Bizarre Discovery: Flashlight batteries dead ! Guess why !...

[Skybuck Flying]

Bizzare incident discovered on 12 june 2023 around 17:00, story writing at 18:22:

See if you can guess or hypothesize what happened:

1. I have a flashlight in my kitchen draw for emergency situations.

2. Today I tried to use the flashlight to shine into the washing machine which needed cleaning of the pump filter and drum. I tried to wash a baby towl, but the paper/strange subtance on it came loose and clogged the machine.

3. My sister cleaned it and used her mobile phone to shine a light on it.

4. Strangely enough I discovered the flashlight batteries were completely dead. I replaced them not so long ago. Maybe only a few, I used the power meter on the batteries to detect which where still half full and which ones were empty, but I am not yet sure. I will look at the batteries in my detail later on.

5. I put the flashlight on top of a duster/towel to protect the glass/see through part of the flashlight and also not to \"bang\" it.

Now guess and hypothesis what happened !
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Here is a further clue at least for my hypothesis..... towel/duster contains bacteria.
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Here is a further clue: on inspection of the inner workings of the flashlight I dicover a strange white subtance, like somebody spit inside of the flashlight halfwalf and it dripped past the batteries to the innerside of the flashlight
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My half-sister suspect this may be stuff from inside the battery, possibly.... but how did it get out ?!
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Here is my hypothesis:

The bacteria/creatures living inside the duster/towel crawled through a few nanometers of the flashlight or perhaps were already inside the air as I re-filled the flashlight with batteries, or perhaps the bacteria were already on the batteries. But most likely came from the duster/towel.

The bacteria somehow managed to eat themselfes through one of the batteries.. Maybe one of the batteries had a little defect/hole or the bacteria manage to eat right through it, I believe I see a little hole.

Another stranger hypothesis could be: that partially replacing the batteries may have caused a strange effect ? I loved to hear your thoughts on this.
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Furthermore I found this quite alarming, because the appartment also had some light defects, which were fixed by my family. But I was counting on my flashlight in case of darkness/failed lights or power shortage, therefore I found it quite alarming and still quite alarming that bizarra enough this flashlight FAILED to function properly !

LET THIS BE A WARNING TO FLASHLIGHT MANUFACTURERS THAT:

1. EITHER BATTERIES CAN LEAK AND CAUSE A SHORT CIRCUIT DRAWING ALL POWER.

2. EITHER BACTERIA CAN EAT THEIR WAY INTO BATTERIES AND CAUSE A SHORT CIRCUIT !

Jokingly at first I said to my sister before discovering this:

Perhaps a UFO flew over and drained the batteries, I did hear some strange craft fly over recently !

The subtance inside the flashlight and on top of the battery tray looks withish.

There was also some small black substance leakage onto my finger.

The white subtance was like a power.

The black substance like oil.

My advise to produce a better flashlight is:

1. Somehow wrap the batteries inside some kind of chemical wrapper that does not react with the subtances inside the battery, it should be a thight fit so that oize cannot leak through it.

2. TEST FLASHLIGHTS/BATTERIES IN BACTERIA RICH ENVIRONMENTS AND INSPECT WHAT IT DOES.

Finally:

I am not sure if the flashlight can be saved, it will need to be cleaned on the inside, it\'s a bit hard to clean.

I am not yet sure what to use to clean it.

My first guess would be :

Toilet paper or some kind of towel, with little bit of water and soap.

But I am not sure if this will be sufficient to get the white subtance of of it.

Perhaps the black oil leaked further into it in the top/glass part of it but probably not.

I was also considering simply holding it under the water the flashlight, but my sister warned me that would damage the device ?!

Further this is the second time that I write about the effect of bacteria on electronics.

The first time these newsgroups seemed to not believe me when I wrote that a motherboard capacitor/condensator blew up because of a bacteria controlling inside of it, eating the chemicals and producing gasses to blow up the condensator/capacitor.

This time I have much more clear evidence that this could indeed/actually be that case at least in this of this flashlight.

The substances is very clearly visible.

