Yeap as a reseller happens quite a bit and I found battery that expirebbsck in the 90s in a portable speaker
I’ve never seen your remote before, so no.
Goddamn you had a blowout
Old batteries get spicy.
Thats my, favorite sweet&sour candy
Get the batteries out and wipe the electronics with a soft towel soaked with a little vinegar to neutralize the corrosion. Then a damp towel with just water to get the vinegar up. Let it fully dry before putting in new batteries. This happens to batteries that have sat unused for a long time installed. It can also happen if at the end of charge, you pull the batteries out, and put them back in to squeeze a little more use out of the batteries. Do it too many times and there is a leak risk. Cheaper batteries do it more often but the top brands will occasionally leak as well.
How does vinegar compare to a can of CRC?
Doesn’t smell as good but tastes a bit better.
It doesn’t.
CRC is a hydrocarbon based cleaning solution similar to isopropyl alcohol. Vinegar works to clean the alkaline corrosion specifically because it is acidic, so it will both neutralize the alkalinity and also act as a mild etchant.
It is important that you thoroughly clean all of the vinegar, since leaving it on for too long will etch away the copper (though when I say “for too long”, I mean a very long time).
Vinegar here really does the trick in neutralizing the acid. do not skip it!
How the shit? Just use baking soda in water instead.
I believe the comment you are replying to meant to say corrosion not acid.
This is some sort of electrochemistry, more complex than just acid/base
I’m just going to say alkaline batteries have a strong hydroxide so use any acid.
I’m pretty sure its an acid/base conjugate pair buffer, but I could be wrong
Alkaline batteries use a base, hence the name. Baking soda would work as you can neutralize a strong base with a weak one. Same with acid…
Neutralise the corrosion with a conjugate pair acids/base buffer.
Neutralise was a confusing term to pick, but they’re not wrong.
Vinegar (Acetic Acid) does not neutralise any acids at all.
It does however, neutralise the caustic, alkaline contents of a non-rechargeable alkaline cell (potassium hydroxide).
That just sounded factual.
Acid is just upside-down base
This is the way. Sometime I even file down the spring/contacts with a nail file to expose fresh metal rather than corrosion. Just a few light scratches helps greatly.
If you have access to one, use an ultrasonic cleaner with vinegar and water in it to clean the parts you can take out (NOT the batteries themselves! Those are done)
Why not just switch to NiMH rechargables? Upfront cost is a bit higher, but considering the 10 or so year lifespan in a TV remote, they make sense. And they don’t leak.
I found an old plush that had a voicebox in it… I’ve not touched it in 25+ years but wanted to show it to my daughter, so I pulled out the battery box, expecting the worse, and there was no corrosion at all. I pulled out the generic brand batteries and put in new batteries and it started speaking.
I was amazed.
I remember hearing that alkaline batteries that contain mercury don’t leak, they’re just much worse for the environment. So maybe that’s what happened?
In the future, someone will have this same story but the ending will be the toy telling you to connect to WiFi and update your subscription information…
:(
That’s why I put non rechargeable batteries out, before putting them away for long time without usage. This won’t happen if you are constantly using the remote and batteries, and it won’t happen with rechargeables.
This won’t happen if you are constantly using the remote and batteries,
It still can. I have found that the most common cause of batteries going south like this(when being used actively) is when there is a voltage mismatch between the batteries.
Always make sure you use batteries from the same pack when you put them together in a device. That or get a voltmeter out and check to make sure their voltage is the same.
This is less of an issue when the batteries are in parallel, but almost all cases where batteries are combined in electronics, they are putting them in serial.
Good point. I never experienced this issue and always thought its a myth that we shouldn’t combine them. So I learned something. But I don’t use non-rechargeable batteries anymore anyway.
It took me decades to finally figure this out. It wasn’t until I started building solar systems and batteries that I realized what was happening.
You can have the same issue with rechargeables, but they are more resilient. Running them in parallel will work fine because the batteries balance out their state of charge. When you run them in series they have no way to balance out and one is always dragging the rest down. If the difference is too much then that lowest battery heats up considerably. That cooks the electrolyte.
Interesting, even with rechargeables. Good thing since the 90s Game Boy I only use same set of rechargeable batteries from same manufacturer only, and always put them out when not in use. That’s probably I never had an issue anymore. The humidity of the environment and quality control of the batteries are probably an important factor too. I can imagine this happens more often in some regions of the world than others in example.
It definitely still can happen, especially with Duracells, even while they’re still in a sealed package in the store.
Battery orgasm?
Orgery.
(Not to be confused with batgasm, that’s when Bruce beasts up ppl from different socioeconomic background than his.)
That’s how cocaine is made
the fate of old batteries. if you’re storing electronics for a long time, take the batteries out.
So often that I have banned alkalines from the house, everything gets NiMH rechargeables.
OP must be pretty young 😂, we old fucks have seen this happen 100 times
I’m only 21 lol
Oh you sweet summer child
I prob have batteries doing that exact thing that are older than op (tho this can happen in a few years easily, especially if in a circuit).
Yes, this is definitely worse ‘than average’ but have seen this before.
DO NOT TOUCH WITH BARE HANDS, EXTREMELY TOXIC.
This was very common pre 2010s.
I still see it all the time with Kirkland batteries. I mostly use rechargeables but when I use those I frequently find them leaking after not that long.
Don’t lick it.
It’s sour with a mix of pain if you’re wondering, and now that you know this you do not need to lick it.
Lies. It’s basically sugar
Many times. When buying old battery-powered electronics, there’s like a 50% chance that there’s a leaked battery in there. Make sure to wash your hands if you touched that.
