Basically if you leave Alkaline batteries in the device for a long time (years) without using them they will loose all charge and there is a chance of them leaking.
Leakage is significantly more common with the Zinc-Carbon batteries (the tech in use for most batteries in that format before Alkaline) though those leak something that forms blueish crystals.
I once saw old D cells inside the toy train my father had as a kid. They basically looked like they liquefied and then re-solidified in the basic shape of a D cell.
Get the batteries out and wipe the electronics with a soft towel soaked with a little vinegar to neutralize the corrosion. Then a damp towel with just water to get the vinegar up. Let it fully dry before putting in new batteries. This happens to batteries that have sat unused for a long time installed. It can also happen if at the end of charge, you pull the batteries out, and put them back in to squeeze a little more use out of the batteries. Do it too many times and there is a leak risk. Cheaper batteries do it more often but the top brands will occasionally leak as well.
I found an old plush that had a voicebox in it... I've not touched it in 25+ years but wanted to show it to my daughter, so I pulled out the battery box, expecting the worse, and there was no corrosion at all. I pulled out the generic brand batteries and put in new batteries and it started speaking.
In the future, someone will have this same story but the ending will be the toy telling you to connect to WiFi and update your subscription information...
I remember hearing that alkaline batteries that contain mercury don't leak, they're just much worse for the environment. So maybe that's what happened?
This is the way. Sometime I even file down the spring/contacts with a nail file to expose fresh metal rather than corrosion. Just a few light scratches helps greatly.
If you have access to one, use an ultrasonic cleaner with vinegar and water in it to clean the parts you can take out (NOT the batteries themselves! Those are done)
Why not just switch to NiMH rechargables? Upfront cost is a bit higher, but considering the 10 or so year lifespan in a TV remote, they make sense. And they don't leak.
CRC is a hydrocarbon based cleaning solution similar to isopropyl alcohol. Vinegar works to clean the alkaline corrosion specifically because it is acidic, so it will both neutralize the alkalinity and also act as a mild etchant.
It is important that you thoroughly clean all of the vinegar, since leaving it on for too long will etch away the copper (though when I say "for too long", I mean a very long time).
You know, at first glance these looked like 2 dollar bills rolled up to do coke with and these were after a couple of hours of use and the coke was getting gummed up around the snorting side. My first thought was "Yeah, I'm familiar with that."
No. I had an OG gameboy and my parents wouldn’t buy more batteries so every remote in the house had its batteries liberated for the glory of super Mario land 2 6 golden coins. They didn’t get the safety and security of rotting in a tv remote. They were fed to the Tetris vampire.
Wow, until you mentioned it, I had somehow completely forgotten about this gem of a game and mostly thought of mario land 1 or wario world when thinking of the gameboy era, even though wario was introduced in Mario Land 2 iirc. Thanks for that hit of nostalgia.
I hate to be counted as a gen z because my mind is less there and more inbetween.
Anyway, I think people forgot how genz starts at 1997. People. Some were 10 years old in the 2000s and al we had were battery toys and outside to play with...
I suspect some (not enshitified) devices even designed around it because I remember it killing devices back in the day but the more recent times I've had it happen, like with a wireless guitar controller, the device was fine, just a bit crusty in the battery area. Though if you've ever opened up a guitar controller, they are mostly empty space, so it might just be the nature of their use case vs something like a gameboy, where everything is packed in as much as the thermal situation allowed.
Many times. When buying old battery-powered electronics, there's like a 50% chance that there's a leaked battery in there. Make sure to wash your hands if you touched that.
False. Alkaline batteries are never completely empty. They are just too low to be used for what they are in. Move them to another device and they again.
The heat death of the universe will be delayed by a bag of AA’s in a landfill
Well, if I cannot operate an IR remote anymore I consider the batteries empty because I won't be able to do anything else with them. I'll dispose of them properly, but I won't tell you ;-)
Completely empty? You're sure that there isn't any juice left? I haven't tried opening a leaky one, but I'd guess that there's still at least a few drops left.
I still see it all the time with Kirkland batteries. I mostly use rechargeables but when I use those I frequently find them leaking after not that long.
Sure, dust out with a paintbrush...wipe down with some alcohol. If the contacts are corroded either file or use a dot of lemon juice and a toothbrush to remove and then either spray with contact cleaner or wipe again with alcohol.
