like spicy smarties
Heavy Duty means it’s Zinc Chloride, not Alkaline
Indeed, the name is standardized, as is probably also “Super Heavy Duty”. At the time those names were invented, they were probably better than whatever came before them, but their power output is poor compared to alkaline. The good quality ones do have the advantage of keeping their voltage for very long, as shown in this video with Kermit.
Friends don't let friends use Duracell.
I started buying Duracells because I had too much equipment destroyed by leaking Energizers.
@@jamesslick4790 I've had several Maglites destroyed by leaking Energizers.
At the end of the day, ALL alkaline batteries leak. It's an inherent flaw to the technology.
Use Eneloops. If your device doesn't support rechargeable batteries it's crap. If you disagree with this statement...
I decided to check some of my batteries after watching this and would you know it I have an "Energizer Advanced" AAA alkaline battery “made in U.S.A.” with a 2023 expiry that has just started to leak (the 2nd battery of the pair isn’t leaking). Luckily I stopped trusting all alkaline batteries a while ago after I've had dozens of them leak so I never leave them in devices I value so it has only ruined a plastic battery tray and the adjacent alkaline battery (my last two alkaline AAAs).
I now mostly use Japanese Panasonic & SANYO rechargeable Ni-MH cells and various lithium primary cells, they’re more expensive but much cheaper in the long run, the price of Ni-MH cells also motivates you not to let them get over-discharged and ruined. I have Ni-MH & lithium cells just over 10 years old and none have leaked. Primary lithium cells are often guaranteed 100% leakproof with no expiry date (although they will still vent if short circuited/overheated).
I can also attest to the advantage of serializing your batteries and having an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them, although it is a fair amount of effort.
Yuassa I pretty good too
Be sure to check Panasonic batteries for country of origin. They also have cheap Chinese ones, although I must say I have not had any issues with them (yet.)
@@RuneTheFirst All of mine are made in Japan, haven't encountered any Chinese made ones although I've heard conflicting rumors they have lower cycle life. I do have ones from before SANYO was acquired by Panasonic and they've gotten better since. I bought the original SANYO super-lattice alloy batteries (now branded Eneloop Pro), they made a big trade off for cycle life to get higher capacity, haven't bought them since.
Indeed - if I don't use it daily I remove batteries now, which sucks for devices that use batteries for backup power only. The battery is never used, but still leaks all over.
There's a very easy way to prevent damage from leaking batteries: coat the battery holder contacts with dielectric grease (best) or petroleum jelly.
GP greens are pretty common to be included with TV remotes. Pretty sure they often outlast the TV with the quality of cheap TV's these days 😂
I wanted to see Kermit the Frog with the GP batteries talking, would have been nice 🙂
Hi, Fran, and Fran Fans - I recently found that Duracell alkalines had ruined my Zoom Z4 sound recorder, but then noticed that Duracell guaranteed that their batteries wouldn't leak. I contacted Duracell through their Customer Service page, and they sent me a check for the replacement value of the recorder! If something like this happens to you, give it a try. They did recommend removing batteries from devices I don't frequently use.
My personal record for battery persistence was for an HP-15c scientific calculator, same set of batteries since I got the calculator in the mid-1980's.
I kind of wonder what the limit for that is. Will they honor it even if it's mostly drainage and extreme temps (outdoors from +35 C for -20C) and a $1500 data logger?
@@WorBlux For really expensive kit, I'd take good care of it. I don't leave my Fluke scope in the car over the week end, try and park in the shade, keep the scope covered with a thick old towel from the sun.
I have had the same HP calculator battery experience, with an HP-16C... the original batteries lasted more than 30 years...
@@trespire It's kind of unavoidable. We have dozens if not hundreds of them scattered in some very remote places all over the continental US for years at a time, protected only by a thin metal box and internal dissecant pack. Paying someone to go check on them even once a month would cost a lot more than loosing one every now and then to battery slime.
@@WorBlux Sorry, I was presuming your data logger was used as a hand held service tool. For long term in-situ applications don't they have a solution that draws / trickle charges off the mains power being measured ? Or is it not permissible to parasitically feed off the mains in any way ? I know an engineer with a Dranetz power monitor that does.
