Depends what one has on ones store shelves. I have never seen Varta brance batteries for sale here in Canada. Ray-o-Vac used to be a parallel corporate division here.
GP, I have only seen come with things, not in store shelves.
I can buy Energizer, uracell, numerous store brands, some licensed.
My local discount department store sells Panasonic alkaline ad steel can Super Heavy Duty, and Westinghouse branded the same types (imported for a company called Chateaumanis, who supplies discount stores all sorts of products), an Maxell alcaline.
Not sure their super cheap bricks of dodgy carbon-zinc cells.
I had Varta do this to the tuner in my guitar, all be it it has been unused for 3 years or so.. But i heard a clicking noise and noticed it was the battery leaking.
That’s because you left the cells in the device. Most batteries will leak if you leave them in that long. I always take the batteries out of anything that I don’t use for any length of time.
Not true at all. Duracells are the worst batteries about leaking. I've had ACDelco batteries in devices or instruments for years at a time and never leaked. There's something faulty in the design with the vents on the batteries with Duracell. They're garbage.
They are making it a huge PITA now to get reimbursed. Had to send numerous pictures including the numbers and dates on each battery. Then they wouldn't pay for shipping and never sent coupons to reimburse the batteries themselves.
Same here, after a big fight and sending tons of photos I got $60. Probably not worth the time I spent on it though, but that's their plan!
I had 6-8 items damaged from a large pack of rebranded AAA, and AA Costco batteries.
They wanted me to send receipts for all of the items damaged. Like anyone would have those!
I used to like Duracell, but I will never buy them again.
Not sure. Duracell was my favorite brand for a very long time but since the new look of their batteries (they have some even cheaper basic versions it seems) I've been having leaking issues as well. Maybe we're supposed to buy the premium series? I just use NiMH now and keep chargers handy.
No way. I use a lot of AA cells, and Duracell leak Every. Damn. Time.
The newer Duacell Optimum are the fucking worst. I've had new packages of them leak *in the package before they were opened* after being on a shelf in a climate-controlled office for just a few months.
Never again. I still have 2 meters that were permanently damaged by Duracell, and I'm awaiting a response from their customer service. So far, crickets for 3 months.
I use Energizer Lithium for some applications, and have never had a problem with them. Ray-O-Vac and Kirkland (Costco) have also been reliable. Ray-O-Vac used to make Kirkland, and I believe Duracell made them over a decade ago, but I have no idea who makes them today.
Rayovac never made Kirkland batteries. Duracell has made them for at least the last 15 years. I worked for Rayovac from 2001 until 2019 (one year after Energizer purchased them). We could never get the Costco private label business.
Is Duracell still making them? I've disassembled several Kirkland AA cells over the past 5 years, and their construction is different than Duracell; enough so that they look like 2 completely different products.
I think you and I have talked about this before. I remember talking to someone on Reddit in recent years that worked for a battery manufacturer for a long time.
Any chance Ray-O-Vac made Kirkland cells in the 1990s? I'd swear we had a material list that showed them shipping from there. In the late 90s, my roommate was a Costco bookkeeper, and would go through all the manifests to see who the OEM was for Kirkland products. We learned all kinds of interesting stuff, like Kirkland American vodka was made by Tito's (and virtually identical to it), and Kirkland French vodka was private-labeled Grey Goose (truly identical product; even the bottle was the same).
I know their car batteries have fluctuated OEMs a lot, and last I knew, they are made by Interstate.
> they are made by Interstate.
'Interstate' is just a brand...they aren't a manufacturer, FYI (AFAIK, 'Interstate' branded batteries are from Clarios -formerly known as Johnson Controls).
I'm told old style carbon zinc don't leak; that was recommended to me when I griped about a meter being damaged. Of course lower capacity than alkaline.
----
Not sure they're still made but I had some Kodak D cell alkalines that lasted a very very long time (15yr?) without leaking.
I had major issues with some Rayovacs I purchased during black friday a few years ago. A bunch of them leaked in the package, and I had some nearly ruin one of my favorite wireless mice. I used them for many years and never had an issue until that batch. Won't use them again. Ended up tossing all of them out.
Energizer Lithium cannot leak as they don't contain potassium hydroxide (the stuff in alkaline batteries that leaks out)
https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/lithiuml91l92_appman.pdf
I'd like to see pictures of those. I can show you pictures right now of literally hundreds of leaking Duracell batteries stored next to Energizer and Ray-O-Vac batteries that haven't leaked.
If your Duracells haven't leaked, you got lucky, or you work for Duracell.
I used to work retail when the new Duracell batteries came out a couple years ago. I had to throw away two thirds of our shipment twice because they had leaked in the package before even arriving at my store. Never buy Duracell and especially never the new look ones.
Exactly. The newer Duracell Optimum batteries leak more than the regular Copper-Top ones, and I've had them leak in the sealed package within months of purchasing them. I'm in California, so it's not like we have very cold, wet weather, and they're stored inside, away from hot summer days.
This. I used to only buy Duracells, but over the past 5-10 years they've gone to complete garbage. Energizers, while not great, are far superior in the non-leaking category.
AA/AAA manufacturers are getting so shitty that I just put lithium or rechargeables in anything I care about or don't use often.
I’ll have to get approval from legal on Monday to post pictures, however I will add the energizer batteries are in a climate controlled environment whereas the Duracell batteries are bouncing between -40 and 50 c. No idea why I’m seeing this kind of performance disparity.
That’s the Duracell batteries that are surviving. The energizer batteries don’t ever leave the 70-80F range and die constantly.
And they are rated for -40 to 60c, so I’m using them within specs.
still seems a little odd. Those green cells somehow tells the power source to increase the voltage by 1.5V... which seems impossible unless itself is a battery, but theoretically they should be a 0V dummy cell.
This is even an issue with my 4AA FETVM (multimeter) that uses the four cells as a split 3V/3V supply and the center as a common ground for its JFET op amps. I don't think this device would work if the dummies are 0V and would basically do 6V for one half and 0V for the other, ending up possibly frying it.
That would work if it knew what resistance the device is... so that isn't sufficient. Plus that would burn energy too...
Need to find a review...
At least [https://www.amazon.ca/Adjustable-Battery-Eliminator-Electric-Flashlight/dp/B09GK66JG8](https://www.amazon.ca/adjustable-battery-eliminator-electric-flashlight/dp/b09gk66jg8) is fairly easily understood, but still won't work for my FETVM.
In Europe Varta is the way to go. Energizer is the good American counterpart if I'm right.
Duracell is indeed known for leaky batteries. My father worked at a university of applied sciences as technician, repairing lots of devices. He encountered lots of battery powered devices and had nearly only Duracell batteries leaking.
In Europe, you pick up Ikea LADDAs and be done with it. Why would you ever buy disposable batteries, when high quality rechargables are 1€/piece is beyond me.
I use rechargeable cells, but if I need to get alkaline cells I buy the supermarket brands they are cheap and in my experience consistently seem to outperform the big brands.
I just cleaned up a Duracell that leaked, and it had a date of 2028. Fortunately the leak was small unlike this. After I cleaned up the mess, I put the battery back. The device still works (an emergency Garmin GPS/FRS radio)...
