19-02-2024, 01:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 19-02-2024, 01:06 PM by Mike Watterson.)
There are two reasons Alkaline cells leak:
1) The seal at the bottom is often poor quality.
2) Too tight holder (can be spring is too strong) breaks seal on the base of cell.
A properly made alkaline cell in a properly designed holder will not leak even after 10 years.
Engergizer/Eveready is now owned by a pet food company.
Duracell, formerly Mallory, certainly are not the quality they used to be.
Varta and Camelion seem still not bad quality
There are loads of shop branded cells that vary in quality between brands and batches (perhaps they change supplier).
Good to Poorer:
Aldi, Lidl, Primark/Pennys, Dial (B&Q/Kingfisher/screwfix).
Halfords seem to sell branded batteries, but often date expired!
Brands that are just licensed labels and generally poorer than shop branded:
Polaroid, Ford, Grundig, JCB
The Energiser / Duracell / Panasonic batteries in Ireland can be x3 price of Aldi/Lidl and x2 to x4 price of batteries in mainland Europe. They seem to all come from UK wholesale. The Panasonic batteries are the most expensive here but don't seem better than Aldi or Lidl.
PP3: There are traditional layer kind, Alkaline, Lithium and NiMH.
Other packs
Never use Zinc or Zinc Chloride if Alkaline is available.
Fencers and hearing aids use Zinc Air which degrade as soon as air seal is removed. Only for continuous use.
Small button cells
Alkaline can be fine for a calculator. A watch or similar is better with silver based cells.
The small 12V batteries use alkaline button cells, so very limited current and capacity, but long shelf life (up to 5 or 10 years).
Coin cells
Limited to a bit less than 1mA for a CR2032, so a radio HT pack needs 4 to 6 stacks diode parallel.
Will work well to make 15V or 22.5V stack with one stack for old Avos or old hearing aid valve circuits, or valve pocket radios that use an earphone (45V or 67V pack that looks like a long PP3).
Add pico fuse per stack as a short will set a 45V 67V or 90V pack with parallel stacks on fire.
Lead Acid Gel
Most can't do burst high current like a motor-bike starter without rapid destruction. Most are poor for deep cycle.
Higher voltage NiMH packs suffer from failed cells due to weakest cell gets reversed charged when low. So premature failure of 9V and 12V packs too much discharged is common.
My vintage battery site (i have stuff not yet uploaded)
Battery University has loads of good articles.
1) The seal at the bottom is often poor quality.
2) Too tight holder (can be spring is too strong) breaks seal on the base of cell.
A properly made alkaline cell in a properly designed holder will not leak even after 10 years.
Engergizer/Eveready is now owned by a pet food company.
Duracell, formerly Mallory, certainly are not the quality they used to be.
Varta and Camelion seem still not bad quality
There are loads of shop branded cells that vary in quality between brands and batches (perhaps they change supplier).
Good to Poorer:
Aldi, Lidl, Primark/Pennys, Dial (B&Q/Kingfisher/screwfix).
Halfords seem to sell branded batteries, but often date expired!
Brands that are just licensed labels and generally poorer than shop branded:
Polaroid, Ford, Grundig, JCB
The Energiser / Duracell / Panasonic batteries in Ireland can be x3 price of Aldi/Lidl and x2 to x4 price of batteries in mainland Europe. They seem to all come from UK wholesale. The Panasonic batteries are the most expensive here but don't seem better than Aldi or Lidl.
PP3: There are traditional layer kind, Alkaline, Lithium and NiMH.
- he Layer cells are only good for low drain but regularly used. They don't leak. Good for toys or 45V to 120V HT packs as they work out cheaper per hour use. About 1 to 2 year shelf life.
- The Alkaline can use either 6 off cells similar to AAAA that are slightly shorter but can work as a cheap AAAA, or they are rounded stacke button cells similar to a stacked NiCd or NiMH. Needed for intermittent gear, smoke alarms, DMMs etc. Up to 10 year shelf life.
- The Lithium cells are massively poor value. Safety and shelf life unknown.
- The NiMh (and formerly NiCd) come in two capacities depending if 6 cells or 7 cells as the 6 cells are a bit low in voltage. Only good for continuous use high drain equipment, maybe toy walkie talkies or radio remote control handsets. Lowest capacity and shelf life.
Other packs
Never use Zinc or Zinc Chloride if Alkaline is available.
Fencers and hearing aids use Zinc Air which degrade as soon as air seal is removed. Only for continuous use.
Small button cells
Alkaline can be fine for a calculator. A watch or similar is better with silver based cells.
The small 12V batteries use alkaline button cells, so very limited current and capacity, but long shelf life (up to 5 or 10 years).
Coin cells
Limited to a bit less than 1mA for a CR2032, so a radio HT pack needs 4 to 6 stacks diode parallel.
Will work well to make 15V or 22.5V stack with one stack for old Avos or old hearing aid valve circuits, or valve pocket radios that use an earphone (45V or 67V pack that looks like a long PP3).
Add pico fuse per stack as a short will set a 45V 67V or 90V pack with parallel stacks on fire.
Lead Acid Gel
Most can't do burst high current like a motor-bike starter without rapid destruction. Most are poor for deep cycle.
Higher voltage NiMH packs suffer from failed cells due to weakest cell gets reversed charged when low. So premature failure of 9V and 12V packs too much discharged is common.
My vintage battery site (i have stuff not yet uploaded)
Battery University has loads of good articles.
