Duracell Alkaline Batteries
If you are using Duracell Alkaline batteries, stop! Have you ever had one of their batteries leak and maybe damage your equipment? Well I have and with more frequency as time went on.
First, it turns out that they tend to leak more in equipment that doesn't have a physical on/off button that disconnects the battery. Flashlights do have this switch but most modern electronics don't. There is always power draining from the battery powering the circuit that turns the unit on or there is no power switch at all like a remote. Duracell says to take the batteries out of these devices when not in use. If you don't the probability of a leak is much higher.
Second, I did discover that you can send your damaged equipment to them and they will repair it or give the money to replace it. I received some $120 for a Mac keyboard and a high end flashlight. Both had physical on/off switches. It took a long time and there is a long questionnaire that makes it seem like a lawyer is cross examining you on the witness stand.
Up to now I assume that all single use batteries had this problem, they are basically the same aren't they?
Third, I started having new Duracell batteries leak in the drawer waiting to be used. I finally realized that I had remote controls (no physical on/off) that had batteries in them for literally 5 years without a problem. So over time it became obvious that ONLY Duracell batteries leaked. Energizers did not leak. Sony batteries in Sony remotes did not leak. No name batteries in remotes and other equipment did not leak.
So I went through everything in my house which is hard to do because there are batteries everywhere and recycled all Duracell batteries and replaced them with Energizers. At the time of this writing it has been over a year and not one battery has leaked.
I'm perplexed with these findings and it seems that many other companies' batteries will work just as well. The no name batteries did well.
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