Never buy Duracell, I've had so many fail in this manner that I've never buy them again... I made this decision years ago. Energiser are usually great, as are GP or Panasonic.
I just had this happen, and yup… Duracell! Turns out they ain't so durable?
You pay for the brand, pure scam
I've had plenty of Energizers fail like that over the years as well
@@TheJunky228 Same. my lil mart mostly has energizers and they leak just as good. Almost lost a line6 wireless mic with them.
Duracell in now just a brand name lapped on any random cell, they stopped actually making batteries years ago, and are now, just like many household names, a brand applied to stuff from some other OEM manufacturer.
OMG I'm so glad someone spotlighted my favorite battery to hate for the leaking. Been preaching against leaking Dur.. for decades. Thanks Fran!
I had an entire package of brand new Duracells leak all over each other in a new UNOPENED package so I will never buy another one ever again. I hope they go out of business.
Back in the day, all the major brand batteries had a lifetime warranty against leakage. It instructed you to send them the device and they would either repair or replace the whole thing. They even paid the postage. Ahh, those were the days!
I think Duracell AA is of lower quality since shifting production to PRC , (China).
This has happened with every set of duracells I've purchased in the last 20 years. Learned my lesson, I'll never again buy any Duracell batteries. Owned by THE GREAT ORACLE, Warren Buffet.
I started using NiCd AA cells when I started my Undergraduate University course in 1978. Ive been using Low Self Discharge NiMH cells from the time that the Sanyo Eneloop came on the market. I have 6 brands of NiMH and always use these in any product that I purchase discarding any supplied Alkaline Batteries. I regularly change the NiMH batteries and recharge them. I have never experienced any leakage issue with NiMH batteries.
Me too. I got a good chinese nimh/li ion charger (liitokala brand) with current control and a very good display and I use Sony/eneloop batteries for almost everything, even for remotes.
Nickel metal hydride self destruct rate is just way too high, alkaline batteries in a TV remote can last years while even if their unused, they will discharge themselves in six months if they are rechargeable. Rechargeables are for everything except for things that last a long time like clocks and smoke alarms.
@ungratefulmetalpansy exactly, when you put such small amount of load on the cells, not only do they actually output the energy less efficiently and therefore reduce the capacity in half, their self discharge rate is so high that you end up replacing them after a month where alkaline would last you 6 months
@ungratefulmetalpansy that more depends on the quality of your cells
@@pilotavery ever tried the low self discharge NiMH? They keep charge for years
"super heavy duty" batteries aren't alkaline, they also aren't designed for the same loads. they are designed for very low current draw over a very long time. these kinds of conditions kill alkaline batteries dead, but alkaline batteries survive high current loads that would kill super heavy duty batteries dead.
So, like for a clock? TV remote?
@@lachlan1971 Lower even than that, more like the standby power.
Pandaren Death Knight
Alkaline batteries work fine under low load. Manufacturers use whatever is cheapest in remotes and such.
low current draw over an extended time (such as smoke detectors), or pulse draws, such as in a remote control. Transistor radios, clock radio, etc. If you know you're going to have a radio and use it a LOT, then use alkaline. If you're going to use it very occasionally for short times, then park it in your glove box, or drawer, then the carbon zincs are better.
I made a light thingy by soldering two AA alkaline cells I got from disposable cameras in series to a green 5mm LED and a 20k ohm resistor. Its been 7 years and the LED its still glowing and the batteries haven't leaked. So i think its more about how well they are made though its true "super heavy duty" batteries suck at high current discharge.
That's why I only use rechargeable Eneloops. Yes it's much bigger upfront investment, but it's far less wasteful than those hopeless alkaline batteries.
I checked to see if anyone else was saying this. I have Eneloops that are well over a decade old and have never had any leak. The upfront investment pales in comparison to having an irreplaceable remote for a vintage CD player or similar ruined. Even a replaceable remote will cost more than a pair of Eneloops. Unfortunately a very few of my devices won't work on the 1.2V of NiMH cells but most do.