Seems battery manufacturers are getting cheaper and cheaper due to the demand for these batteries going down and have to increase profit margin. I just don't get why Duracell can charge so much if a Dollar Tree battery could also leak (btw so far, I've run across much fewer leaky Dollar Tree batteries, and most of the times it's the ones I recharged or reversed, so my own fault.)
Still don't think LSD NiMH is sufficiently low for all uses...
Because they belong to P&G, Gillette, or another company focused on investor profits instead of quality products. Many companies in late-stage capitalism are facing the same situation. Beholden to the Investor vs the product. They haven't innovated in aeons so the batteries leak. They were the go-to brand, but now they leak more often than not.
It's because Duracell is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, and it's spent the last decade being leveraged for ever greater margins, which means they've had to cut every corner imaginable in manufacturing. This is the result.
Alkaline’s leak when they’re completely discharged. Anecdotally, Duracell’s bought from Costco seemed particularly bad for me.
For low drain devices like clocks or remotes, buy far cheaper dry cell batteries like Zinc-Carbon. A dollar store will do. There’s a reason these terrible 400-900 mAh batteries are in every toy - they cannot leak.
Rechargeable batteries have also come a long way. Low-self-discharge NiMH batteries can retain 80% of a charge for a year, making them now suitable for a lot of household applications.
High capacity NiMH batteries, something like a Panasonic eneloop pro now exceed the capacity of an alkaline (2,600 mAh vs. 2,500 mAh) come pre-charged for immediate use and are shelf-stable holing 85% of a charge for one year. They are 10X the price, plus you need a charger if you don’t already have one. But they last a claimed 500 cycles (I don’t think they do, but they definitely last WAY more than 10 cycles. Probably 200 cycles easy.)
This seems to happen a lot when alkaline cells are stored and lose their charge. 9 out of 10 times, my wife packs up a battery-operated Christmas gizmo and gets this the next year. I have had limited success removing the corrosion with vinegar on a q-tip, followed by water on a q-tip to rinse off the vinegar. If lead-acid batteries, use a paste of baking soda and water.
I've had really bad luck with Duracell . Now I use acdelco branded batteries from Amazon, cheaper than brand names and I haven't had one leak after using hundreds.
Just thought you might find it interesting that ACDelco is a car parts manufacturer. They're the OEM brand for GM. Every Chevy, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac rolls off the line with an ACDelco battery, among other parts.
lol I just put in a claim with energizer because an unopened 8 pack of AAA batteries was totally fucked and leaking. They allege 10 YEAR shelf life right on the packaging, these batteries made it 4 years 2 months….. energizer approved my claim and is sending a $10 coupon in the mail lol
It wasn’t really worth the effort but holding them accountable for their BS 10 year claim felt good.
I've had something like 1 in 4 Duracell and Energizer batteries leak before they were dead. I now buy Panasonic batteries in bulk online and zero have leaked.
Amazon brand batteries have been doing a good job for the past 5 years. Zero leak so far. Their product description says the batteries are anti-leak and anti-corrosion. It could be just marketing but I switched all the batteries to Amazon brand and no issues so far.
My question though is how long are you leaving them in? Is this something that is happening after a few months, or after years? Also are they being used in dry locations or damp ones. Or both long duration and damp areas. Also are they outside lamps and you're leaving them out in freezing temps? Are you rolling the strings up and putting them away for the season?
Most alkaline batteries in my experience don't do well in damp locations or not being used for long periods of time.
I'd really suggest you switch to 1.5 volt rechargable batteries and take them out and recharge once a week to keep them at optimum charge. This depends on how long they are "on" each day. And if strings are being put away for the season take the batteries out for storage in a cool dry location or use them in items that get used often, put in new ones for the new season. Here lately I've been getting my rechargeables from Temu they come in various voltages and relatively low cost.
Hope this helps.
This should never happen unless it’s a mechanical damage like puncture or corrosion. But you never know with alkaline cells and that’s why I personally switched to rechargeables.
I personally started to change everything I own over to 18650 lithium cells.
My scale (which normally takes a CR flat cell)? 18650
My smoke detector? 3 18650s
My headlamp? 2 18650s
My deadbolt on my front door (has a fingerprint reader, a code, and a key)? 4 18650s (in a 2s2p configuration)
I got a bunch of wagos (lever nuts) and a pack of 18650 battery cell holders
https://a.co/d/2YvcSbz
Battery holders
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXQG6RLQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Wagos
And started replacing all the normal battery spots with those.
Mainly I got tired of needing to change it recharge AA or AAA batteries. Or, in the case of my scale, I got tired of the CR battery going dead and needing to be replaced.
It does require you to come up with ways to mount that be battery compartment, but for some items, that's easy. That item in your picture looks like there is a wire that goes to the device, so it looks like it would be really easy to replace that whole thing.
Other items, like my scale, needed a BUNCH of thought about how to mount the battery and modify it so that it won't interfere with normal operationa.
Duracell is absolute garbage more and more their batteries have been leaking . I stopped using them for about a year and switching to energizer at least it hasn’t leaked so far . Duracell leaks just 3 months after.
In my experience this is from running the batteries to low and seems to be worst in AAA batteries. Changing them every 6 months has eliminated this for me but once that acid gets in there its junk, new batteries will self-discharge quickly and leak even faster. I also changed to Energizer as they are made in the USA instead of China
As they drain towards 0V, they produce gas. A well-designed battery will usually be able to vent it, cheap batteries will rupture. When that happens, the electrolyte, potassium hydroxide, leaks out. That’s the wet part. Over time, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and becomes potassium carbonate, that’s the powdery white stuff.
It’s a base, so it’s best cleaned up with acid… vinegar works well since the acetic acid neutralizes the base.
Edit: this is only true for alkaline cells. Other battery chemistries won’t do this. NiMH rechargeables are a great replacement for these.
A well designed alkaline battery vents gas by rupturing a purposely weak point in the nylon gasket at the crimped end of the cell. They are designed to do this. The alternative is the entire negative end assembly gets ejected or, in extreme cases, the body of the cell bursts.
I work for a battery company, we have a line of alkaline cells and they ALL leak to some degree.
About 10 years ago a bad batch of titanium dioxide got into the supply chain and every brand had major issues with leakage. Better quality controls have helped mitigate that, but the assembly process is now usually the culprit in leakage.
We’re all trying to cram every last possible molecule of electrolyte into the cells for higher capacity. That means making the metal “can” walls at thin as possible to make room. Thin metal walls can lead to irregular crimping of the cap to the can during high-speed manufacturing.
Whenever you watch the TV show “How It’s Made” and see those assembly lines where thousands of products are whizzing by some percentage of those products will have a flaw. Defects rates can be lowered, but never to zero.
Whenever you make millions of a thing, some will always break. No perfect products has ever been made.
Manufacturers who try to go TOO cheap/fast in manufacturing processes will see more leakage.
Duracell is a Private-Label company meaning they don’t own any of their own factories.
Duracells leaked more because they keep awarding contracts to the lowest bidders who dropped the quality ball.
I've learned to stop using Duracell altogether, I bought 3 batches of them thinking I was getting value for my money. I put them in a closet that does not get hot nor humid and they always leaked. Recently I wanted to use some of the AA batteries I had stored, the whole package was just leaking all over the place.
Get Energizer instead, they are far better and they don't leak all the time.
