Why do (Alkaline?) batteries leak and why does it happen at all? Is there any way to prevent it beyond taking them out?

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I have a blood pressure cuff that I use semi regularly, and today went to use it to find the batteries leaking inside. They were only about two years old, so relatively modern. Why does this happen and why haven’t they found a fix yet?

In: Chemistry

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because they suck. More specifically, many alkaline batteries are made as cheaply as possible, even name brands, and the chemicals swell (I think?) and they break down the casing, unless extra considerations are made to prevent this.

Get rechargeable batteries and charge them before every use of the device, or get expensive non-rechargeable lithium batteries that’ll last for many years.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hydrogen gas is a byproduct of the reaction that goes on in alkaline batteries, eventually the pressure becomes too great and it explodes.

If you have expensive electronics, use lithium batteries. They’re more expensive but the chemical reaction is different and they don’t explode