It\'s also quite bizarre because the flashlight mostly layed flat/horizontal.... yet it looks like it dripped down there... from halfway the flashlight.... so it definetly came from inside the flashlight.

My butt hurts but in this case I will go the extra mile and make some pictures for HARD CORE EVIDENCE/PROOF.

I already tried to clean some of it of though, but lots of it still in there.

HERE ARE THE PICTURES/PROOF, I WILL ALSO PHOTOGRAPH THE DRAWER AND THE DUSTER/TOWEL FOR FURTHER PROOF:

Link to pictures:
http://www.skybuck.org/Media/Pictures/BizarreFlashlightIncident/

(The first two pictures are somewhat dark, the next two pictures the flasher was set to always on/manual mode used so it can be clearly seen that that is some substance at the top dripping down and also dust particle on the bottom of picture, around the inner shaft)

Another thing comes to mind is a production defect, but I don\'t think so because the flashlight worked and operated perfectly/marvelously when I first bought it and used it the first few years.

I find it very alarming that an emergency device failed like this.

I hope you find it alarming too.

I hope that flashlight manufacturers take note and make improvements.

Maybe deliver it in future with something soft so it can be placed on it.

Then again maybe the soft thing becomes dirty too.

I think what I have learned from this is:

Do not keep a flashlight near bacteria !

HOWEVER !!!

The motherboard was kept in the box, in a closest, far far away from me...

Perhaps the bacteria already crawled inside of it.

So my caution conclusion is:

Bacteria are everywhere, especially in my dusty appartment and will crawl/reach anywhere.

However in this case the duster/towel may have speed up the process.

Therefore I do believe this can be a very serious issue for all kinds of emergency electronics long term and thus something better should be designed, constructed AND !!!! TESTED with REAL BACTERIA to see if it can survive bacteria or not !

Too many assumptions where made by this flashlight producer that such a thing could not occur...

Especially for electronics newsgroup:

Please explain how this substance could have \"short circuited\" or \"drained\" the batteries\" ?! Constructed mistake, the side of the flashlight seems to be of metal ?! Did this cause a short circuit ?! I find this weird...

Should it have had a plastic finish on the interior instead to prevent this from happening or would it have still short circuited ?!?!

Also the top of it near the spring seems to contain a lot of metal for contact ?! It seems this flashlight has too much metal contact surfaces area which could cause short circuits like this ?! Plus I wonder if this leaking electricity could have flowed through my hand ?!

Maybe it could have even shocked me or injured me at the time that the batteries where somewhat charged ?!

This might actually still happened if I don\'t clean it properly ?!

What are the dangerous/risks of electrocution of 6 of these typical batteries ?!

Battery info:
Varta AA 1.5 volts alkaline best befoe 12-2018 made in germany.
LONGLIFE POWER
PD 1218

I purchased this flashlight probably around 2018 so it seems at time of purchase these batteries were already old... hmmm suspicion, bought at the same shop, kinda sucks to discover this now...

I did not know batteries are date dependent at least for long gevity ?! It says long life power ?! bit misleading I guess if these batteries deteriorate by themselfes ?! Or was it bacteria ?! Hmm weird.

Bye for now,
Skybuck.

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <82ed25b0-a7a8-4857-bc0a-f4efd7e4efb0n@googlegroups.com>,
Skybuck Flying <skybuckflying@gmail.com> wrote:

The bacteria/creatures living inside the duster/towel crawled through a few nanometers of the flashlight or perhaps
were already inside the air as I re-filled the flashlight with batteries, or perhaps the bacteria were already on the
batteries. But most likely came from the duster/towel.

I did not know batteries are date dependent at least for long gevity ?! It says long life power ?! bit misleading I
guess if these batteries deteriorate by themselfes ?! Or was it bacteria ?! Hmm weird.

There is no need at all to invoke bacteria as a cause of this. Simple
chemistry (and electrochemistry) can explain it. It sounds to me as
if you\'ve encountered a very common, very well understood problem.
Google-search \"alkaline battery leakage\" and you\'ll find dozens or
hundreds of good explanations.

