DuraHELL batteries

[Veteran68]

I had Duracell D cells leak in a large aluminum Maglite type flashlight. Getting the damn thing open was a major chore that involved damaging the finish, but then the batteries couldn't be removed as they were essentially swollen+welded inside. Funny thing was the flashlight still worked until the batteries finally drained, then I threw it out.

I've had 9V batteries leak. Including a multi-pack I bought at a big-box home improvement store (house brand, don't recall who actually made them) that leaked in the unopened package and ruined the whole pack. 9Vs are just six AAAA cells inside the case, so subject to the same seal leakage as AA and AAA, they just have the extra block "wrapper" that can (sometimes) keep the leakage contained inside.

[Fungus]

I had Duracell D cells leak in a large aluminum Maglite type flashlight. Getting the damn thing open was a major chore that involved damaging the finish, but then the batteries couldn't be removed as they were essentially swollen+welded inside.

A drill and self-tapping screw...

I've had 9V batteries leak. ... they just have the extra block "wrapper" that can (sometimes) keep the leakage contained inside.

That, and a few cm of wire separating the battery from the device.

[p.larner]

i guess three words sums it up,"made in china".

[tom66]

i guess three words sums it up,"made in china".

Except Duracell batteries for North American market are made in USA (Cleveland, TN), and ones for Europe are made in Belgium (Aarschot).
The only exception is Ni-MH cells which are subcontracted out.

They even have an adorable mailbox at the Cleveland location:
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.2027714,-84.8541249,3a,46y,277.3h,84.01t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFqREQa2QTL7MF4Mej8ai6A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

And some clever use of panel colours in Belgium:
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.9917449,4.8226011,3a,75y,28.1h,91.57t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soKPj5RglsUHyTk62dsZryg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

[Wolfgang]

The storage isnt relevant for preventing leakage. These batteries will do this regardless of how they are stored.

Duracell is a crap brand now and can't be trusted in any equipment.Buyer beware. Beware of also all the duracell rebrands.

New Duracell ad: If it leaks, it must be a DuraCell

[floobydust]

i guess three words sums it up,"made in china".

I've had Duracell batteries leak that were made in USA, china, Indonesia etc. It doesn't matter where they are "made" although the seal for all could be made a single plant thus guaranteeing the leaking and shit quality, across the board.
Although I highly doubt they are "made in USA" likely just put in the bubble pack/box or something for final packaging- as if union labour prices can compete.

Made in USA Labeling Rule has been modified Aug. 2021.
I expect Duracell (and Fluke) to have to make changes to their claims and product packaging.

[helius]

Another great product by the world's #1 battery company... 

[chinoy]

Fluke are selling all the Meters with Duracell batteries which are leaking and taking out PCBs and Fluke refuses to offer any help.
I just purchased a brand new Fluke
https://www.amazon.in/Fluke-233-Remote-Display-Multimeter/dp/B002X7ZX00
Thats close to a 700$ USD.
And the number one complaint is about how leaking bats are taking out brand new meters look it up.
Lucky for me I research this kind of stuff. And I coat all terminals with a light coat of petroleum jelly and I check on the cells at least once a month.
I have a Fluke 105B Scope where the bat acid leaked and took out the keyboard membrane.
Our locally made Every Ready bats seem to leak far less than these high end highly priced Duracell bats.

[rsjsouza]

Since it is a brand new meter, did you return it and let the seller deal with their supplier of meters? 

[HighVoltage]

I went to a car parts store here in Germany today and was shocked to learn that they are only selling Duracell car batteries.

Allegedly, they had too many complains about other brands, so they switched to Duracell.

Well, lets see if they leak as well and destroy some cars in the coming years.

[coppercone2]

I had those for like 4 years in a bootleg backup power thing for a pump and it works

[floobydust]

Every time I read this thread, I remember to check something for leaking Duracells and find a mess...

I had Duracell D cells leak in a large aluminum Maglite {thanks for the reminder} type flashlight. Getting the damn thing open was a major chore that involved damaging the finish, but then the batteries couldn't be removed as they were essentially swollen+welded inside.