My late father always stuck a label on battery compartments saying when he changed batteries.
My late grandad ran an AM radio with crocodile clips on a massive Ever Ready PP9 battery. He would religiously label new batteries with the date it was bought. They averaged 9 years, feeding a radio which was switched on for 10 hours a day every day.
Great video, in my experience Duracell leak the worst. In my fluke MM with remote display I have to remove the batteries everytime I'm done using it or they will leak.
I sold Duracell for decades, mostly Procell, Recently I was looking at some really old equipment that I was getting rid of and found Duracells with expiry dates from the 2000's and they hadn't leaked. Lately a lot of Duracell and Procell haven't even made the one year mark before leaking. Thanks for the Energizer recommendation. A side point, when Procell first came out, we used to sometimes pull the Procell cover off and find a Coppertop cover underneath.
I started buying Duracells because I had leaking Energizers destroy several devices.
I have Duracells from 2000 that are still fine, where I've had new ones leak in the package.
The same is true for Energizers.
I suspect some change in formulation was made that makes them far more prone to leak.
They always bought Procell's for the battery powered instruments at work. We had a Honeywell communicator rechargeable battery pac last ten years, don't know what brand it was!
I have a Boots branded calculator from December 1980 (Xmas present) which untill about 6 months ago was still working on the original AA batteries. I threw them out, just in case, as they were looking a bit suspect.
From my experience, those batteries like the ones you had, contain a small amount of mercury. They could last for a very long time. I have some "D" cells in a flashlight from the 1980's that still light the bulb quite well. I keep it around just to see how long it will go. BTW, they are Duracell. (The old chemistry).
To repair corroded terminals I've found that cleaning them with a dremel and then coating them with silver solder almost always saves the day as long as it didn't get the board. You can use regular solder in a pinch, but the harder silver solder holds up a lot better.Also sometimes it takes a little acid flux to get the solder to stick but I've used this to salvage the unsalvageable.
DuraLeak are the worst
Glad you mentioned the GP cells, they are surprisingly trouble-free and often supplied with better quality devices as "starter" batteries.
The funniest AA's name I ever came across was...."Lusty".
Flying Bomb is my favorite bad battery
This is why I now use the Lithium-Iron AAA, AA cells, and also the Lithium-Manganese 9 Volt batteries.
No more alkalines here. Too many devices damaged.
And those 9 Volt alkalines? The cells within (6 of 'em) have NO VENTING MECHANISM.
As in *BOOM* as they gas. Not anecdotal. Many occasions.
Lithium-Ion lol.
@@TazR6
No. I meant Lithium/Iron Disulfide (Li/FeS2)
Non-rechargeable.
Look it up.
"LOL" back at ya'. ;-)
@@TazR6 Oops! A little quick there. Now ya gotta apologize!
@@englishrupe01 I am so sorry. I jumped the gun and just assumed you had confused iron with ion. I had never heard of Lithium-Iron cells before, so it was my ignorance and not your spelling.
I consider myself castigated and educated.
Neil :-)
@@TazR6 Lol, very well done there! Good apology and well castigated. Shows your mum taught you well!
That was one of your most interesting/educational videos in a while.
Very interesting.
Sunbeam makes small appliances. Or they did.
Thanks!
My record was my Casio fx-7 calculator from high school with, ironically enough, Duracell Coppertops. They were probably installed ca 1986 and expired in 1993, only to continue working until about 2015, so just about 30 years. I did always use the hard power switch, so that might have helped.
Yep, in those days they were the best! Sadly not any more. A good name wasted.
WOW! Thanks Fran. This was a very helpful video. We've never had such a problem with leaking batteries as we started having, once we moved to this humid part of the world. Our leaks however are a liquid. I can't tell you how many devices I've trashed or had to clean out over the past 15 years. We've always thought Duracell was the best, so we exclusively use the copper top. We will definitely change and probably to Energizer. Thanks again.
Welcome back to the lab!
