30 year old AA cells - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 04:51:57 am
content: AAs didn't always explode into a giant ball of chemicals after a few weeks... Found these in the battery compartment of a small radio. Barely some corrosion, still measure 1.5 volts open circuit.Made in U.S.A. I wonder how many of these small batteries are still made in the US?Didn't measure how much current they can still put out.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 05:12:09 am
content: I have seen AA cells which made it for over 30 years in a calculator and still worked (enough for a calculator) and weren't even corroded. But those were Japanese

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 05:12:21 am
content: Those are carbon-zinc cells. I've seen both carbon-zinc and zinc chloride cells (usually marketed as 'heavy duty') that have a very long shelf life. I have a couple of Radio Shack Enercell Extra Life (zinc chloride) cells that have a date on the bottom of 08-98. Not only are they free of corrosion, they still work! It actually says "Miracle Seal" on the side. They're N cells that I use in a Fluke Temperature Probe.They're probably still made in the millions. They're cheap to buy, available everywhere, and most people don't know the difference between 'heavy duty' and alkaline. Their in-service life is much shorter than alkaline.Ed

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 05:21:22 am
content: Quote from: edpalmer42 on September 21, 2020, 05:12:21 amI read somewhere that carbon-zinc and alkalines have approximately the same Ah capacity at low drain e.g. a clock that runs for 12 months. At high drain a carbon zinc falls flat on it's face though.

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 05:22:21 am
content: Quote from: edpalmer42 on September 21, 2020, 05:12:21 amOh yeah, I found a good old Pocket Repeat game at my Dad's place too, that one had a green 9V Radio Shack cell in there with the Miracle Seal. It measured 9V open but was unable to power the thing. Also no leaking.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 07:58:02 am
content: I have some Philips scopes with original AA Philips batteries and they are still OK from 1995.One really has to wonder why they do not build batteries like that anymore.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 12:12:39 pm
content: I suspect these are the original batteries from a 1974 Tachikawa 200C multi-meter. The seal hadn't failed but they were both dead. They are slightly shorter than the AA's sold in the USA today. To preserve the look, I machined up a couple of sleeves that hold a AAAs. Solves the height problem and was able to save the lettering from the original batteries.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/history-of-tachikawa-(tmk)/msg1321927/#msg1321927

author: Labrat101
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 12:23:58 pm
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on September 21, 2020, 07:58:02 amIf all the Manufactures of batteries made batteries to last 30 years they would have gone outof business as no one would need a new battery for yonks ..the short life batteries are more profitable to them ..As with most things today will only last just a little longer than the guarantee .

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 12:45:26 pm
content: The doorbell at my mum's house ran on the same 4.5V zinc-carbon battery pack from before I was born until at least when my mother sold the house, so that'sover50 years. It was (maybe still is?) the kind that has cells with solid zinc outer bodies in a cardboard over-warp, a pitch or plastic seal on the top of the cell and brass terminals on the top of the pack. Zinc-carbon has fallen into disfavour, they can be relatively hard to find nowadays, but they excel in intermittent operation with moderate loads like doorbells.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 12:55:11 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on September 21, 2020, 05:21:22 amThe old Number 6 cells, originally used with magneto phone systems, lasted for years.In the late 1980s, I remember replacing a pair of them which had been in service since 1959.Interestingly the ones we replaced them with, which were from a French company, were more "archaic" looking than the Eveready ones we removed.They looked exactly like a picture in my pre WW2 "Admiralty Handbook", complete with the tar sealant at the top, with a "breather tube" sticking out of it.The Eveready had a plastic disc sealing the top, & a patent method of pressure relief via the sealing system.

author: andy2000
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 07:45:36 pm
content: One advantage of the old zinc carbon cells is that they don't contain large amounts of liquid to leak out. They're good for low drain test equipment like a VOM. Alkalines tend to leak before they run down in low drain applications.

author: SilverSolder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2020, 08:07:06 pm
content: Interesting, so perhaps it is time to let zinc-carbon cells in from the cold, as an alternative to expensive lithium batteries? (obviously, alkaline is firmly on the "Uninvited" list!)

author: @rt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 10:54:04 am
content: That’s so cool! In my childhood in Australia, the text was different, but we had the same logo and black cat with the nine (lives I guess).I came close to seeking these out for photography for retro toys, but I’m less interested in the collecting lately.

author: Circlotron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 12:05:00 pm
content: Quote from: @rt on September 22, 2020, 10:54:04 amYep. Sparky the cat getting hit in the bum with a lightning bolt.

author: Buriedcode
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 04:30:56 pm
content: I'll just add another datapoint to the zinc carbons lasting ages - as in shelf life. Found a pack of C cells in my garage from the mid 90's. 1.48V. I have never seen them leak, but I believe they do have very limited capacity as well as relatively high internal resistance.The most modern instance I have seen them was with what came with an Omron blood pressure monitor. I'm not sure why they shipped them as its a relatively high drain application.They are also used in battery adverts as a marketing comparison "lasts 4 times longer! *"*when compared to zinc carbon

author: Cerebus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 07:35:19 pm
content: It's relatively high drain, but it's on a long duty cycle. What, 3-4 mins a day for domestic usage, so a duty cycle of 0.005%? Plenty of time for the battery to recover for tomorrow.

author: SilverSolder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 08:48:29 pm
content: Zinc carbon batteries eat up their zinc casing as part of normal operation, so they are almost bound to leak eventually... not sure they are better than even Duraleaks in this regard?

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2020, 08:57:41 pm
content: Quote from: Circlotron on September 21, 2020, 05:21:22 amYou read incorrectly. At low drain (~100uA), a carbon-zinc battery has optimistically around a 400mAh capacity, whereas alkaline cells exceed 2000mAh.The only case where you might be correct would be extremely low drain applications where the shelf life and chemical degradation of the alkaline cell loses before the zinc is discharged, but there aren't too many of these applications that use AA/AAA cells. Most of them will use button or coin cells.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2020, 12:29:27 am
content: My Farad 808 calculator I bought in 1976 contained two 80mAh nickel cadmium AA batteries. The brand was Sanyo. They were still rechargeable and used until 1998 when they finally died. Those two deserved to be buried with full military honours for many years of dedicated service.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2020, 09:19:04 am
content: Quote from: @rt on September 22, 2020, 10:54:04 amDo you remember their competitor, "Diamond" batteries?They used the same numbering system as Eveready, but prefixed it with a "3".