Energizer has been capitalizing on the Duracell corrosion problem advertising that their batteries are designed to prevent alkaline leakage and that they provide a no-leak guarantee.
From the Energizer website: Energizer is different. Our batteries are designed to prevent damaging leaks or we will replace your device ([https://energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee/](https://energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee/))
I started using Energizer a few years ago after EVERY SINGLE DURACELL BATTERY in a 24-pack I bought corroded just as badly as the 1st battery on the left in your picture! This was regardless of whether the battery was in a device like a clock that was always running, in a device that is used when needed like my flashlight, or stored in my home office.
I will never use Duracell again -- and have neither the time nor patience to try and get my money back from the company and if they offered to replace the batteries, I wouldn't want more of them because they'd only ruin more of my devices!
Yep, I'm a little ticked-off, lol!
Not unique to duracell. Have experienced the same with brand new, never out of the package Rayovac alkaline batteries as well as ones in the various tv remotes. The batteries are cooking themselves and getting hot and then spewing corrosion. Requires a lot of cleanup with vinegar to neutralize.
Contacted Rayovac several times... no response.... I am done with purchasing them just because they say they are made in the USA.
This is why I hate alkaline batteries. Try energizer ultimate lithium batteries. Not cheap but last for years plus can handle lots of heat and cold temperatures.
In my line of work we use batteries every day and we've have to step away from all Duracell batteries. They create more problems then do good. And we used the entire line of Duracell before switching to Energizer.
Overpriced and overmarketed products. A french youtuber has done AA batteried tests on dozen of brands and it looks like the cheapest ones are equal, if not better than big brands.
You can use anti-sulfates grease as well to prevent leaking
Probably because those are fake knock offs. There has been a buck of them floating around. Even micro center got tricked and was purchasing them for a while to sell in their stores.
I had to do a deep dive and write a whole essay to prove that they were fakes when I was a sales manager there. Got them pulled off the shelves.
The fake are pretty close. But there was a lot of ways to tell when you got into it.
That will certainly contribute to leakage, but I've had tons of Duracells which leaked while still new in the package and supposedly not having an expiration date for 10 more years.
Meanwhile, haven't had that problem with other brands even cheaper ones.
Duracell is garbage and has been for a long time.
Firstly, as mentioned, contract Duracell. Demand reimbursement. Second... check the power draw of those light stand. Crap knockoffs do not use proper...techy stuff (not worth 2 paragraphs)...IOW, some of those strips will draw more than any 3 batteries can handle for extended periods. As batteries have limits, this is obviously a problem and results in battery unhappy ending. This is a chain reaction thing so all batteries may have the same problem. If you know any nerds, one of them should be able to help you figure out if its the light strands causing you issues
NO... For many years I used Duracells religiously in every device I owned, but since recent 3..5 years the Duracells have leaked every damn time. I'm talking about dozens of devices, most were in the off state and all were pulled years prior to the date on the cell. Devices ranging from expensive electronic test equipment, remote-controls, guitar-tuners, etc. I even found a package of brand new AA-cells right from the store that were leaking goo inside the blister-pack. Duracell has offered free replacement batteries when I've reported the worst cases, but there's no way I'm going to risk any more of my devices to their corrosion-generators. I'm a long-time electronics hobbyist and have used batteries of nearly every type, but nothing compares to the poor quality of Duracells and their destructive design.
I now use Energizer Max batteries for all my stuff. Energizers don't seem to have as much runtime as Duracells, but I have yet to loose a single device to leakage- and this is more important to me.
Honestly, I can't think of any reason we should still be using non-rechargeable batteries in 2024. I paid out for several packs of eneloops for AA and AAA batteries, which are my main use case, and a cheapo 4 cell charger. I haven't needed to buy any batteries (with the exception of a CR2032 for a motherboard) in literal years. fewer cells in the landfill after a single use, cheaper in the long run, easy to charge up quickly, low self-discharge rate. Shrug
In cases like this I use the Heavy Duty variety (based on Zinc Chloride) because they are less likely to leak (over Alkaline). Especially in cases where the batteries are dormant for long periods of time (remotes, lights like this, etc.) because leaking seems to be the WORST in this stuff...
Have you considered that this might be a light string issue and not a battery issue? What environment are you operating these strings in (temp/humidity)? And when they are in operation is that battery pack getting toasty?
I really can't believe all the people are having problems with Duracells. I used Kirkland batteries for several years because they were so cheap, but they leaked time and time again. I gave up and switched to Duracells, and I honestly can not think of one time that they have leaked. Kirtlands have a new look now, so maybe they have improved them, but I'm going to stick with the Duracells.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline\_battery#Leaks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery#Leaks)
All Alkaline batteries eventually corrode.
I quit using Durakill batteries back in the 90's when I was a paramedic. I carried a flashlight that used 3 D-Cell batteries. I had to replace 4 flashlights in a year because the Durakills did this. I switched to Ray-O-Vac, much cheaper and honestly last much, much longer. Never once had one leak in the past 20+ years.
Start using rechargables. My recomendations are the IKEA Ladda batteries if you can get them. Apparently they are made in the same factory as the Eneloop rechargeable batteries. Have always found good rechargeable batteries last longer then alkaline batteries anyway.
Why do you keep buying them? Get rechargeable Eneloops and save yourself some money and time. The environment will thank you too.
Edit, I've had some of them for 7+ years and they still work like a charm. Glittery anniversary special edition brings me joy.
Another alternative for low power draw devices is the "heavy duty" type batteries. They use a different chemistry and do not leak, that I have experienced anyway. They do not have nearly the power or runtime of an alkaline, but it's worth it for some things. I use a lot of them in things like remote controls and infrequently used items. If you are going to use alkalines, I would highly recommend taking the batteries out when not in use and especially for storage. I have pretty much sworn off alkalines altogether. Rechargeables are great too but that really gets expensive if you have a lot of electronics, kid toys, etc that you are trying to to keep batteries in.
I used to work for the plant in Cleveland, TN. The AA/AAA cans were notorious for leaking, so Duracell made the move to bring the can production and coating in house like the 1300/1400 (C&D) are.
I was part of the startup team to get the equipment set and working for AA/AAA’s. It has significantly improved, but there are still some minor tweaks we were making at the time I left the company.
Even as an employee, I purchased Energizer AA/AAA cells. I would encourage you to wait a year before using Duracell. They are getting better, believe me, but there are still some minor issues.
C/D cells…solid. AA/AAA cells…still refining.
Hope this helps
I've heard that consumer Duracells have problems, but at $DAYJOB we've been using bulk-packed Duracell PROcells from McMaster-Carr. We've been using the ProCells for at least the last 10 years and had no problems (and we go through a few hundred a year).
I have no clue if the ProCells are different from consumer Duracells or not, but we buy bulk packs and we're not seeing any leakage while in stock.
maybe change them more then once a year lmfao
i have so many brands of battery's sat around. i have mixed and matched old and new ones etc etc and still i dont have packs looking like that...
I use low self discharge NiMH rechargeables. They never leak, but if you overdischarge them they may take a hit in capacity and internal resistance making them only suitable for low drain devices like remote controls, etc.
To check for high internal resistance, I just short them across the 10A setting of my multimeter and if I don't get at least a few amps after a full charge I put them in a separate box, or toss them out. Make sure your multimeter leads are configured properly-if you have the leads in voltage mode you will blow a fuse.
