Tadiran lithium cell leakage - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: dl6lr
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2022, 09:25:29 am
content: Tadiran cells have a good reputation. Inhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1274-long-term-alkaline-battery-leakage-testing/msg2866880/#msg2866880floobydust presented a leakage mechanism for those. I unfortunately can confirm that now. This is a processor board of a Nicolet Odyssey XE DAQ and some shots of the tadiran. Note the date on it, it is only 14a old.Now have to repair the badly damaged board, but I think it is not repairable for me. A lot of 0603 components fell off but I have photos of them and their values. But I suspect the BGA to have corroded underneatch, and this is not possible for me to fix. Last photo after some cleaning and having tinned some pads for test. It is really hard to get the pads clean so solder will stick to it.

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 16, 2022, 01:25:40 pm
content: Lithium Thionyl Chloride are different chemical technology from Lithium/Iron Disulfide (standard AA/AAA lithium batteries) and "Contain toxic and corrosive liquid thionyl chloride", so since there is a lliquid inside, it may leak, just eating any seal that should prevent that.Probably the issue is "just" in the wrong sealing as no pressure should happen like in alkalines.Instead, as far I understand, Lithium/Iron Disulfide tecnology has no liquid inside, so no leak should/may occour.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2022, 06:05:38 pm
content: I mean… this isn’t a surprise (unfortunately). Retro computing fans have run into leaked lithium thionyl chloride batteries countless times. It rarely happens before about the 10 year mark. (I have been lucky: none of my vintage Macs have had leakage, and in one case the battery was there for at least 15 years, maybe 20.)

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 01:07:13 am
content: I did not think lithium thionyl chloride cell ever leaked unless mistreated. Could reverse current have caused that?I replaced the lithium sulfur dioxide cell in my multimeter with a Tadiran lithium thionyl chloride cell.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 01:17:27 am
content: The Maxell ones sure do, I've parted out 5 or 6 vintage Macs that were completely destroyed by those and I've seen pictures of many more. This is the first time I've seen a Tadiran leak but I suppose nothing is perfect. It's also newer than most of the ones I've dealt with.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 06:33:21 am
content: Quote from: David Hess on September 17, 2022, 01:07:13 amNope. Plenty of them have leaked and destroyed vintage computers (especially classic Macs, where 1/2AA 3.6V lithium thionyl chloride cells were used from the late 80s through mid 2000s, in practically all 68k and PPC Macs). So we’re talking computers sitting in storage.

author: dl6lr
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2022, 09:57:03 pm
content: Just for info: I opened another device today with another Tadiran in it. It is flat dead, but is in mint condition. SL 840, May 09.Quote from: David Hess on September 17, 2022, 01:07:13 amI measured the board without the cell and there is no voltage present if powered. I doubt the board has any provision for NiCd charge at those pins that could accidentally have been activated, as all those boards come with the Tadiran cell. This is a Teknor Applicom Inc industrial computer board.