Back On Alkaline Batteries

Batteries, in the general sense, are a fairly common topic around here.  They're really at the heart of energy storage in so many parts of our lives that they can't help but come up.  

Over the years, many of us have talked about alkaline batteries, which I'd guesstimate as the most common type of battery sold; especially the extremely common double and triple A sizes.  In particular, much of the conversation has been on how the damned things leak so often and damage whatever they're sitting in.  Back in 2018, I wrote about something I read on EEVBlog. 

I decided to look around a bit and see if it would be worth my while to join the forum, and stumbled across a thread on leaking alkaline batteries, which we've talked about here before and got a lot of interest. 

The conclusion of the commenters is that both Duracells and Energizers leak far more than they used to, but after that it's speculation on reasons and different views on alternatives.  One of the comments that bears what research I can do (perhaps by buying some) is that the big two are competing on image and perhaps some specsmanship about capacity, while cheap batteries aren't trying to win on capacity but rather on cost.  In the fight for being able to claim better capacity, they may squeeze the room in the cell too much and leave out critical elements, such as not leaving enough space for the compounds that remove excess hydrogen that the battery produces during discharge.  It leads to the conclusion that the cheaper batteries may be better. 

Consensus is that lower tier brands like Kodak, Sunbeam, Fuji, Panasonic and Sony make good alkalines that don't leak as often, and that Panasonic's Eneloop NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) rechargeable batteries are a good substitute.  I have eight  Eneloop batteries for a couple of radios I use regularly and they do seem to be better than the non-branded NiMH batteries I've used. 

I concluded that I wasn't going to go buy a lot of Eneloop batteries but that I was pretty sure I'd bought my last Duracell package.  I should have specified my last Duracell AA or AAA batteries; I have bought C or D sized cells as well as the rectangular 9V batteries.  None of those have ever leaked.  

We have a membership in the "bulk and bundle stores" in town, which until very recently were BJ's Wholesale Club and Sam's Club.  We ended up buying AA and AAA Berkeley & Jenson batteries - BJ's house brand.  

Since that time in '18, it seemed like the story I wrote about was true; we never had one of the cheapo batteries (AA or AAA) leak.  I can put up with a shorter life as long as the batteries don't ruin what they're in.  In the last few weeks, though, we've found leaking BJ's batteries in a few different things.  Both AA and AAA.   

This is a pretty typical example of leakage, but not something of mine.  Photo credit  The important part is not all of the cells leak in a battery pack.  I've read that the negative end of the cell leaks more often than the positive, which is what this shows.  I know I've seen the other end leak as well. 

Which leads to the question and why this post.  Has anyone else done the same experiments of using cheaper batteries and not had any leaks at all?   Has anyone found batteries like Duracells or Energizers have become less likely to leak?  The site that photo credit links to links in turn to another site.  That one says the batteries leak if they're just sitting in something with very little current draw; they recommend not leaving batteries in something like a flashlight.  I've had them leaking in things that are low current drain like a digital clock, a computer mouse, and other things that are running; they're in use.  I simply can't take them out of these things.