Several times in my own electronics and many times in secondhand items. The potassium hydroxide electrolyte never quite evaporates and seeps under the crevices, requiring a full disassembly to prevent further corrosion.
Worst offenders are the pesky little alkaline button cells. Every alkaline cell inevitably evolves hydrogen gas as the electrochemical reaction proceeds and in those tiny canisters, the gas very quickly has nowhere to go but out along with the cell's guts. The secret is to get the silver oxide versions, same voltage, a bit pricier, but far less leakage.
I guess the silver lining to the declining popularity of AA and AAA powered devices is that I can finally afford to use only Ni-MH or primary lithium cells in all of my devices. Those chemistries are mostly immune to leaking.
That's why I put non rechargeable batteries out, before putting them away for long time without usage. This won't happen if you are constantly using the remote and batteries, and it won't happen with rechargeables. Edit: Read the replies to this comment. I was wrong.
This won’t happen if you are constantly using the remote and batteries,
It still can. I have found that the most common cause of batteries going south like this(when being used actively) is when there is a voltage mismatch between the batteries.
Always make sure you use batteries from the same pack when you put them together in a device. That or get a voltmeter out and check to make sure their voltage is the same.
This is less of an issue when the batteries are in parallel, but almost all cases where batteries are combined in electronics, they are putting them in serial.
Good point. I never experienced this issue and always thought its a myth that we shouldn't combine them. So I learned something. But I don't use non-rechargeable batteries anymore anyway.
It took me decades to finally figure this out. It wasn't until I started building solar systems and batteries that I realized what was happening.
You can have the same issue with rechargeables, but they are more resilient. Running them in parallel will work fine because the batteries balance out their state of charge. When you run them in series they have no way to balance out and one is always dragging the rest down. If the difference is too much then that lowest battery heats up considerably. That cooks the electrolyte.
Interesting, even with rechargeables. Good thing since the 90s Game Boy I only use same set of rechargeable batteries from same manufacturer only, and always put them out when not in use. That's probably I never had an issue anymore. The humidity of the environment and quality control of the batteries are probably an important factor too. I can imagine this happens more often in some regions of the world than others in example.
95 replies
Yes.
Basically if you leave Alkaline batteries in the device for a long time (years) without using them they will loose all charge and there is a chance of them leaking.
Leakage is significantly more common with the Zinc-Carbon batteries (the tech in use for most batteries in that format before Alkaline) though those leak something that forms blueish crystals.
I once saw old D cells inside the toy train my father had as a kid. They basically looked like they liquefied and then re-solidified in the basic shape of a D cell.
Get the batteries out and wipe the electronics with a soft towel soaked with a little vinegar to neutralize the corrosion. Then a damp towel with just water to get the vinegar up. Let it fully dry before putting in new batteries. This happens to batteries that have sat unused for a long time installed. It can also happen if at the end of charge, you pull the batteries out, and put them back in to squeeze a little more use out of the batteries. Do it too many times and there is a leak risk. Cheaper batteries do it more often but the top brands will occasionally leak as well.
Vinegar here really does the trick in neutralizing the acid. do not skip it!
Vinegar (Acetic Acid) does not neutralise any acids at all.
It does however, neutralise the caustic, alkaline contents of a non-rechargeable alkaline cell (potassium hydroxide).
That just sounded factual.
Acid is just upside-down base
Neutralise the corrosion with a conjugate pair acids/base buffer.
Neutralise was a confusing term to pick, but they're not wrong.
How the shit? Just use baking soda in water instead.
I believe the comment you are replying to meant to say corrosion not acid.
This is some sort of electrochemistry, more complex than just acid/base
I'm just going to say alkaline batteries have a strong hydroxide so use any acid.
I'm pretty sure its an acid/base conjugate pair buffer, but I could be wrong
Alkaline batteries use a base, hence the name. Baking soda would work as you can neutralize a strong base with a weak one. Same with acid...
I found an old plush that had a voicebox in it... I've not touched it in 25+ years but wanted to show it to my daughter, so I pulled out the battery box, expecting the worse, and there was no corrosion at all. I pulled out the generic brand batteries and put in new batteries and it started speaking.
I was amazed.
In the future, someone will have this same story but the ending will be the toy telling you to connect to WiFi and update your subscription information...
:(
I remember hearing that alkaline batteries that contain mercury don't leak, they're just much worse for the environment. So maybe that's what happened?
