Batteries - problems - warning

[David-G]

If you put any sort of substance, even water, down the hole, be extremely careful!! You don't know how it might react with the battery materials, or what might happen as a consequence.

[Dave2002]

I don't think we are talking about a battery that is going to do much of anything - not even move right now! I have tried oil and water so far - to hardly any effect. Real shame.

[Dave2002]

Next steps

Having failed so far, my next step - after trying WD40 (which is the next step) - might be to use canvas or other straps to support the keyboard, suspend it from beams in the ceiling, then make a metal bracket which the screw can pass through, then apply weights to bars or other attachments in the hope that sheer brute force might get the battery out.

[vinteuil]

.

... I think a trampoline underneath, and a converted sun-and-moon steam engine above with triple pulleys should do the job. You will then need to process the resultant thro' an autoclave at a pressure of at least five atmospheres.

Otherwise some sticky-back tape and some blu-tack may just work...

[Dave2002]

.

... I think a trampoline underneath, and a converted sun-and-moon steam engine above with triple pulleys should do the job. You will then need to process the resultant thro' an autoclave at a pressure of at least five atmospheres.

Otherwise some sticky-back tape and some blu-tack may just work...

I can tell you know that there's absolutely no chance of that working. Nor would a strong magnet - though that raises questions about whether battery casing are made out of metal which is magnetic - but I doubt whether even a magnet such as they use in NMI would be strong enough.

I have thought about heat - blow torch perhaps - but that would rather ruin the thing which I'm trying to rescue.

You may laugh - this is bugging me. I don't normally fail - nor give up - but I may have to with this one.

[Lordgeous]

Do they still market 'leakproof' batteries, and do they do what it says on the tin??

[Bryn]

What sort of battery is stuck? NiMH, NiCad, 'alkaline', surely not Zn/C?

[Dave2002]

I think it's an alkaline.

[french frank]

I think it's an alkaline.

Baking soda?

[Bryn]

I think it's an alkaline.

Hmm. Potassium hydroxide is the electrolyte if that is the case. Highly corrosive but also highly water soluble. Trouble is, the battery casing has almost certainly swollen. With that being the main problem, have you tried drilling other then in the middle of the end of the cell? I am thinking in terms of relieving pressure within the cell ('battery'*).

*My old chemistry master would deliver a rap over the knuckles if one referred to a single electro-chemical cell as a "battery". At least two cells are needed to constitute a battery, he would pedantically insist.

[Dave2002]

Maybe more drilling is required then. Not high priority right now, but perhaps later on. Possibly if most of the "battery" end is drilled away then that would release some of the pressure if the case has swollen up. That would then require more ingenuity to extract it, but perhaps there's a way.

[Dave2002]

Hmm. Potassium hydroxide is the electrolyte if that is the case. Highly corrosive but also highly water soluble. Trouble is, the battery casing has almost certainly swollen. With that being the main problem, have you tried drilling other then in the middle of the end of the cell? I am thinking in terms of relieving pressure within the cell ('battery'*).

*My old chemistry master would deliver a rap over the knuckles if one referred to a single electro-chemical cell as a "battery". At least two cells are needed to constitute a battery, he would pedantically insist.

Sad update - a few more items seem to have bitten the dust.

Good tip about water solubility, but that and the heat I applied after trying to rescue one of my earliest digital cameras last night seems to have "done it in". Pity - though there's no real need for me to keep that apart from as a sentimental museum piece. After all, if I get worn out brakes on my cars I simply allow the garages to dispose of them - though I do feel sad about our throw away society which discards objects which once served a useful purpose, and which may still function.

I think I also lost a cheap MiniDisc player in the same way over the last year. Wretched batteries!

Mostly it seems to be cheap alkaline or even so-called "heavy duty" batteries which have caused these problems, though I also wonder if cold temperatures make the damage more likely.

Anyone reading this should check any devices which have been stored away, and take the batteries out. I think I'll start putting reminders on my calendars.

[Dave2002]

Slightly better news re my old camera. I thought that maybe I'd got it too wet, or too hot when trying to dry it out, but now it looks as though it can be revived - though the contacts need scraping - knife or compass point - a bit more I think to get a good result. I may never really use it in anger again, but for the moment I'd quite like to keep it going for demo purposes. This is the kind of thing - good in its day - https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ag...ap5vh35t8aXKM:

I find it surprising that I used to use Smartmedia (NLA) cards with as little as 8 Mbytes (even 4 Mbytes sometimes) of storage and get (for the time) some quite reasonable pictures, while now I have a range of SDHC and SDXC cards going up to 128 Gbytes - capable of storing many more images in very much higher quality and resolution. The time period is a tad under 20 years, I think.

The quality was almost certainly worse than a cheap film camera we had (still have) which is not quite reaching its 30th birthday. Film - if the negatives - even the prints - could be kept in good condition really beat digital for quality way into the 21st Century - though not for price and convenience of course.