Holiday

[Mominohio]

I just can't understand what the heck battery manufacturers have done to cheapen batteries so much, but I have more leaking batteries in the last year than I've seen the rest of my life in total!

I've noticed batteries getting worse about leaking over the last several years, but this past year has been the worst.

When my son was little (he's 20 now), I'd leave batteries in toys for a couple of years, and rarely ever experienced a leak.

Today, I find them leaking before my lit decor has even gone dark. I'm literally going around the house on a 'battery check' every few weeks these days. 

I only buy better brand batteries, so don't know if this happens with the cheap ones as well, or if it is specific to the Duracell I always buy.

IT seems to be happening with the AA batteries most often, and like I already said, the item I'm removing them from isn't actually 'dead' yet, oftentimes. 

I've made it a point to never sit anything with batteries in it (a lit pedestal, or lit pumpkin or gourd, a flameless candle etc.) directly on any wood (or other surface) that I don't want damaged. My mom ruined a table that she had a flameless candle on and the batteries leaked. Now I am sure to place a plate, charger, candle holder or some other item underneath the piece containing batteries.

I just wanted to throw out this observation/warning, as there are more and more people coming on board with all this flameless and lit decor, and maybe haven't experienced this.

Anyone else having this trouble. What sizes and brands are you experiencing it with?

[Shogirl]

mominohio, I have noticed the EXACT same thing!!!  I have a whole bag of batteries of different sizes that I use for my Christmas decorations.  I went in there the past few months to grab a couple here and there for something, and noticed how many were oozing bad stuff.  Most of mine were AAs, too.  What the heck is going on???  I use either Duracell or Everready brands.

[Maltichonmom17]

Interesting you should mention this. I recently received my Luminara votive lantern from the Q and put two Duracell AA batteries in it. Two days later the Luminara votive went dark. I took out the batteries and found that they were wet and leaking. I have never had this happen with a battery before. It took quite a bit of cleaning to get the Luminara candle up and running again.

I have also noticed a shortened battery life with the Duracells. Around the holidays last year, I happened upon a good deal on Energizer Max batteries and I actually found them to have a longer battery life than the Duracell. I think I'm done with Duracell and will switch over to the Energizer Max for good.

[lucymo]

@Mominohio  This is a good thread as I have experienced a lot of leaking batteries as well.  The Sunbeam batteries from Dollar Tree are the worst ones I've used for leaking.  I've ruined several b/o pieces with them in the past so they are not a bargain when they cause such damage.  They will leak while the item is still lighting up each day. 

I've found Duracell to be  leaking too often lately too.  I mostly buy Energizer which so far I haven't had a problem with the leaking. 

I do keep a few of the Sunbeam to test new products as I don't like to use my new Energizers to test and then remove them.  I am careful to remove them as soon as the test is finished. 

[crazycockermom]

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I would not be a happy camper if I ruined a table or one of the many battery operated items I've bought this year.

I tend to buy my batteries at Costco and they are all Duracells.

[newagain888888]

Absolutely! Thanks for posting this! I have noticed this more and more in recent years and wondered what was going on!  I've nearly come to expect it now when opening up a battery compartment, especially with electronics. That corrosive powdery residue everywhere in the compartment and often the device won't work anymore even after cleaning up the material and sanding the battery contacts. Shouldn't those chemicals be enough of a health hazard that this problem would have been addressed? I think about children getting the caustic stuff on their skin or putting it in their mouths. Just yesterday my husband had to throw away his favorite metal flashlight. It was a fairly new and expensive model (the type similar to the kind troopers carry), but it would no longer open for battery replacement because the batteries had exploded inside. Those batteries had not been in the flashlight even a month! It's a real problem.

[Rileyx]

I have noticed this happening especially with Duracell C batteries that I use with the Sphere Lights that have a timer. I've also had trouble with the D batteries on various items doing this.

[Mominohio]

OK! Then I'm not alone. 

We buy our Duracells at Sam's Club in the big packs, and I wondered if they were maybe a cut rate version that they were selling to the warehouse clubs cheaper, but it seems others are experiencing this as well.

I may have to switch to Enegizers to see if that is any better. I simply don't know how to afford them, as we go through an obscene quantity of batteries here. I'd estimate I buy at least 8 packs of the the Sam's Club 48 count packs of AAs a year. And that is only AA. I also buy C, D, AAA, and 9volt. I get them 'on sale' as they run the sale quite often. 

Last year at Christmas I got the Duracell Quantum batteries at Sam's for the first time, and they seemed to last longer than I expected in VPH window candles, and I didn't have a leaking problem. They are more expensive, as you get fewer per package, but maybe that would be worth it to stop the leaking.

I'm not kidding, I have taken leaking batteries out of a at least a half dozen items this past week. Frustrated!

[Mominohio]

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/preps/battery-corrosion-why-they-leak-and-how-to-prevent-it/

Some interesting info on why batteries leak (but still doesn't answer why more so now than ever, and I'd assume that is because they are using cheaper materials).

What I'm now finding isn't the old 'white powder' but a wet gooey slime that is leaking out of the batteries. I'd suppose if left long enough, that slime dries to the white powder.

In the distant past, I only remember seeing the white powder. What is up with that change, I wonder?

[Winter Holiday]

@Mominohio are the items that you are placing these batteries in near warm surfaces or sunlight? Maybe I've been lucky so far but all I ever buy are the batteries from the dollar store and I have never had this problem. I'm sorry you are going through this.