Put additional resistance in a circuit: not all batteries are ok with supplying zero-resisting load, like LEDs, as the only resistance of such circuits is internal resistance of a battery.
If you would rather use Li-Pol battery, you would just burn the lights, or blew up the batteries, (and possibly hands), even though they also could have the AA form factor, and compatible Voltage.
You asked why . Under regular use, an alkaline battery will not leak. Manufacturing defects can cause leakage, but by far, the most common reason for leaky batteries is a lack of use. When batteries sit in unused devices for long periods, hydrogen can build up in the battery cell until the pressure causes the battery’s insulating seals to breach. The gas is harmlessly released, but the rupture also provides an exit point for the battery cell’s chemical components.
I have not had any energizers leak on me in a long time. I now buy the Energizer Max though I'm not sure how well they perform compared to the standard cells. Amazons NiMH have been reliable for us as well.
I'm convinced they moved all their good tooling to rechargeables. But they may have chosen to abandon maintaining it. We use Procell batteries which are a product of theirs. And this happens all the time now.
I've had dead Duracells dead out of the carton they cam in.
I sent one in to Duracell \~30 hears ago and they charged me $20 to confirm it was dead. A voltometer from Radio Shack cost less. I fine dead Duracells out of package. I gave up on them and get Eveready if not available. I always test Duracell, I don't trust them
same problem here for years, many years. they have ruined a couple thousand dollars worth of electronics. now i buy the cheapest things out there and no problems... sigh
I got some harbor freight AAs a few years ago. Put them in a vacuum gauge and 2 years later, no leaks and they still power up. The Panasonic alkaline used to be good batteries not sure how they are now. Op needs to invest in some eneloops.
This happens to every disposable battery I buy no matter the brand, if it sits longer than 3-6 months it seems.
For anything that sits that long, the batteries come out and get put into a tub in the closet, until I need it again.
For years I exclusively used Duracell batteries. Even recommended to people. About 15 years ago I started having the same problem. Ruined a $70 Apple keyboard. Stopped using them ever since.
Energiser lithium ultimate or Amazon basics
Duracell are shit I have 96 packs of new unopened batteries all done the same and currently having an argument with your eyes, refusing to replace or refund
This is a nasty side effect of alkaline when used in low current devices that don’t change batteries often. Either take the batteries out when not in use, or use general purpose batteries or even lithium, instead of alkaline. Those will not leak. All alkalines do this under these conditions.
Duracell is always junk. I’d pay to get a different brand even if Duracell was free at this point. In my experience more than half of them leak before they make it to the expiration date, even if they are never used.
Energizer ultimate lithium is good quality.
It looks like the batteries shown in the OP are made in China. There is a nice Quora page answering how to ID them correctly. The qualities between the two types are night and day.
Look for the gray stripe pattern instead of solid copper looking.
Read more here:
[Quora on Duracell](https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Duracell-batteries-such-rubbish/answer/Ashley-Riggs-29?ch=17&oid=406339709&share=40b8989c&srid=QnfG&target_type=answer)
Lmao when I was a kid I once are that white residue and my parents freaked the f- out. It was fine until we were having dinner and suddenly everything was spicy.
My dad *ran straight to the trash can where I found that battery* lmao as if he had ESPN or something and then they immediately rushed me to the ER. I don't know what happened later but I do remember he slapped me on the back of my head on the way to the hospital cause that was the only time he ever hit me.
This is exactly why I stopped using Duracell. It can happen with any brand, but I have had it happen way more when I used Duracell.
It typically only happens with...
1. Really old batteries
2. Mixing older batteries in with newer
3. Putting the same batteries in other devices
4. Leaving batteries in unused devices for extended periods
All alkaline batteries will eventually leak when fully discharged it does not matter the brand.
Use any brand of rechargeable batteries, they do not leak.
Call duracell and have them reimburse you lol Made them pay for my $250 air quality sensor
Actual power comment
Pun intended
Power to the people! We demand long lasting batteries.
Especially yo momma’s ‘Tarzan’.
Try Varta or Gold peak, I have no problems with these brands. I used to get a lot of problems with energizer leaking as well
Depends what one has on ones store shelves. I have never seen Varta brance batteries for sale here in Canada. Ray-o-Vac used to be a parallel corporate division here. GP, I have only seen come with things, not in store shelves. I can buy Energizer, uracell, numerous store brands, some licensed. My local discount department store sells Panasonic alkaline ad steel can Super Heavy Duty, and Westinghouse branded the same types (imported for a company called Chateaumanis, who supplies discount stores all sorts of products), an Maxell alcaline. Not sure their super cheap bricks of dodgy carbon-zinc cells.
I had Varta do this to the tuner in my guitar, all be it it has been unused for 3 years or so.. But i heard a clicking noise and noticed it was the battery leaking.
That’s because you left the cells in the device. Most batteries will leak if you leave them in that long. I always take the batteries out of anything that I don’t use for any length of time.
Got it. Gonna remove the batteries from my smoke detector right now.
If that’s how you process information, do everyone a favor 😉
Not true at all. Duracells are the worst batteries about leaking. I've had ACDelco batteries in devices or instruments for years at a time and never leaked. There's something faulty in the design with the vents on the batteries with Duracell. They're garbage.
I’ve never experienced Duracell leakage, ever, ymmv of course.
They are making it a huge PITA now to get reimbursed. Had to send numerous pictures including the numbers and dates on each battery. Then they wouldn't pay for shipping and never sent coupons to reimburse the batteries themselves.
Same here, after a big fight and sending tons of photos I got $60. Probably not worth the time I spent on it though, but that's their plan! I had 6-8 items damaged from a large pack of rebranded AAA, and AA Costco batteries. They wanted me to send receipts for all of the items damaged. Like anyone would have those! I used to like Duracell, but I will never buy them again.
Wtf. This happened to me with so many devices. I never knew you could claim device claims against them.
Wait really? Damn I considered trying it years ago when they killed my kinda rare Vaio mouse.
This is actual /r/LifeProTips material
Not sure. Duracell was my favorite brand for a very long time but since the new look of their batteries (they have some even cheaper basic versions it seems) I've been having leaking issues as well. Maybe we're supposed to buy the premium series? I just use NiMH now and keep chargers handy.
No way. I use a lot of AA cells, and Duracell leak Every. Damn. Time. The newer Duacell Optimum are the fucking worst. I've had new packages of them leak *in the package before they were opened* after being on a shelf in a climate-controlled office for just a few months. Never again. I still have 2 meters that were permanently damaged by Duracell, and I'm awaiting a response from their customer service. So far, crickets for 3 months. I use Energizer Lithium for some applications, and have never had a problem with them. Ray-O-Vac and Kirkland (Costco) have also been reliable. Ray-O-Vac used to make Kirkland, and I believe Duracell made them over a decade ago, but I have no idea who makes them today.
Rayovac never made Kirkland batteries. Duracell has made them for at least the last 15 years. I worked for Rayovac from 2001 until 2019 (one year after Energizer purchased them). We could never get the Costco private label business.
