EEVblog #1296 - Alkaline Battery Leakage Testing 2 - Electric Boogaloo

[thm_w]

Be careful. I recently found a few NiMH batteries which had been unused for over 10 yeas and almost all of them were leaked, although most still work to some 50~75% capacity after cleaning. The leaked ones were non-LSD Energizers, Vartas and no-names. Two Eneloops were also found in the lot and they weren't leaked, but I don't know what would happen if I left them for another decade without charging.

Don't buy non-LSD.

Same complaint here. lower voltage, lower capacity ( or perceived capacity as devices shut off earlier due to lower voltage )

i now only use energizer lithium cells as AA replacement. they have extreme long shelf life (15+ years) and pack a lot of capacity.( 3000 maH compared to 1200..1500 for a regular aa cell. )

Lower voltage is valid.
Capacity, you can get 2,500mAh eneloops. So any decently designed device with one of those will last just as long as alkaline, assuming their claims of discharge can be trusted.

edit: this guy measured 10%/year self discharge
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?447670-Anyone-done-Self-Discharge-tests-on-Eneloop-Pros&p=5230886&viewfull=1#post5230886

[Fungus]

Lower voltage is valid.

They're supposed to give 1.2V for almost their entire discharge so you'll have to look long and hard to find a device that doesn't work.

If you can find one? Get a Batteroo!

[darik]

They're supposed to give 1.2V for almost their entire discharge so you'll have to look long and hard to find a device that doesn't work.

If you can find one? Get a Batteroo!

Bose noise cancelling headphones. They seem to cut off at about 1.25 V. Infuriating.

[rsjsouza]

I don't know about free_electron, but for me the hassle of managing charging/recharging and the shortened lifetime of a single charge (due to the lower voltage per cell) is a deal breaker for some of my requirements.

The best way to reduce hassle is to have a charger that can charge and also maintain the batteries - so when a device runs down, you just swap the batteries with the ones in the charger.  Easier than tearing open a blister pack!

I've tried that with a subset of the worst offenders and it is impractical for me - too many small gadgets and toys to manage, which would lead to me managing various chargers and battery sets just to keep up. Not to mention that some high power toys from my kids drain the batteries to an artifical "low battery" condition quite quickly.

[magic]

Two Eneloops were also found in the lot and they weren't leaked, but I don't know what would happen if I left them for another decade without charging.

Eneloops don't have any liquid in them, so... probably nothing.

I'm not sure if the others use any sensu stricto liquids either; IIRC from watching teardown videos they just have some slightly moist paste in them. Perhaps atmospheric water is somehow involved too. I don't know, I simply try to be careful with any NiMH and don't leave them uncharged for years.

[Dgouty]

I don't recall Dave trying to recharge them...
Guaranteed leakage, throw them on a charger.

[thm_w]

I don't recall Dave trying to recharge them...
Guaranteed leakage, throw them on a charger.

Some were reverse charged.
Charging at higher currents is something that is clearly wrong, its not failing for unknown reasons by testing that, excessive heat/pressure will be generated. The manufacturer guarantee would not apply.

[fanOfeeDIY]

I have up and down in my life as all have , and missed this video.

The biggest percentage of the reason of battery having leakage seems to be when two or more batteries are connected in series with the batteries which do not have the same remaining level left.

They suffered to find a good method of sealing electrode terminal and they used rice as one of the ingredients.

I head this when the battery was Manganese battery. The reason I remember this story is because they were talking about rise. The company was sending rise to factories in overseas. The employee of the factories were happy to have the Japanese rise for their dinner when the rise was left at the factories because it was very difficult time to find Japanese rise which is sticky short grain (which they have grown up with) in foreign countries. It is easy now, since there are many Japanese food stores now, but in 80’s and 90’s it was not the same and many places.

At least what they did was enforce tight quality control and through away of a battery which could not package in the same package from the same lot. The different lot seems to have slight variation. Having the package from all two or four batteries from the same lot for hoping to reduce the probability of different remaining level to be used in series.
This could be the reason I do not see much 3.7V soft laminated LiPo rechargeable batteries are not used in series without BMS when they want 7 or 8V.

I am not battery a person, this is purely what I have heard from who have worked at battery division long time ago