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Bad batteries
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Having lost a multimeter to this early form of corrosive destruction — also known as infant battery mortality — I’ve started taking a little extra time when loading batteries into the many portable tools and toys in my shop and home.
This “learning experience” happened during my annual battery replacement when daylight saving time changes in the spring. I reset all the clocks and replaced all the batteries in all my tools, testers, flashlights, smoke detectors and other devices.
After installing new AA alkaline batteries, I turned on the multimeter. The digital display stayed blank, but I heard a strange sizzling sound and felt the multimeter getting warm.
Popping open the battery cover, I found one of the batteries was sizzling, giving off fumes and oozing a nasty gray foam onto the circuit board. The tension spring at the bottom (negative) end of the battery was eaten up. Using a screwdriver, I popped the battery out onto the workbench and put a box over it. The sizzling stopped after a few minutes, but the workbench has a permanent pockmark. Fresh batteries failed to revive the multimeter. It was an inexpensive old unit, but it wasn’t hard to imagine how that bad battery could have killed some testers costing hundreds of dollars.
The caustic ooze was concentrated potassium hydroxide (chemical symbol K(OH)) — commonly called lye or potash. It’s very harmful to eyes and skin, most metals and many other materials. Flush with water and neutralize with vinegar or other mild acids.
K(OH) is the battery’s electrolyte, the pathway for electron flow between two dissimilar metals: zinc powder and manganese dioxide. These chemicals are among a dozen or more small mechanical parts that are wrapped, rolled, squeezed, pressed and welded to make a battery. Failure of any part or process can result in infant battery mortality. It’s extremely rare, but easy and quick to check. Alkaline batteries have a pressure relief vent in the flat negative-pole bottom, and that’s where the caustic matter will come out.
When you install new batteries, leave the battery cover open when you first turn on the device. Make sure the device is working, and there’s no heat, sizzle or fumes coming from the batteries. A 30-second test should ensure that you’re good to go.
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