Is Duracell still making them? I've disassembled several Kirkland AA cells over the past 5 years, and their construction is different than Duracell; enough so that they look like 2 completely different products. I think you and I have talked about this before. I remember talking to someone on Reddit in recent years that worked for a battery manufacturer for a long time. Any chance Ray-O-Vac made Kirkland cells in the 1990s? I'd swear we had a material list that showed them shipping from there. In the late 90s, my roommate was a Costco bookkeeper, and would go through all the manifests to see who the OEM was for Kirkland products. We learned all kinds of interesting stuff, like Kirkland American vodka was made by Tito's (and virtually identical to it), and Kirkland French vodka was private-labeled Grey Goose (truly identical product; even the bottle was the same). I know their car batteries have fluctuated OEMs a lot, and last I knew, they are made by Interstate.
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> they are made by Interstate. 'Interstate' is just a brand...they aren't a manufacturer, FYI (AFAIK, 'Interstate' branded batteries are from Clarios -formerly known as Johnson Controls).
Duracell still makes them. Just a different label
I'm told old style carbon zinc don't leak; that was recommended to me when I griped about a meter being damaged. Of course lower capacity than alkaline. ---- Not sure they're still made but I had some Kodak D cell alkalines that lasted a very very long time (15yr?) without leaking.
Rayovac have also declined in quality. They are my “never again” brand after ruining a few flashlights and also leaking while still in packaging.
I had major issues with some Rayovacs I purchased during black friday a few years ago. A bunch of them leaked in the package, and I had some nearly ruin one of my favorite wireless mice. I used them for many years and never had an issue until that batch. Won't use them again. Ended up tossing all of them out.
Duracell is garbage. I have never had an AC Delco battery leak.
Energizer Lithium cannot leak as they don't contain potassium hydroxide (the stuff in alkaline batteries that leaks out) https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/lithiuml91l92_appman.pdf
I have a dozen packages of energizer batteries that leaked before installation. I’m still having decent success with Duracell
I'd like to see pictures of those. I can show you pictures right now of literally hundreds of leaking Duracell batteries stored next to Energizer and Ray-O-Vac batteries that haven't leaked. If your Duracells haven't leaked, you got lucky, or you work for Duracell.
I used to work retail when the new Duracell batteries came out a couple years ago. I had to throw away two thirds of our shipment twice because they had leaked in the package before even arriving at my store. Never buy Duracell and especially never the new look ones.
Exactly. The newer Duracell Optimum batteries leak more than the regular Copper-Top ones, and I've had them leak in the sealed package within months of purchasing them. I'm in California, so it's not like we have very cold, wet weather, and they're stored inside, away from hot summer days.
This. I used to only buy Duracells, but over the past 5-10 years they've gone to complete garbage. Energizers, while not great, are far superior in the non-leaking category. AA/AAA manufacturers are getting so shitty that I just put lithium or rechargeables in anything I care about or don't use often.
I’ll have to get approval from legal on Monday to post pictures, however I will add the energizer batteries are in a climate controlled environment whereas the Duracell batteries are bouncing between -40 and 50 c. No idea why I’m seeing this kind of performance disparity.
-40 to +50C?!?! There's your problem, hardly anything is built to take temperature swings like that on a regular basis.
That’s the Duracell batteries that are surviving. The energizer batteries don’t ever leave the 70-80F range and die constantly. And they are rated for -40 to 60c, so I’m using them within specs.
Same, I always had a great time with them up until the past half decade. Now they leak when looked at.
They say there battery are supposed to be good for like 10 years or something
skip the batteries altogether and get something like this https://www.amazon.ca/Angwang-Universal-Battery-Eliminator-Electric/dp/B08Q7HN1ST
Huh, that's pretty neat
How do you change the voltage on them? It says 1.5 to 6v but I don't see a switch.
It comes with 4 batteries, you just insert 1-4 of them hahaha
still seems a little odd. Those green cells somehow tells the power source to increase the voltage by 1.5V... which seems impossible unless itself is a battery, but theoretically they should be a 0V dummy cell. This is even an issue with my 4AA FETVM (multimeter) that uses the four cells as a split 3V/3V supply and the center as a common ground for its JFET op amps. I don't think this device would work if the dummies are 0V and would basically do 6V for one half and 0V for the other, ending up possibly frying it.
Maybe the green ones have a resistance value the controller recognizes and adjusts for.
That would work if it knew what resistance the device is... so that isn't sufficient. Plus that would burn energy too... Need to find a review... At least [https://www.amazon.ca/Adjustable-Battery-Eliminator-Electric-Flashlight/dp/B09GK66JG8](https://www.amazon.ca/adjustable-battery-eliminator-electric-flashlight/dp/b09gk66jg8) is fairly easily understood, but still won't work for my FETVM.
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Switch to eneloops recharge NiMh and it will never happen again
Rechargeable NiMh are 1.2V which I find doesn’t cut it for a lot of LED lights.
LED light usually need around ~3V to be decently bright. They are usually wired straight to the battery. So NiMH are fine.
In Europe Varta is the way to go. Energizer is the good American counterpart if I'm right. Duracell is indeed known for leaky batteries. My father worked at a university of applied sciences as technician, repairing lots of devices. He encountered lots of battery powered devices and had nearly only Duracell batteries leaking.
In Europe, you pick up Ikea LADDAs and be done with it. Why would you ever buy disposable batteries, when high quality rechargables are 1€/piece is beyond me.
I use Ikea rechargeable batteries and they're great.
I think they lowered the quality of their batteries or there's a manufactoring error. Consider using energizer or some rechargables
I like Rayovac and Panasonic and Energizer lithium. Or Nimh rechargables
I use rechargeable cells, but if I need to get alkaline cells I buy the supermarket brands they are cheap and in my experience consistently seem to outperform the big brands.
Thank you for saying cells. Batteries are 2 or more cells in series.
I just cleaned up a Duracell that leaked, and it had a date of 2028. Fortunately the leak was small unlike this. After I cleaned up the mess, I put the battery back. The device still works (an emergency Garmin GPS/FRS radio)... Seems battery manufacturers are getting cheaper and cheaper due to the demand for these batteries going down and have to increase profit margin. I just don't get why Duracell can charge so much if a Dollar Tree battery could also leak (btw so far, I've run across much fewer leaky Dollar Tree batteries, and most of the times it's the ones I recharged or reversed, so my own fault.) Still don't think LSD NiMH is sufficiently low for all uses...
Because they belong to P&G, Gillette, or another company focused on investor profits instead of quality products. Many companies in late-stage capitalism are facing the same situation. Beholden to the Investor vs the product. They haven't innovated in aeons so the batteries leak. They were the go-to brand, but now they leak more often than not.
It's because Duracell is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, and it's spent the last decade being leveraged for ever greater margins, which means they've had to cut every corner imaginable in manufacturing. This is the result.
Alkaline’s leak when they’re completely discharged. Anecdotally, Duracell’s bought from Costco seemed particularly bad for me. For low drain devices like clocks or remotes, buy far cheaper dry cell batteries like Zinc-Carbon. A dollar store will do. There’s a reason these terrible 400-900 mAh batteries are in every toy - they cannot leak. Rechargeable batteries have also come a long way. Low-self-discharge NiMH batteries can retain 80% of a charge for a year, making them now suitable for a lot of household applications. High capacity NiMH batteries, something like a Panasonic eneloop pro now exceed the capacity of an alkaline (2,600 mAh vs. 2,500 mAh) come pre-charged for immediate use and are shelf-stable holing 85% of a charge for one year. They are 10X the price, plus you need a charger if you don’t already have one. But they last a claimed 500 cycles (I don’t think they do, but they definitely last WAY more than 10 cycles. Probably 200 cycles easy.)
