I've lost all faith in Duracell batteries.

[beat_truck]

Being a thrifty sort (read "cheapskate) I generally buy cheap 4-paks of AA & AAA batteries at a local discount/salvage/whoknowswhat store. At 69 cents a pack, I just run em down to 1.35V, recycle and repeat. They're usually Sunbeam brand, sometimes more obscure.

That's what I do, too. I buy the cheapies from Big Lots. They were Sunbeam branded for a while, and now they have Rayovac in bulk packs. They are perfectly fine and last a long time in remotes, wall clocks, etc but are completely useless in high drain devices like digital cameras. I've been using Energizer Max in those items, but plan to switch to rechargeable batteries for those items when I finish using what I have.

I have read on several other forums about Duracell batteries leaking prematurely. I haven't used any in a LONG time, though. I can't really remember having any problems with the cheapies, except maybe once when I left a set in something that went untouched for many years.

 

[Bill Ashton]

I thought the same thing, that the MAR 2016 is the end-of-life date. Also shows Proctor and Gamble as the owner. My present "regular" Duracells, probably from a large blister pack from CVS, have an EOL date of MAR 2026, and state in both English and French assembled in the USA. Red Duracell Quantums in the drawer have same nomenclature but EOL date of MAR 2027. All have those two Asian characters on them. Have some 9 volts I bought recently which have an EOL date of DEC 2020, also have the Asian characters, and package says Made in USA.

I feel your pain, I had one or two leak in the carrier for a guitar pickup inside a guitar...what a mess. Note to self, don't leave batteries in if you are not going to use the p/u. No help to the OP

Wonder if you bought some old ones somewhere in good faith, but they were really past their prime. Stinks!

 

[the skipper]

FWIW, that picture I posted was grabbed from the internet.

The incident that precipitated this post involved a pair of AA cells in a little Sony pocket portable AM/FM radio that were dated 2022 and were put in less than two years ago. Being kept packed in my travel kit and only used occasionally, if they had more than forty hours of use I'd be surprised.

Like I said, I was able to save the radio. If not, I would have been out maybe $20, but still, It should not have happened. It has happened before with Duracells. This was merely the latest incident and the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[jcamero]

Duracell is an absolute "last resort" battery I use. Never had one fail by leakage, just never liked their performance. I go with, Energizer, then Ray-O-Vac. Never had a problem with Sunbeam and Panasonic from the Dollar store in our smoke/CO detectors. For rechargeable batteries, Energizer, and Eneloop.

 

[philo426]

My Vox input jack Amp eats batteries so I go to the Dollar Tree and buy the 8 packs of Sunbeam AA A batteries for a buck.No trouble as they die way before leakage will occur!

 

[restorer-john]

...All alkaline batteries are prone to leakage because of their construction..

Use Panasonic Industrial. In my experience, all the Panasonic batteries don't leak. I have some that are (honestly) over 27 years old in my desktop multimeters. Also got them (industrials) in several aluminium early LED torches where the batteries are 20+ years old.

We used to supply Panasonic Industrial in bulk to a local Sheraton Hotel for use in all their card operated hotel room door locks (hundreds of boxes at a time). They were the ONLY battery they would use as they never leak and are 100% reliable (they need to be).

I'm pretty sure the original Radio Shack Alkalines that were made in Japan back in the 80s and 90s were Panasonic Industrials relabelled (either that or a Japanese Mallory?). I still have NOS packs of them (from about 1992) and they never leak either. I use them in my favourite clocks that last 4 or 5 years and I don't want leaks.

Or go dry cells. Forget Alkaline and get Panasonic drys for low current things like remotes etc.

It was only the other day I had yet another speech about f$#king Duracell destroying one of my favourite Aluminium desk torches and the batteries were only a year old. It just eats aluminium.

Since Varta has gone back to German made manufacturing, I've had no problems with them leaking either.

 

[Ronald1973]

Use Panasonic Industrial. In my experience, all the Panasonic batteries don't leak. I have some that are (honestly) over 27 years old in my desktop multimeters. Also got them (industrials) in several aluminium early LED torches where the batteries are 20+ years old.

We used to supply Panasonic Industrial in bulk to a local Sheraton Hotel for use in all their card operated hotel room door locks (hundreds of boxes at a time). They were the ONLY battery they would use as they never leak and are 100% reliable (they need to be).

I'm pretty sure the original Radio Shack Alkalines that were made in Japan back in the 80s and 90s were Panasonic Industrials relabelled (either that or a Japanese Mallory?). I still have NOS packs of them (from about 1992) and they never leak either. I use them in my favourite clocks that last 4 or 5 years and I don't want leaks.

Or go dry cells. Forget Alkaline and get Panasonic drys for low current things like remotes etc.

It was only the other day I had yet another speech about f$#king Duracell destroying one of my favourite Aluminium desk torches and the batteries were only a year old. It just eats aluminium.

Since Varta has gone back to German made manufacturing, I've had no problems with them leaking either.

If memory serves me right, Energizer made the Radio Shack batteries. We had a sheet listing who made what. That has been 20 years ago, however.