A drill and self-tapping screw...

Yes yes go on, a little bit more please. Nothing budges.

[AVGresponding]

Every time I read this thread, I remember to check something for leaking Duracells and find a mess...

I had Duracell D cells leak in a large aluminum Maglite {thanks for the reminder} type flashlight. Getting the damn thing open was a major chore that involved damaging the finish, but then the batteries couldn't be removed as they were essentially swollen+welded inside.

A drill and self-tapping screw...

Yes yes go on, a little bit more please. Nothing budges.

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I wonder if a bit of acetic acid in the barrel might help loosen the cells by dissolving some of the alkaline encrustation? At this point, I don't think it could make things any worse...

[SilverSolder]

Wow, what a mess!  -  If you have a drill press - maybe drill straight down the middle of the cell(s) to hollow them out - then it might be possible to 'collapse' the remaining shells inwards with a screwdriver, and get them out?   I agree with @AVGresponding that vinegar might dissolve the yuk,  but it may take a long time for it to work its way down the sides.

[Stray Electron]

Every time I read this thread, I remember to check something for leaking Duracells and find a mess...

I had Duracell D cells leak in a large aluminum Maglite {thanks for the reminder} type flashlight. Getting the damn thing open was a major chore that involved damaging the finish, but then the batteries couldn't be removed as they were essentially swollen+welded inside.

A drill and self-tapping screw...

Yes yes go on, a little bit more please. Nothing budges.

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[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ]

   The problem is that the Maglite flashlights contain between two and five batteries so it would be nearly impossible to get the deepest ones out.  As much as I like the Maglites, I don't buy them anymore because, eventually, a battery is going to destroy it.  And it's not just getting batteries out that are a problem but the cap on the flashlight is aluminium on aluminium so the caps often weld themselves to the body of the flashlight.

[Stray Electron]

i guess three words sums it up,"made in china".

   The funny thing to me is that while the Chinese brand batteries leak, they don't seem to destroy things the way that the Duracell batteries do!  I fixed three kid's toys this weekend that had old Chinese (probably OEM) batteries in them and all three worked fine after a bit of cleaning up the dried up electrolyte.  None of battery contacts were corroded and no damage to any of the electronics. One of the toys was only made in 2001 and is a bit of a collector's item and had what appeared to be original batteries in it. The LCD display still worked (weakly) and the batteries shells were corroded as hell but I took them out and wiped up the electrolyte residue and it came off cleanly. I put in new batteries and the toy works fine. 

[Wallace Gasiewicz]

My Kirkland Costco Batteries are leaking also.

[Veteran68]

My Kirkland Costco Batteries are leaking also.

Because they are made by Duracell

[rsjsouza]

The funny thing to me is that while the Chinese brand batteries leak, they don't seem to destroy things the way that the Duracell batteries do!  I fixed three kid's toys this weekend that had old Chinese (probably OEM) batteries in them and all three worked fine after a bit of cleaning up the dried up electrolyte.  None of battery contacts were corroded and no damage to any of the electronics. One of the toys was only made in 2001 and is a bit of a collector's item and had what appeared to be original batteries in it. The LCD display still worked (weakly) and the batteries shells were corroded as hell but I took them out and wiped up the electrolyte residue and it came off cleanly. I put in new batteries and the toy works fine.

I suspect I mentioned this before, but several of my kids' toys came with AA-sized cells from the brand Tianqiu (shown in the attached photo) which, after a lot of abuse and being drained beyond anything that Duracells had to endure, they held together quite well. Unfortunately I can't find them for purchase to put them for further testing with a larger sample size.

[MrMobodies]

My Kirkland Costco Batteries are leaking also.

I was at this firm about 12 years ago, they had these wireless mouse and keyboards that they got brand new and they started ordering those like in double pack.

I saw them on Amazon and when I looked at the reviews I saw so many negative reviews that went past positive about them leaking.

We started using rechargeables when I convinced them it would work out cheaper and to bin the Costco pack.