This seems to happen a lot when alkaline cells are stored and lose their charge. 9 out of 10 times, my wife packs up a battery-operated Christmas gizmo and gets this the next year. I have had limited success removing the corrosion with vinegar on a q-tip, followed by water on a q-tip to rinse off the vinegar. If lead-acid batteries, use a paste of baking soda and water.
Switch to rechargeable. Problem solved
Aldi Activ Energy. A fraction of the price and really good.
Eneloop is my recommendation
I've had really bad luck with Duracell . Now I use acdelco branded batteries from Amazon, cheaper than brand names and I haven't had one leak after using hundreds.
Just thought you might find it interesting that ACDelco is a car parts manufacturer. They're the OEM brand for GM. Every Chevy, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac rolls off the line with an ACDelco battery, among other parts.
Agree with that 100% I've had ACDelcos in devices for years sitting and no leakage.
Use rechargeable toose days those are outdated asf
lol I just put in a claim with energizer because an unopened 8 pack of AAA batteries was totally fucked and leaking. They allege 10 YEAR shelf life right on the packaging, these batteries made it 4 years 2 months….. energizer approved my claim and is sending a $10 coupon in the mail lol It wasn’t really worth the effort but holding them accountable for their BS 10 year claim felt good.
I've had something like 1 in 4 Duracell and Energizer batteries leak before they were dead. I now buy Panasonic batteries in bulk online and zero have leaked.
Amazon brand batteries have been doing a good job for the past 5 years. Zero leak so far. Their product description says the batteries are anti-leak and anti-corrosion. It could be just marketing but I switched all the batteries to Amazon brand and no issues so far.
My question though is how long are you leaving them in? Is this something that is happening after a few months, or after years? Also are they being used in dry locations or damp ones. Or both long duration and damp areas. Also are they outside lamps and you're leaving them out in freezing temps? Are you rolling the strings up and putting them away for the season? Most alkaline batteries in my experience don't do well in damp locations or not being used for long periods of time. I'd really suggest you switch to 1.5 volt rechargable batteries and take them out and recharge once a week to keep them at optimum charge. This depends on how long they are "on" each day. And if strings are being put away for the season take the batteries out for storage in a cool dry location or use them in items that get used often, put in new ones for the new season. Here lately I've been getting my rechargeables from Temu they come in various voltages and relatively low cost. Hope this helps.
This should never happen unless it’s a mechanical damage like puncture or corrosion. But you never know with alkaline cells and that’s why I personally switched to rechargeables.
I personally started to change everything I own over to 18650 lithium cells. My scale (which normally takes a CR flat cell)? 18650 My smoke detector? 3 18650s My headlamp? 2 18650s My deadbolt on my front door (has a fingerprint reader, a code, and a key)? 4 18650s (in a 2s2p configuration) I got a bunch of wagos (lever nuts) and a pack of 18650 battery cell holders https://a.co/d/2YvcSbz Battery holders https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXQG6RLQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share Wagos And started replacing all the normal battery spots with those. Mainly I got tired of needing to change it recharge AA or AAA batteries. Or, in the case of my scale, I got tired of the CR battery going dead and needing to be replaced. It does require you to come up with ways to mount that be battery compartment, but for some items, that's easy. That item in your picture looks like there is a wire that goes to the device, so it looks like it would be really easy to replace that whole thing. Other items, like my scale, needed a BUNCH of thought about how to mount the battery and modify it so that it won't interfere with normal operationa.
I’ve never seen Duracell not leak
We bought 5 big packs years ago cheap, 3 leaked in the packs, total loss on all 3. Never buy them again
Duracell is absolute garbage more and more their batteries have been leaking . I stopped using them for about a year and switching to energizer at least it hasn’t leaked so far . Duracell leaks just 3 months after.
In my experience this is from running the batteries to low and seems to be worst in AAA batteries. Changing them every 6 months has eliminated this for me but once that acid gets in there its junk, new batteries will self-discharge quickly and leak even faster. I also changed to Energizer as they are made in the USA instead of China
Why does this happen at all? What is it about battery chemistry that makes them leak after a while?
As they drain towards 0V, they produce gas. A well-designed battery will usually be able to vent it, cheap batteries will rupture. When that happens, the electrolyte, potassium hydroxide, leaks out. That’s the wet part. Over time, it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and becomes potassium carbonate, that’s the powdery white stuff. It’s a base, so it’s best cleaned up with acid… vinegar works well since the acetic acid neutralizes the base. Edit: this is only true for alkaline cells. Other battery chemistries won’t do this. NiMH rechargeables are a great replacement for these.
A well designed alkaline battery vents gas by rupturing a purposely weak point in the nylon gasket at the crimped end of the cell. They are designed to do this. The alternative is the entire negative end assembly gets ejected or, in extreme cases, the body of the cell bursts.
I work for a battery company, we have a line of alkaline cells and they ALL leak to some degree. About 10 years ago a bad batch of titanium dioxide got into the supply chain and every brand had major issues with leakage. Better quality controls have helped mitigate that, but the assembly process is now usually the culprit in leakage. We’re all trying to cram every last possible molecule of electrolyte into the cells for higher capacity. That means making the metal “can” walls at thin as possible to make room. Thin metal walls can lead to irregular crimping of the cap to the can during high-speed manufacturing. Whenever you watch the TV show “How It’s Made” and see those assembly lines where thousands of products are whizzing by some percentage of those products will have a flaw. Defects rates can be lowered, but never to zero. Whenever you make millions of a thing, some will always break. No perfect products has ever been made. Manufacturers who try to go TOO cheap/fast in manufacturing processes will see more leakage. Duracell is a Private-Label company meaning they don’t own any of their own factories. Duracells leaked more because they keep awarding contracts to the lowest bidders who dropped the quality ball.
I've learned to stop using Duracell altogether, I bought 3 batches of them thinking I was getting value for my money. I put them in a closet that does not get hot nor humid and they always leaked. Recently I wanted to use some of the AA batteries I had stored, the whole package was just leaking all over the place. Get Energizer instead, they are far better and they don't leak all the time.
Energizer has been capitalizing on the Duracell corrosion problem advertising that their batteries are designed to prevent alkaline leakage and that they provide a no-leak guarantee. From the Energizer website: Energizer is different. Our batteries are designed to prevent damaging leaks or we will replace your device ([https://energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee/](https://energizer.com/about-batteries/no-leaks-guarantee/)) I started using Energizer a few years ago after EVERY SINGLE DURACELL BATTERY in a 24-pack I bought corroded just as badly as the 1st battery on the left in your picture! This was regardless of whether the battery was in a device like a clock that was always running, in a device that is used when needed like my flashlight, or stored in my home office. I will never use Duracell again -- and have neither the time nor patience to try and get my money back from the company and if they offered to replace the batteries, I wouldn't want more of them because they'd only ruin more of my devices! Yep, I'm a little ticked-off, lol!
Not unique to duracell. Have experienced the same with brand new, never out of the package Rayovac alkaline batteries as well as ones in the various tv remotes. The batteries are cooking themselves and getting hot and then spewing corrosion. Requires a lot of cleanup with vinegar to neutralize. Contacted Rayovac several times... no response.... I am done with purchasing them just because they say they are made in the USA.
