[ARC5] Batteries That Do Not Corrode?

[Peter Gottlieb]

Many many years ago I worked at Mallory labs and Duracell was their trademark 
for their alkaline cells.  Back then the engineers there had tremendous pride in 
their products and a lot of research and engineering went into the seals.  The 
objective was top quality and QA while maintaining a good margin.  While 
performance was similar to other top brands (e.g., Eveready), the seals and very 
specifically the uniformity of the Duracells were better.  Once Mallory sold off 
the battery production division and they were renamed Duracell, well, things 
changed and the focus became the bottom line exclusively.

The lithium primary cells I mentioned contain a non-aqueous electrolyte.  This 
is necessary as lithium (violently) reacts with water.  If there is a leak, the 
volatile solvent in the electrolyte will evaporate leaving a salt (NOT table 
salt) residue which is generally not corrosive.  IT is, however, hygroscopic and 
when it absorbs moisture from the air will become ionically conductive, so you 
must clean it off any circuits.  However, a slow leak will usually not spread 
very far.

I have yet to see one leak, even if left in a drawer discharged.

I have only bought AA cells so am not sure what other sizes are available.  They 
are not cheap, but way cheaper than cleaning up a device messed up from battery 
leakage.  The only ones I've seen locally are Eveready but I hear there are 
other brands.

Peter
kb2vtl


On 6/7/2018 7:53 PM, Richard Knoppow wrote:
> Duracell, who made some disastrously bad cells for a while pulled them off the 
> market and has replaced them with batteries guaranteed for ten years. We will 
> have to wait. I had problems mostly with AA and AAA cells, not so much with  C 
> and D cells and 9volt batteries. The bad AA cells have two little dimples on 
> the negative end. Duracell also sells batteries under the Pro-Cell name which 
> are supposed to be for critical use such as smoke alarms. I had enough gear 
> ruined by leaking Duracells to worry about them a little but am giving these a 
> try. I've also used Energizer batteries with good results. I doubt if anyone 
> can actually answer your question. I think the only recourse is to check 
> battery condition often to make sure there are no leakers. I think any battery 
> can leak even of the brand is generally reliable.
>     FWIW I started using Duracell batteries because they were recommended to 
> me years ago by a couple of motion picture sound men who used them in Nagra 
> recorders. One said he found that the heaviest ones lasted the longest.  
> However, they were mostly interested in capacity rather than shelf life.
>
> On 6/7/2018 4:24 PM, Robert  Eleazer wrote:
>> Anybody found any AAA, AA, C, D, dry cell batteries that do not tend to 
>> corrode and ruin the flashlight, camera, radio. etc. where they are 
>> installed.  I am getting quite tired of encountering that problem over and 
>> over again.
>> I have been using CVS batteries for years because my Mom had to visit the 
>> drugstore pretty often.  Those batteries corrode.
>> I still recall when the Eveready company used to boast that their batteries 
>> would not corrode and they would replace any flashlight that they damaged.
>> Thanks!
>> Wayne
>> WB5WSV
>>