Quite simply: batteries corrode, and they leak. Both the old
carbon-zinc, and the newer alkaline batteries have this problem.
The chemical reaction inside the batteries, which creates electricity,
is essentially a form of corrosion which attacks the metal case of
the battery, weakening it.

What\'s more, the chemical reactions can also create gas, which builds
up inside the battery case.

The corrosion and gas production starts as soon as you first use the
battery. The advertised \"shelf life\" of alkaline batteries (often 5
years or more, nowadays) applies only when the battery is \"on the
shelf\" and hasn\'t been used... \"on the shelf\" the internal current
leakage and corrosion isn\'t happening quickly. Once you start to use
it, the corrosion speeds up and leakage becomes more likely as time
goes by.

If the corrosion weakens the battery case enough, it can \"eat through\"
and create a pin-hole, and the liquid electrolyte leaks out. Even if
that doesn\'t happen, if enough gas pressure builds up inside the
battery, the pressure can force electrolyte past the seals at the top
of the battery (around the positive terminal) and the battery leaks.

The electrolyte is somewhat corrosive. The old carbon/zinc batteries
are worse (the electolyte is acid and corrodes things quite quickly);
alkaline-battery elecrolyte is alkaline and isn\'t quite so hard on
electronics, but it\'s still often damaging. Alkaline-battery leakage
tends to look like a white crust or powder.

Leakage from alkaline batteries has gotten worse in recent years.
Manufacturers used to include a small amount of mercury in the
battery, as an anti-gas ingredient, but were required to stop doing
so because mercury is so poisonous. Without the mercury, gas
buildup is more of a problem, and many brands of alkaline battery
are more prone to leak after use (or even when still \"on the
shelf\").

This is why battery manufacturers, and equipment manufacturers (e.g.
flashlights, battery radios, and so forth) warn people:

(1) If you\'re not going to use a device for a while, remove the
batteries. Don\'t store batteries in the device. They may
leak and damage the device.

(2) Replace all of the batteries at the same time, and with the
same type (so they\'re all at the same level of use and
charge).

These are not new problems, or new warnings. The situation has
been known for... oh, decades now.

I\'d add a couple of pieces of additional advice myself:

(3) If you\'re going to store a flashlight for emergency use, and
intend to leave it loaded up with batteries, then always store it
with *fresh* batteries. If you use the flashlight at all (for
more than a couple of minutes), then replace the batteries before
you put it back into storage, or (at least) make a note of the
date, and replace the batteries within a couple of months before
they\'re at risk of leaking.

(4) Consider using battery types which are less likely to leak. The
newer single-use lithium AA batteries (such as the \"Energizer
Ultimate Lithium\") have a very long shelf life, lots of power
(several times more than alkaline), and I\'ve never seen one leak.
Alternatively, buy some of the \"low self-discharge\"
nickel-metal-hydride AA batteries - they seem to be very
leak-resistant, will hold most of their charge for 6 months or a
year, and can be recharged hundreds of times.

I\'m not aware of any research which indicates that bacteria or other
microorganisms are a significant issue in battery corrosion and
leakage.

 

[Skybuck Flying]

Hi Dave, thanks for your detailed explanation,

I will google as you suggested .

One question though:

Do you believe the flashlight can work again through cleaning , or is this corision stuff/acid so bad that the flashlight has to be considered lost or in need of modification or maybe can only briefly be used with new batteries ?

I wonder if all 6 batteries were drained or only the leak one, maybe half of them , but probably all ?

Bye,
Skybuck

 

[Dean Hoffman]

On Monday, June 12, 2023 at 6:00:48 PM UTC-5, Skybuck Flying wrote:

Hi Dave, thanks for your detailed explanation,

I will google as you suggested .

One question though:

Do you believe the flashlight can work again through cleaning , or is this corision stuff/acid so bad that the flashlight has to be considered lost or in need of modification or maybe can only briefly be used with new batteries ?

I wonder if all 6 batteries were drained or only the leak one, maybe half of them , but probably all ?

Bye,
Skybuck

Would a little bit of baking soda in the flashlight do any good?
Maybe some small cheap flashlights, almost use once then toss.
Rechargeables?
Candles? I have a fairly good sized one in a medium sized coffee can.
Camping lantern?