[floobydust]

Screwed by leaking Duracell batteries? Screw 'em back! Give Proctor and Gamble the treatment they deserve, right up the arse.
Filled the tube with acetic acid and soaked for a while and managed to get the first cell out.
"Assembled in America" with chinese? characters presumably warning "bad never use". They must just put them in the packaging in USA. exp. date Dec. 2024. Why leak then when you can leak now?

On to the second cell, but no way it's coming out. Used a lot of force and the screw just ripped out.
Maglite going in the garbage thanks to Duracell. Boycotting garbage Proctor and Gamble products for a while now, they buy great brands and cheapen the quality way too much as a Warren Buffet profit model, and then jack up prices to satisfy shareholders. Ridiculous.

I'll fire off an email to Maglite because they could easily put a plastic tube inside, which I have seen with other products, to isolate the sides of the battery.

[helius]

That conforms to my experience. The only Maglite I was able to fix, I did it from the bulb end: after removing the reflector and bulb, there is a small metal finger that acts as a switch that must be removed as well. Then the plastic plate on which the switch rests can be driven down using a punch to push both cells out the bottom of the tube.
After this rough treatment the unit was still working (had to use vinegar and a bottle brush to remove all of the oxidized crud from the inside of the tube), although the odds are that it may have been destroyed instead. Especially the plastic "switch plate" could have broken.
I may have soaked the stuck cells in liquid wrench prior to the punch-driving, I can't remember now.

[coppercone2]

I think maglite has a problem with their products because almost everything leaks in them. I run those on NiMH. Only cuz I ended up with a bunch of them, not because I bought any.

I find them to be shitty flashlights anyway because the on-off switch mechanism is dodgy. I hate it. The the ones that have the feature like blinking, triggered by twisting the top, are totally unusable. lets fuck with the flashlight for 30 seconds before we get the mode we want.

I really feel like its a troll brand flashlight. They were like good in the year 2000 because it was bright with the xenon bulb, but today compared to other offerings its dodgy.

And there is some kinda other problem with them too, when they age, even unleaked, the fuckin circuit becomes unreliable. Like the threads. Even if you use silicone grease on the threads its still kinda bullshit. They go dim and you need to bang on it. Its like the horror movie/game flashlight that goes dim every once in a while where you need to tap it. I think thats a great feature for a videogame, so there is a idle animation.

I recommend fenix brand AA flashlights. They don't have too many, but I am impressed. Aluminum head and plastic body, meaning you can leave it in the car in the winter and it does not freeze your hand off. Also they have a twist on that does not suck ass (twist ring switch).

The maglite are ridiculous.

For a work light I recommend the milwakee 2x AA battery side lamp with magnet base (fuckin useful as hell) and for  a car flashlight I recommend the 4xAA fenix flashlight if its still sold. Guess not, LD42 is discontinued. I wonder why. I think it must have been the plastic. I thought it was cheap at first but then the first day I needed it when it was -10C I thought it was genius.

[rsjsouza]

I have a large Maglite with 3 D cells that is a workhorse - bought new in early 2010s. I had two smaller ones that went to the trashcan due to leaking cells and their twisting mechanism to power on/off was garbage. After those two went to scrap, my dad bought me one of those black "tactical" flashlights and it works well, although the power on/off button and sequence of operations is indeed irritating but at least runs on an 18650. Fast forward a few years and I ended up inheriting all my dad's collection of tactical flashlights, so I am set for life now.

[floobydust]

Internet advice is all over the place - use vinegar, WD40, just boil the flashlight in a pot of water etc. I'll add - toss it in the garbage. Major corrosion of the aluminum fueled by the batteries' steel case. I doubt there is a way to get the last battery out.

Inside the Maglite tube it was anodized red like the outside body, and you can see the fractal etching that happened as the electrolyte leaked out and creeps due to ion migration.

A replacement Maglite mini is CAD $50, USD $37, AUD $56. Oh and it could just as easily get killed again by leaking batteries. I did ask them, we'll see if they have an answer to this.
Otherwise, we can't have nice things. Aliexpress flashlights are working pretty good for the price, 1/5th of Maglite Co.