This is the way. Sometime I even file down the spring/contacts with a nail file to expose fresh metal rather than corrosion. Just a few light scratches helps greatly.
If you have access to one, use an ultrasonic cleaner with vinegar and water in it to clean the parts you can take out (NOT the batteries themselves! Those are done)
Why not just switch to NiMH rechargables? Upfront cost is a bit higher, but considering the 10 or so year lifespan in a TV remote, they make sense. And they don't leak.
How does vinegar compare to a can of CRC?
Doesn't smell as good but tastes a bit better.
It doesn't.
CRC is a hydrocarbon based cleaning solution similar to isopropyl alcohol. Vinegar works to clean the alkaline corrosion specifically because it is acidic, so it will both neutralize the alkalinity and also act as a mild etchant.
It is important that you thoroughly clean all of the vinegar, since leaving it on for too long will etch away the copper (though when I say "for too long", I mean a very long time).
You know, at first glance these looked like 2 dollar bills rolled up to do coke with and these were after a couple of hours of use and the coke was getting gummed up around the snorting side. My first thought was "Yeah, I'm familiar with that."
"who is hungry, thinks of bread"
Every '90s kid remembers this!
No. I had an OG gameboy and my parents wouldn’t buy more batteries so every remote in the house had its batteries liberated for the glory of super Mario land 2 6 golden coins. They didn’t get the safety and security of rotting in a tv remote. They were fed to the Tetris vampire.
Wow, until you mentioned it, I had somehow completely forgotten about this gem of a game and mostly thought of mario land 1 or wario world when thinking of the gameboy era, even though wario was introduced in Mario Land 2 iirc. Thanks for that hit of nostalgia.
Running a gameboy on non-rechargeable batteries is a bold choice.
Not really an option everyone had or even knew about back then.
OP must be pretty young 😂, we old fucks have seen this happen 100 times
I'm only 21 lol
Oh you sweet summer child
I prob have batteries doing that exact thing that are older than op (tho this can happen in a few years easily, especially if in a circuit).
Yes? It was extremely common as a child because all our toys were battery powered (but not included)
Oh my sweet summer child... Just don't taste it.
Mmm, alkaline
See now I have to know why.
Ah, the forbidden salt. Yes, I remember it fondly from when I was but a young boy, playing the GameBoy Color.
how old are you?
21
As a millennial: all the time
What I did only experience once, was a leaking alkaline battery while in use
Mouse stopped working. Opened it up, only to be greeted with freshly squeezed battery juice dripping out of the battery
Mouse worked fine with new batteries, so no short in there.
Was even high end Duracell
This has become an oxymoron in the last few decades.
Bought out by berkshire hathaway in 2016 and they've been absolute garbage since then. I haven't bought them for years, they aren't worth anything.
Yeah I just threw out half of a 30 pack of procells because they look like this. Expiry date is next year.
Now that I think about it, that’s about when I switched to energizer. Were they owned by berk?
Energizer is not owned by berkshire.
That explains a lot. The last package of Duracell batteries I bought all died before their expiration date. Store-brand is better than that.
Gen Z too.
I hate to be counted as a gen z because my mind is less there and more inbetween.
Anyway, I think people forgot how genz starts at 1997. People. Some were 10 years old in the 2000s and al we had were battery toys and outside to play with...
Yeah, get accu cells. More environmentally friendly and they break without running out.
Old batteries get spicy.
The forbidden frosted sugar.
It has happened enough times to me being really aware of removing batteries of any device that does not see constant use
I suspect some (not enshitified) devices even designed around it because I remember it killing devices back in the day but the more recent times I've had it happen, like with a wireless guitar controller, the device was fine, just a bit crusty in the battery area. Though if you've ever opened up a guitar controller, they are mostly empty space, so it might just be the nature of their use case vs something like a gameboy, where everything is packed in as much as the thermal situation allowed.
Many times. When buying old battery-powered electronics, there's like a 50% chance that there's a leaked battery in there. Make sure to wash your hands if you touched that.
This was so incredibly common before rechargeable batteries. Alkaline batteries may have had the best life but the worst death.
Yes that's what they're called alkaleaks.
This happens when alkaline batteried are completely empty.
False. Alkaline batteries are never completely empty. They are just too low to be used for what they are in. Move them to another device and they again.