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Mon, 12 Jun 2023 09:36:24 -0700 (PDT)) it happened Skybuck
Flying <skybuckflying@gmail.com> wrote in
<82ed25b0-a7a8-4857-bc0a-f4efd7e4efb0n@googlegroups.com>:

Bizzare incident discovered on 12 june 2023 around 17:00, story writing at =
18:22:

See if you can guess or hypothesize what happened:

1. I have a flashlight in my kitchen draw for emergency situations.

2. Today I tried to use the flashlight to shine into the washing machine wh=
ich needed cleaning of the pump filter and drum. I tried to wash a baby tow=
l, but the paper/strange subtance on it came loose and clogged the machine.

3. My sister cleaned it and used her mobile phone to shine a light on it.

4. Strangely enough I discovered the flashlight batteries were completely d=
ead. I replaced them not so long ago. Maybe only a few, I used the power me=
ter on the batteries to detect which where still half full and which ones w=
ere empty, but I am not yet sure. I will look at the batteries in my detail=
later on.

5. I put the flashlight on top of a duster/towel to protect the glass/see t=
hrough part of the flashlight and also not to \"bang\" it.

Now guess and hypothesis what happened !
(After reading, thinking, scroll down )

I use \'Eneloop\' AAA batteries in all my small flashlights:

And this in my Cree flashlight:
https://www.panteltje.nl/pub/Cree_rechargable_flashlight_IMG_4478.JPG

The Eneloops I also use in TV remotes, my shortwave radio (needed if the bombs fall),
and my gamma spectrometer, even in my drone remote.
Eneloops have near zero discharge over time, are rechargeable and do not leak:
https://www.batterijenhuis.nl/eneloop
so work when you need those.

Other battery types I use are Lifepo4 (250 Ah pack):
https://panteltje.nl/pub/250_Ah_12V_to_230V_sinewave_IXXIMG_0796.JPG
so I can keep watching teefee when power goes, keep the fridge running and cook food...
Yes even do the laundry.

and I use the usual flat polymer lithium ones inside devices I design:
https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/pic/gm_pic2/
that one has over a thousand recharge cycles and still goes strong.

I have a small flashlight with Eneloop AAA battery in every room and one always in my pocket.

Rechargeables are better for the environment too.

 

[Martin Brown]

On 13/06/2023 09:57, Jan Panteltje wrote:

On a sunny day (Mon, 12 Jun 2023 09:36:24 -0700 (PDT)) it happened Skybuck
Flying <skybuckflying@gmail.com> wrote in
82ed25b0-a7a8-4857-bc0a-f4efd7e4efb0n@googlegroups.com>:

Bizzare incident discovered on 12 june 2023 around 17:00, story writing at =
18:22:

See if you can guess or hypothesize what happened:

1. I have a flashlight in my kitchen draw for emergency situations.

So far so good. It is a pity that you can\'t make it work!

> I use \'Eneloop\' AAA batteries in all my small flashlights:

Even the ones that take AA cells?

> Rechargeables are better for the environment too.

That is as maybe but I have way too many low power gadgets that will not
run at all on the lower terminal output voltage of rechargeables.

Their LCD display won\'t bias properly with the lower 1.3v output of a
fully charged NiMH so it displays as clear on clear or battery fail. It
is particularly annoying on my desktop phone CLID display.

The only batteries I now avoid like the plague are Duracell - they used
to have a good reputation once upon a time but these days they are
almost the only ones I see that have leaked and destroyed equipment.

My favourites today are Panasonic or Everready for serious use (and
Kodak\'s cheapest and nastiest Poundshop 10 for £1 zinc chloride for
throwaway use).