At a flea market I was in a pinch for some batteries and saw a pack of like 20 Duracell AA batteries. So I bought them, went home and opened them up then actually looked closer at the name, "Duraking". Needless to say they didn't last too long. I always look closely now.
My "favourite" off-brand battery was the Dureday Extra Super, featuring 0% Plumbum.
As far as everyday alkalines go, I like the bigclive approved Poundland ones.
Kodak alkaline batteries, I've had a few of the AA & AAA versions leak whilst still in the packet & years before the expiry date.
I love to use rechargeable batteries for my devices, no leaking and great for my photo gear.
Fran, one strategy I use is to label things I need to keep long-term track of with a QR code sticker. I bought sheets of 1/2" square labels and used Google Sheets to dynamically generate UUIDs and turn them into the codes. Then I use AirTable to keep track of that item. Works great for warranties, batteries, borrowing, lending, service, etc.
"duracell claim non leak" yeah right
"It's like table salt. Holy crap don't let it touch you!" This seems like advice for snails.
Don't worry. Potassium carbonate is pretty safe but it is slightly basic so wash your hands after a few minutes. Potassium hydroxide is worst. It is a strong base. it reacts with the oils in your skin and make soap and glycerol. Don't ever touch leaked NiCd batteries. Cadmium is poisonous.
2 years ago I found a motorcycle intercom. This had been left in a box somewhere for at least 25 years. But the RadioShack AAA alkaline batteries that were in it did not leak yet. No voltage was measurable anymore.
I agree that leaking alkaline batteries can be irritating, but they are relatively easy to clean up after. However, they make FAR LESS mess and cause less damage than older dry cell carbon-zinc batteries. Carbon-zinc batteries also Stink when they leak.
Because of experiences in the 1950's -1960's, I still do not buy Ray-O-Vac batteries of any type, because in my experience their carbon-zinc batteries were much more likely to leak than the other common brands. (I'm sure they're fine now, but it's an ingrained distrust.)
People's Republic of China (P.R.C) is the official name of Communist China.
Kermit ... always on, really ? Can you measure the current draw always on state ?
I'm sure it is not always on. It has a momentary switch that powers it up, then a mosfet that the chip triggers to keep power on until it is done saying its phrase then it shuts down
Good question. I assumed that there would be a microprocessor that had a microamp draw waiting for the button press. But I suppose it could be possible to design a circuit with no power draw waiting for the button. Sort of a semi-conductor version of a latching relay.
Procell are simply Duracells with a different label. Heavy Duty and Super Heavy Duty are NOT alkalines, After 5+years working in a battery store,, I only use LITHIUM, which seldom leak. I have a lot of expensive test equipment, As for small button batteries, use Silver Oxide in preference instead of alkaline.
"heavy duty" they seem to always stick on the carbon/zinc batteries.
Exactly ! Especially in Chinese batteries
"heavy duty" is the marketing term for improved zinc/carbon batteries, called "zinc/chloride" batteries. It doesn't seem to be especially a Chinese thing, as i've seen this term quite often on low-cost batteries from european manufacturers, too. Wikipedia has a short paragraph on them: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc%E2%80%93carbon_battery#Zinc-chloride_%22heavy_duty%22_cell . They are still worse than cheap alkaline for (nearly?) all application. I don't think they manufacture any non-"heavy duty" carbon/zinc batteries since 30 years...
It's kind of ironic to have the label "heavy duty" on the battery type with the lowest capacity and worst handling of high discharge rate currently on the market, just because 50 years ago there were even worse batteries on the market.
It's been common to use the "heavy duty" labeling on carbon/zinc batteries in the USA at least since the early 80s, when those batteries were still made in the USA.
@@tw11tube Until a few years ago I could find Panasonic "General Purpose" carbon/zinc batteries in dollar stores alongside the "Heavy Duty". You would get more "general purpose" batteries for the dollar, but obviously, less capacity than "heavy duty"
Heavy Duty is the household name for Zinc Chloride----they are better than the old Carbon-zinc. The name was to differentiate it. Not nearly as good as Alkaline though.
Heavy Duty usually refers to carbon-zinc cells.