Battery’s…

I purchased a metal detector which was not that old, but it had meet its demise, due to the storage of the battery’s, and the leakage had trickled onto the circuit board, causing irreparable damage, so this is a little “timely” reminder of  being aware of your best friends life source…

I have found out some interesting bits about battery’s, such as, did you know that not only storing battery’s inside the metal detector, but the other little-known danger that involves your batteries inside your detector, is if you were to mix old and new batteries, this can cause ruptures and leakage of acidic fluid, this is a powerful fluid which is highly corrosive which can your burn skin & contaminate soil…

Apart from the obvious answer of “NO” to the question of “can i mix old battery’s with new ones” the main reason i would say not  to mix old with new is because the overall performance will be impaired of your metal detector, but also when you mix the old and new battery’s together leaks can occur, because when the old batteries are left inside [- creating a connection -] they tend to die faster than their new counterparts, now sometimes, it is this imbalance that causes the batteries to rupture & discharge a toxic fluid and in some cases even create an explosion… Scary stuff hey…

If you have a leak, and fluid has escaped and you are quick enough, the first thing to do is carefully remove the battery’s and anything else that can be removed, clean everything carefully, inside the battery compartment, checking the contacts & give everything a precautionary but careful clean with a damp cloth…

If you have a question about your battery’s don’t be afraid to talk to the companies as they will give you plenty of advice… i think we should all heed the warnings on the websites of the world’s leading battery brands including Duracell, or Energizer who advise against mixing old and new batteries due to the risk of rupture and subsequent leakage of toxic fluid, but not all is lost as most small battery’s today have a paste inside which is is alkaline not acid, but it is still corrosive to the skin & some metals, don’t forget most batteries leak simply because they’re too old and have been left in place too long, i have purchased metal detectors that have had the battery’s left in place, which over a course of time leaks, and meld the wires together, destroys the battery holder & leak into the detector itself, which is nasty, and most of the time there is no comeback from that, if the battery compartment is separate from the workings then the detector could possibly be saved, by replacing a battery case, a small rewire and hopefully apart from a few scars the detector should start up…

Another danger to look out for is accidentally short-circuiting the batteries, just be careful how you store the spare battery’s and most important to keep them them separate from each other, especially when transporting them “to, & from the field” this is where a “spare battery box” comes in handy, keeping the ends where they should be and out of harms way… Just remember leaks occur when old and new batteries are slotted into the same device because used batteries lose voltage faster than fresh ones, and never leave battery’s in devices for long periods, as their is a good chance they will leak, & a leakage could be expensive…