--
Martin Brown

 

[Jan Panteltje]

On a sunny day (Tue, 13 Jun 2023 10:21:24 +0100) it happened Martin Brown
<\'\'\'newspam\'\'\'@nonad.co.uk> wrote in <u69cel$3hrtg$1@dont-email.me>:

On 13/06/2023 09:57, Jan Panteltje wrote:
On a sunny day (Mon, 12 Jun 2023 09:36:24 -0700 (PDT)) it happened Skybuck
Flying <skybuckflying@gmail.com> wrote in
82ed25b0-a7a8-4857-bc0a-f4efd7e4efb0n@googlegroups.com>:

Bizzare incident discovered on 12 june 2023 around 17:00, story writing at =
18:22:

See if you can guess or hypothesize what happened:

1. I have a flashlight in my kitchen draw for emergency situations.

So far so good. It is a pity that you can\'t make it work!

I use \'Eneloop\' AAA batteries in all my small flashlights:

Even the ones that take AA cells?

My drone remote does use 4 in series.

Rechargeables are better for the environment too.

That is as maybe but I have way too many low power gadgets that will not
run at all on the lower terminal output voltage of rechargeables.

Sometimes I design using Eneloop AA batteries in series:
https://panteltje.nl/pub/gamma_soectrometer_IMG_4505.JPG
https://panteltje.nl/pub/gamma_spectrometer_supply_side_MG_6578.JPG
also used to make up to > 1000V V for the PMT from the 2 Eneloop AA:.
https://panteltje.nl/pub/PMT_regulated_power_supply_diagram_img_3182.jpg
https://panteltje.nl/pub/PMT_HV_supply_with_regulator_img_3175.jpg

Their LCD display won\'t bias properly with the lower 1.3v output of a
fully charged NiMH so it displays as clear on clear or battery fail. It
is particularly annoying on my desktop phone CLID display.

Its a design issue.

The only batteries I now avoid like the plague are Duracell - they used
to have a good reputation once upon a time but these days they are
almost the only ones I see that have leaked and destroyed equipment.

I have some Duracell rechargable but the self-discharge is so high they are empty in a day or so.

I have a weather station outside that needs 2 AAA in series, but I use one Lithium polymer and one short,
that gives 4.2 down to 2.9 V.. Better than 2 x 1.5 volt..

Even the small AAA flashlights use an up-converter to power the LED.
Left one on by accident, not much light coming form it, measured eneloop, .9V or so...

Also have some small AAA lifepo4, one of my keybpoards (the wireless one I use for Raspberry)
uses 2 AAA in series, so I use one Lifepo4 AAA and one short AAA in series..
The \'short\' AAA just came with the lifepo4 and charger on ebay, is is basically an AAA with nothing in it but a wire
just for the purpose of using a lifepo4 or liion AAA when you need 2 normal ones in series:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/354409288508

 

[Carlos E.R.]

On 2023-06-13 01:00, Skybuck Flying wrote:

Hi Dave, thanks for your detailed explanation,

I will google as you suggested .

One question though:

Do you believe the flashlight can work again through cleaning , or is this corision stuff/acid so bad that the flashlight has to be considered lost or in need of modification or maybe can only briefly be used with new batteries ?

You can try cleaning it. Maybe it works, maybe not.

> I wonder if all 6 batteries were drained or only the leak one, maybe half of them , but probably all ?

You must not mix old and new batteries. And if you do, don\'t leave them
inside for months.

And then, just test the torch every month, including visual inspection
of the batteries.

If your torch uses 6 batteries, it means that it is an old one with an
incandescent bulb. Buy a new one that runs on LEDs, maybe a rechargeable
one.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

 

[John Walliker]

On Tuesday, 13 June 2023 at 02:55:18 UTC+1, Dean Hoffman wrote:

> Would a little bit of baking soda in the flashlight do any good?

The white residue is almost the same as baking soda already. The
substance that leaks is potassium hydroxide solution which gets
converted to potassium carbonate after it has been exposed to air
for a while. There may also be zinc oxide or hydroxide in it. The
black bits are likely to be manganese oxides.

Leaks are not always fatal. Once all the solids have been scraped away
the residues can be washed with plain water. It helps to use a cotton
bud or similar to rub away any crust that doesn\'t dissolve immediately.
Once everything is as clean as possible it is important to dry the device
thoroughly.
The biggest problem happens when there are multiple cells and one leaks
while the others still have a reasonable voltage. Then there is likely to be
electrolytic corrosion of pcb tracks and component leads which can be
very hard to repair.
John