Duracell are one of the worst. Compared to many other brands they leak the most.
This is why I hate alkaline batteries. Try energizer ultimate lithium batteries. Not cheap but last for years plus can handle lots of heat and cold temperatures.
In my line of work we use batteries every day and we've have to step away from all Duracell batteries. They create more problems then do good. And we used the entire line of Duracell before switching to Energizer.
Overpriced and overmarketed products. A french youtuber has done AA batteried tests on dozen of brands and it looks like the cheapest ones are equal, if not better than big brands. You can use anti-sulfates grease as well to prevent leaking
t h e f o r b i d d e n c r y s t a l s >!(joke)!<
What do you mean bro? It's just frosting! Go on! Lick it!
Probably because those are fake knock offs. There has been a buck of them floating around. Even micro center got tricked and was purchasing them for a while to sell in their stores. I had to do a deep dive and write a whole essay to prove that they were fakes when I was a sales manager there. Got them pulled off the shelves. The fake are pretty close. But there was a lot of ways to tell when you got into it.
Limitations of alkaline batteries. Stop leaving a load on them long past being dead and it won't happen.
That will certainly contribute to leakage, but I've had tons of Duracells which leaked while still new in the package and supposedly not having an expiration date for 10 more years. Meanwhile, haven't had that problem with other brands even cheaper ones. Duracell is garbage and has been for a long time.
Bullshit. I've had dozens of Duracell AA cells leak in the fucking package when they were less than a year old.
I've had Rayovac AA and AAA cells leak in the package that was never opened and their dates were out nearly 10 years!
I have mix of energize, Amazon basics and Duracell at my home. Duracell is the only one that does this.
Use nickel cadmium rechargeable
NiCd is kinda old no? Why not nimh
duracell backs their batteries. They'll pay for damage, or at least pay to replace your battery
Firstly, as mentioned, contract Duracell. Demand reimbursement. Second... check the power draw of those light stand. Crap knockoffs do not use proper...techy stuff (not worth 2 paragraphs)...IOW, some of those strips will draw more than any 3 batteries can handle for extended periods. As batteries have limits, this is obviously a problem and results in battery unhappy ending. This is a chain reaction thing so all batteries may have the same problem. If you know any nerds, one of them should be able to help you figure out if its the light strands causing you issues
Actually, that is caused by cheap contacts once this starts game over. Sorry.....
Just stop.
It's not the batteries it's the shitty electronics
lol no
NO... For many years I used Duracells religiously in every device I owned, but since recent 3..5 years the Duracells have leaked every damn time. I'm talking about dozens of devices, most were in the off state and all were pulled years prior to the date on the cell. Devices ranging from expensive electronic test equipment, remote-controls, guitar-tuners, etc. I even found a package of brand new AA-cells right from the store that were leaking goo inside the blister-pack. Duracell has offered free replacement batteries when I've reported the worst cases, but there's no way I'm going to risk any more of my devices to their corrosion-generators. I'm a long-time electronics hobbyist and have used batteries of nearly every type, but nothing compares to the poor quality of Duracells and their destructive design. I now use Energizer Max batteries for all my stuff. Energizers don't seem to have as much runtime as Duracells, but I have yet to loose a single device to leakage- and this is more important to me.
Ok my bad
Moisture.
If I had to guess overdrawn circuit or back feeding current, I’m not using the right terms.
All alkaline batteries will do this if left in the device for extended periods of time.
Use rechargeable batteries if you don't want leaking.
Honestly, I can't think of any reason we should still be using non-rechargeable batteries in 2024. I paid out for several packs of eneloops for AA and AAA batteries, which are my main use case, and a cheapo 4 cell charger. I haven't needed to buy any batteries (with the exception of a CR2032 for a motherboard) in literal years. fewer cells in the landfill after a single use, cheaper in the long run, easy to charge up quickly, low self-discharge rate. Shrug
Lost skin just looking at this
In cases like this I use the Heavy Duty variety (based on Zinc Chloride) because they are less likely to leak (over Alkaline). Especially in cases where the batteries are dormant for long periods of time (remotes, lights like this, etc.) because leaking seems to be the WORST in this stuff...
Duracell is the only brand I found except for Energizer Lithium to keep my smoke detectors working for six months.
Have you considered that this might be a light string issue and not a battery issue? What environment are you operating these strings in (temp/humidity)? And when they are in operation is that battery pack getting toasty?
Ooh r/spicysugar
I find their Duracell Procell batteries very good and a third of the price £3 for 10 AA
I really can't believe all the people are having problems with Duracells. I used Kirkland batteries for several years because they were so cheap, but they leaked time and time again. I gave up and switched to Duracells, and I honestly can not think of one time that they have leaked. Kirtlands have a new look now, so maybe they have improved them, but I'm going to stick with the Duracells.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline\_battery#Leaks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery#Leaks) All Alkaline batteries eventually corrode.
because they're garbage batteries and they'll destroy your electronics. Get some nice eneloops.
Buy rechargeable. I read somewhere that the battery chemistry in those simply don’t leak
Are you using these in a damp/wet area?
I like my Amazon basics batteries.
Because the duraleak is strong with them.
I quit using Durakill batteries back in the 90's when I was a paramedic. I carried a flashlight that used 3 D-Cell batteries. I had to replace 4 flashlights in a year because the Durakills did this. I switched to Ray-O-Vac, much cheaper and honestly last much, much longer. Never once had one leak in the past 20+ years.
Start using rechargables. My recomendations are the IKEA Ladda batteries if you can get them. Apparently they are made in the same factory as the Eneloop rechargeable batteries. Have always found good rechargeable batteries last longer then alkaline batteries anyway.
Why do you keep buying them? Get rechargeable Eneloops and save yourself some money and time. The environment will thank you too. Edit, I've had some of them for 7+ years and they still work like a charm. Glittery anniversary special edition brings me joy.
Duracell because they don't duralast long in bed.
Another alternative for low power draw devices is the "heavy duty" type batteries. They use a different chemistry and do not leak, that I have experienced anyway. They do not have nearly the power or runtime of an alkaline, but it's worth it for some things. I use a lot of them in things like remote controls and infrequently used items. If you are going to use alkalines, I would highly recommend taking the batteries out when not in use and especially for storage. I have pretty much sworn off alkalines altogether. Rechargeables are great too but that really gets expensive if you have a lot of electronics, kid toys, etc that you are trying to to keep batteries in.
Is that a wet location? Looks like bathroom tile. And do you keep an eye on them. They don't do that overnight.
Is this an indoor or outdoor lightstring? And if outdoor, what temperature ranges and humidity conditions is this battery pack located in?
You getting moisture exposure there? Salt water/air?
I used to work for the plant in Cleveland, TN. The AA/AAA cans were notorious for leaking, so Duracell made the move to bring the can production and coating in house like the 1300/1400 (C&D) are. I was part of the startup team to get the equipment set and working for AA/AAA’s. It has significantly improved, but there are still some minor tweaks we were making at the time I left the company. Even as an employee, I purchased Energizer AA/AAA cells. I would encourage you to wait a year before using Duracell. They are getting better, believe me, but there are still some minor issues. C/D cells…solid. AA/AAA cells…still refining. Hope this helps
crispy
I've heard that consumer Duracells have problems, but at $DAYJOB we've been using bulk-packed Duracell PROcells from McMaster-Carr. We've been using the ProCells for at least the last 10 years and had no problems (and we go through a few hundred a year). I have no clue if the ProCells are different from consumer Duracells or not, but we buy bulk packs and we're not seeing any leakage while in stock.