 

[dosmalo]

My digital camera hates alkaline batteries and will hardly function with a fresh set of them if at all.
If I use lithium ions in it, it works like a charm.
I've had the camera for 10 - 12 years maybe I should read the manual and see if there is a reason.

 

[Pio1980]

My digital camera hates alkaline batteries and will hardly function with a fresh set of them if at all.
If I use lithium ions in it, it works like a charm.
I've had the camera for 10 - 12 years maybe I should read the manual and see if there is a reason.

NiCads?

 

[Bill Ferris]

Duracell "Pro Cell" batteries never leak and last a long time.

Has been my experience as well Manny.

 

[N8Nagel]

My digital camera hates alkaline batteries and will hardly function with a fresh set of them if at all.
If I use lithium ions in it, it works like a charm.
I've had the camera for 10 - 12 years maybe I should read the manual and see if there is a reason.

Voltage is much higher with Li-Ion, 3.7V per cell vs. 1.5

 

[beat_truck]

My digital camera hates alkaline batteries and will hardly function with a fresh set of them if at all.
If I use lithium ions in it, it works like a charm.
I've had the camera for 10 - 12 years maybe I should read the manual and see if there is a reason.

I have two cameras that won't work with any of the cheap batteries I've tried that say "Ideal for low drain devices" on the package. As in, the one camera won't even turn on, and the other turns on for a second and shuts down. They work perfectly fine with other alkalines like the Energizer Max, and have a reasonable life. I don't know what the difference is. The same exact cheap batteries work fine in remotes, clocks, walkmans, etc and even last a long time.

I actually threw another camera in the trash a few years ago because of this, because I thought it was what was failing. When the next camera did the same thing, I figured it out. How was I supposed to know? I kept loading new batteries in it, some even different brands, and it kept saying they were dead and shutting down.

 

[Pio1980]

I have two cameras that won't work with any of the cheap batteries I've tried that say "Ideal for low drain devices" on the package. As in, the one camera won't even turn on, and the other turns on for a second and shuts down. They work perfectly fine with other alkalines like the Energizer Max, and have a reasonable life. I don't know what the difference is. The same exact cheap batteries work fine in remotes, clocks, walkmans, etc and even last a long time.

High drain applications require cells with high current capability. Otherwise, low voltage detection will trigger shutdown with inadequate power sources.

 

[beat_truck]

High drain applications require cells with high current capability. Otherwise, low voltage detection will trigger shutdown with inadequate power sources.

That's pretty much what I gathered. It's a shame that it wasn't/isn't clearly stated anywhere obvious that cheap batteries just plain won't work in certain devices. I think I even did a Google search at that time and it wasn't helpful. I and I imagine lots of other folks just assumed that batteries were batteries, and the more expensive ones might just last slightly longer. Actually, some of the TV news comparisons came out and stated just that. They were WRONG.

 

[Pio1980]

That's pretty much what I gathered. It's a shame that it wasn't/isn't clearly stated anywhere obvious that cheap batteries just plain won't work in certain devices. I think I even did a Google search at that time and it wasn't helpful. I and I imagine lots of other folks just assumed that batteries were batteries, and the more expensive ones might just last slightly longer. Actually, some of the TV news comparisons came out and stated just that. They were WRONG.

Low drain applications, like remote controls, don't stress current limiting characteristics of less robust cells, nor draw sufficient current to affect service life of various types of cells. Some revues of digital cameras state the use of quality rechargable NMNiCads essential for longest service per change.

 

[Christian B]

Another Rayovac fan here.

 

[Judas Priest]

Without reading the whole thread, I buy the cheap batteries from Lidl or Aldi. An 8 pack of AA batteries costs € 1.69. They last pretty long, and I have never had one leak.

Some guy on a German electronics forum measured their capacity and cpmpared them to the big name brands. There was little to no difference

 

[cgutz]

I pretty much use Eveready. I've had too many RayOVac and Duracell batteries leak.

 

[Bill Ashton]

Yesterday at Toys'R'Us, while standing in checkout, I looked at a big display of Duracells. The AA's were not like what
I have at home, but looks similar. Could not find an E-O-L date. Package said to look on battery for country of origin,
which was "E.U" for European-Union I imagine. My father used to come home from yard sales and flea markets with
Duracells packaged "Not for sale in United States." There's way too many versions...

 

[hemiram]

I avoid Duracell "C and D" batteries totally at this point. I've had a couple of lanterns ruined by them over the years. One was brand new, and I bought a set of 4 Duracell D's at the checkout and put them in when I got home. I used the lantern one time when the power went out, and then I was going to use it in the crawl space when running some cable for an antenna. I turn it on and nothing. I opened it up and three of the four batteries had leaked. A couple of years later, I got a really unique flashlight that had LED lights at both ends, a red on one, and a white on the other. Both could be set to be steady or blink. It was solid aluminum and took 4 C batts. I put it in my car and within 3 months, the Duracells had destroyed it. I've never seen a flashlight like it since. The worst batteries used to be Rayovacs, but now they seem to be ok, I use them all the time. Panasonics, Sunbeams, and Energizers seem ok, along with the Kirkland ones too.