Leaking Alkaline Cells

RE: Leaking Alkaline Cells

DiligentMinds.com — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 03:56:56 GMT

Alkaline cells will begin to leak if you discharge them more than about 0.6V to 0.7V. When I have the budget in a design to do so, I add a nano-power comparator+reference and a MOSFET to shut off the battery at 0.65V [per cell]. Hopefully, this will prevent leaking cells in my designs that are now out in the field. The MOSFET also doubles as a backwards-battery protection circuit [looks like a blocking diode if the battery is reversed, but if the battery is installed correctly and has enough voltage then the MOSFET is turned on so there is no diode drop in the forward direction]. Sorry I can't share the circuit-- as that is under NDA, but it is a very simple circuit and is easy to figure out on your own...

RE: Leaking Alkaline Cells

jw0752 — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 22:14:38 GMT

Hi Shabaz,

I just had to come to the defense of the "Energizer" Bunny. As far as cleaning the crusty areas by the springs I usually use a wire brush to get in and breakup the crystals. In my more important equipment I use the Duracell but I have no real justification for this. I am interested if there is truth to your supposition that they are prone to leak more than the Energizers. I could change brands without a glance back. For my less critical equipment I usually buy 2 alkaline for a dollar from the Dollar Store.

John

RE: Leaking Alkaline Cells

johnbeetem — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 16:35:29 GMT

I've found Duracell to be more reliable than most. OTOH, counterfeiters keep getting better and it's hard for even the best suppliers to know if they're getting cheated themselves. You can't count on counterfeiters stamping "Made in British" any more [View:/resized-image/__size/16x16/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-dd768b96-f541-4f4c-a647-54bdc9b1a1cb/contentimage_5F00_1.png:16:16]

RE: Leaking Alkaline Cells

michaelwylie — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 16:29:43 GMT

I've got an older TI-83+ that never fails to make a battery leak.

RE: Leaking Alkaline Cells

michaelkellett — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 15:54:45 GMT

Are you sure that they are genuine Duracells - I've always found them to be the best primary cells for performance and reliability.

I've just done some tests running down more than 15 pairs of AA cells of different types and at different currents and as I have found in the past the Duracells give the best performance (but not the most joules per £).