The heat death of the universe will be delayed by a bag of AA’s in a landfill
Well, if I cannot operate an IR remote anymore I consider the batteries empty because I won't be able to do anything else with them. I'll dispose of them properly, but I won't tell you ;-)
Completely empty? You're sure that there isn't any juice left? I haven't tried opening a leaky one, but I'd guess that there's still at least a few drops left.
Do not leave batteries inside things your not gonna be using for a long time. And if you don't want this to happen buy NiMH batteries
Yes, this is definitely worse 'than average' but have seen this before.
DO NOT TOUCH WITH BARE HANDS, EXTREMELY TOXIC.
This was very common pre 2010s.
I still see it all the time with Kirkland batteries. I mostly use rechargeables but when I use those I frequently find them leaking after not that long.
No, thankfully, I'm not a battery. But I've seen it plenty.
I should go pull the batteries out of my game boy color because I'd rather not experience this again.
and set a reminder to rechage batteries every 3 months.
Sure, dust out with a paintbrush...wipe down with some alcohol. If the contacts are corroded either file or use a dot of lemon juice and a toothbrush to remove and then either spray with contact cleaner or wipe again with alcohol.
I lost my favorite mouse this way :(
Make sure to take ya batteries out if you're putting electronics in long storage!
So often that I have banned alkalines from the house, everything gets NiMH rechargeables.
Several times in my own electronics and many times in secondhand items. The potassium hydroxide electrolyte never quite evaporates and seeps under the crevices, requiring a full disassembly to prevent further corrosion.
Worst offenders are the pesky little alkaline button cells. Every alkaline cell inevitably evolves hydrogen gas as the electrochemical reaction proceeds and in those tiny canisters, the gas very quickly has nowhere to go but out along with the cell's guts. The secret is to get the silver oxide versions, same voltage, a bit pricier, but far less leakage.
I guess the silver lining to the declining popularity of AA and AAA powered devices is that I can finally afford to use only Ni-MH or primary lithium cells in all of my devices. Those chemistries are mostly immune to leaking.
Thats my, favorite sweet&sour candy
3 or 4 times at least
If the words on the batteries read the same way, it will cause acidic fuzz like this.
* They may have been correctly inserted, and then left a long time, which can also cause fuzz.
the fate of old batteries. if you're storing electronics for a long time, take the batteries out.
yeah it tastes like donut creme
few times, but it luckily never broke the devices it happened it
Happened in my Wii remotes all the time when I was kid, only ever lost one to battery corrosion though, and that was about a decade later
I've never seen your remote before, so no.
That's why I put non rechargeable batteries out, before putting them away for long time without usage. This won't happen if you are constantly using the remote and batteries, and it won't happen with rechargeables. Edit: Read the replies to this comment. I was wrong.
It definitely still can happen, especially with Duracells, even while they’re still in a sealed package in the store.
It still can. I have found that the most common cause of batteries going south like this(when being used actively) is when there is a voltage mismatch between the batteries.
Always make sure you use batteries from the same pack when you put them together in a device. That or get a voltmeter out and check to make sure their voltage is the same.
This is less of an issue when the batteries are in parallel, but almost all cases where batteries are combined in electronics, they are putting them in serial.
Good point. I never experienced this issue and always thought its a myth that we shouldn't combine them. So I learned something. But I don't use non-rechargeable batteries anymore anyway.
It took me decades to finally figure this out. It wasn't until I started building solar systems and batteries that I realized what was happening.
You can have the same issue with rechargeables, but they are more resilient. Running them in parallel will work fine because the batteries balance out their state of charge. When you run them in series they have no way to balance out and one is always dragging the rest down. If the difference is too much then that lowest battery heats up considerably. That cooks the electrolyte.
Interesting, even with rechargeables. Good thing since the 90s Game Boy I only use same set of rechargeable batteries from same manufacturer only, and always put them out when not in use. That's probably I never had an issue anymore. The humidity of the environment and quality control of the batteries are probably an important factor too. I can imagine this happens more often in some regions of the world than others in example.
Define experience
If you had any batteries leak like this in Anything battery powered you own.
Pretty common if you leave them in devices without using them for some time.
Don’t lick it.
It’s sour with a mix of pain if you’re wondering, and now that you know this you do not need to lick it.
Lies. It’s basically sugar
Battery orgasm?
Orgery.
(Not to be confused with batgasm, that's when Bruce beasts up ppl from different socioeconomic background than his.)
Goddamn you had a blowout
That's how cocaine is made