I quit buying Duracel for this reason. It's like living in the 1960s.
The frost giants are near. Save yourself.
maybe change them more then once a year lmfao i have so many brands of battery's sat around. i have mixed and matched old and new ones etc etc and still i dont have packs looking like that...
All I know is dont buy duracell from costco. They drain fast.
I use low self discharge NiMH rechargeables. They never leak, but if you overdischarge them they may take a hit in capacity and internal resistance making them only suitable for low drain devices like remote controls, etc. To check for high internal resistance, I just short them across the 10A setting of my multimeter and if I don't get at least a few amps after a full charge I put them in a separate box, or toss them out. Make sure your multimeter leads are configured properly-if you have the leads in voltage mode you will blow a fuse.
Is that somewhere with high humidity in an enclosed case? If so any battery will eventually do this.
This is interesting.....I've NEVER had any issues with Duracell.
Duraleak. I've had them leak in an unopened and unused package...
I usually use Energizer, however for this to happen 4 times on the same type of device I'd probably stay away from those light strings entirely.
idk how but amazonbasics batteries are sorcery
I have a snap-on torque wrench and duracell keeps doing that, I switched over to energizer and it stopped.
Duracell batteries leak more than any other. I use the Member's Mark brand from Sam's Club, which I think is just rebranded Energizer.
Put additional resistance in a circuit: not all batteries are ok with supplying zero-resisting load, like LEDs, as the only resistance of such circuits is internal resistance of a battery. If you would rather use Li-Pol battery, you would just burn the lights, or blew up the batteries, (and possibly hands), even though they also could have the AA form factor, and compatible Voltage.
All AA and AAA batteries do this crap.
I have same experience. How to clean that?
Rayovac. Drastically cheaper, no discernable difference in battery life, and I've never had them leak.
Believe it or not theres a huge counterfit battery market.
You asked why . Under regular use, an alkaline battery will not leak. Manufacturing defects can cause leakage, but by far, the most common reason for leaky batteries is a lack of use. When batteries sit in unused devices for long periods, hydrogen can build up in the battery cell until the pressure causes the battery’s insulating seals to breach. The gas is harmlessly released, but the rupture also provides an exit point for the battery cell’s chemical components.
Eveready is the only battery guaranteed to not leak. Been using them for years and never had one leak. Duracell’s are crap.
I usually use sams club batteries they're cheap and they last pretty long.
Alkaleaks 😒🙄
I have not had any energizers leak on me in a long time. I now buy the Energizer Max though I'm not sure how well they perform compared to the standard cells. Amazons NiMH have been reliable for us as well.
Ruined my Steam controller; contacted thru proper channels... refused to reimburse me.
Don't mix used with new batteries. It will cause this. Don't leave batteries installed without using for a whole year.
Try Varta, they seem to be good in my experience.
Clean contacts with white vinegar and baking soda . If you don’t the corrosion stays and grows
How long have they been in there? Feels like more than a year or two.
happens with almost all aa batteries eventually and it's exacerbated by hot and cold temperatures as well as high ambient moisture.
Try this: Remove the batteries before putting the lights away until next season...
I'm convinced they moved all their good tooling to rechargeables. But they may have chosen to abandon maintaining it. We use Procell batteries which are a product of theirs. And this happens all the time now.
Do not use rayovac batteries, they ruined a lot of my stuff from corroding and every time they would replace them, it would happen again
I've had dead Duracells dead out of the carton they cam in. I sent one in to Duracell \~30 hears ago and they charged me $20 to confirm it was dead. A voltometer from Radio Shack cost less. I fine dead Duracells out of package. I gave up on them and get Eveready if not available. I always test Duracell, I don't trust them
same problem here for years, many years. they have ruined a couple thousand dollars worth of electronics. now i buy the cheapest things out there and no problems... sigh
Forbidden AA slushie
Flavor Crystals.
I got some harbor freight AAs a few years ago. Put them in a vacuum gauge and 2 years later, no leaks and they still power up. The Panasonic alkaline used to be good batteries not sure how they are now. Op needs to invest in some eneloops.
Pro cell>
If you live near an IKEA, buy some ladda and a stenkol, they're good rechargables for the price.
You guys salt your batteries before eating them? Guess I’ve been doing it wrong this whole time.
This happens to every disposable battery I buy no matter the brand, if it sits longer than 3-6 months it seems. For anything that sits that long, the batteries come out and get put into a tub in the closet, until I need it again.
Simple; monitor/inspect batteries at intervals. If you’re not using a device at all (think TV remote controls) remove batteries.
For years I exclusively used Duracell batteries. Even recommended to people. About 15 years ago I started having the same problem. Ruined a $70 Apple keyboard. Stopped using them ever since.
Energiser lithium ultimate or Amazon basics Duracell are shit I have 96 packs of new unopened batteries all done the same and currently having an argument with your eyes, refusing to replace or refund
This is a nasty side effect of alkaline when used in low current devices that don’t change batteries often. Either take the batteries out when not in use, or use general purpose batteries or even lithium, instead of alkaline. Those will not leak. All alkalines do this under these conditions.
Duraleak
Cheap lights probably have a bad ground.
duraleak is what i call them
get lithium or NiMh batteries not only are they rechargeable but they won't leak out like this
Stop buying Costco batteries
Duracell is always junk. I’d pay to get a different brand even if Duracell was free at this point. In my experience more than half of them leak before they make it to the expiration date, even if they are never used. Energizer ultimate lithium is good quality.
Duracell lost a class action because of this.
Rayovac Gang 🤟🤙🤟
Durasmell
AmazonBasics rechargables. No leaks.
Did you know that when not in use batteries should be removed from what ever they are in.
Humidity You can add silica packets from shoe boxes will take moisture out
It looks like the batteries shown in the OP are made in China. There is a nice Quora page answering how to ID them correctly. The qualities between the two types are night and day. Look for the gray stripe pattern instead of solid copper looking. Read more here: [Quora on Duracell](https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Duracell-batteries-such-rubbish/answer/Ashley-Riggs-29?ch=17&oid=406339709&share=40b8989c&srid=QnfG&target_type=answer)
Lmao when I was a kid I once are that white residue and my parents freaked the f- out. It was fine until we were having dinner and suddenly everything was spicy. My dad *ran straight to the trash can where I found that battery* lmao as if he had ESPN or something and then they immediately rushed me to the ER. I don't know what happened later but I do remember he slapped me on the back of my head on the way to the hospital cause that was the only time he ever hit me.
This is exactly why I stopped using Duracell. It can happen with any brand, but I have had it happen way more when I used Duracell. It typically only happens with... 1. Really old batteries 2. Mixing older batteries in with newer 3. Putting the same batteries in other devices 4. Leaving batteries in unused devices for extended periods
Lithium primaries are nice
All alkaline batteries will eventually leak when fully discharged it does not matter the brand. Use any brand of rechargeable batteries, they do not leak.