A warning about RayOVac Batteries

I don't remember ever using ray-o-vac bstteries in years. But Duracell is what I avoid.  That brand is 99% of any leaking problems I have had.  I lean heavily towards the home depot batteries,  eveready and the kirkland batteries.   Cleaning and repairing the damage is very irritating and time consuming.

@WaynePa posted:

This is very disappointing and wanted to warn the rest of the model railroad community.  I have used Duracell and Energizer batteries in the past and have not had any issues.  I plan to go back to those other brands.

I have had TERRIBLE luck with Duracell (and their Costco clone), and I will never use those again.  I currently use Energizer batteries as I have yet to have one of those leak and destroy something.

If you can find them Panasonic batteries are very good.

John

My club uses Kirkland AA and AAA batteries from BJ’s and never an issue in our remotes.

I've had a multitude of Kirkland batteries of both sizes leak and destroy flashlights, TV remotes, etc.  I have gotten good at cleaning the alkaline residue from leaking batteries from anything expensive, but I'll never use them again!  Many of these batteries leaked when the batteries were still measuring 1.5V or more, so it's not a case of leaving a discharged battery in the device.

There are several of us in the Cincinnati area who have had AA and AAA battery leaks with the Duracell brand.  One of the Duracell AAA failures was of the spectacular nature.  During an operating session, there was a definite "pop" sound from one of the NCE handheld controllers which then went dead.  When the battery compartment was opened, one of the 3 Duracell AAA batteries had split wide open and dribbled some goo all over the compartment.

There have been fewer (but not zero) leaks with Kirkland from Costco.  Lately I've been trying the Energizer brand but it's too soon to tell if they work better for me.

@aussteve posted:

I don't remember ever using ray-o-vac bstteries in years. Nut Duracell is what I avoid.  That brand is 99% of any leaking problems I have had.  I lean heavily towards the home depot batteries,  eveready and the kirkland batteries.   Cleaning and repairing the damage is very irritating and time consuming.

Yeah, I'm with you. I haven't used, or even seen, a Ray-O-Vac battery in forever.

Maybe my old bicycle horn?

I bought a very large package of Energizer AA batteries from Costco, and, even before use, a few had residue on them, indicating that at least one had leaked.  I threw away the contaminated ones, and since using the others, several have leaked immediately upon their having been discharged.  So I threw out the whole lot and am replacing with Duracell.  Costco is 125 miles from my home, and it's not worth the round trip, to exchange these dud batteries.

Personally, I believe that every manufacturer occasionally turns out a batch of poor batteries, but I have never, ever, heard of a complaint about Costco's Kirkland brand.

@WaynePa posted:

I contacted RayOVac and they told me that their batteries cannot be left in devices for more than thirty days.

That is unacceptable.  They are apparently in their own world at Ray-O-Vac.

I'm going to begin replacing all alkaline batteries in my locomotives, with capacitors from Henning's.

@aussteve posted:

I lean heavily towards home depot,  eveready and the kirkland batteries.  Cleaning and repairing the damage is very irritating and time consuming.

Home Depot has their own battery brand?  They must be made for them by Energizer, Duracell or Ray-O-Vac, I bet.

Okay, so thus far in this still relatively short thread, we have had concerns expressed about Ray-O-Vac, Duracell, Energizer. and Kirkland batteries. Are there ANY 100% (or close) brands one should look at?

@RadioRon posted:

Home Depot has their own battery brand?  They must be made for them by Energizer, Duracell or Ray-O-Vac, I bet.

Yes, I buy Home Depot batteries (HDX brand I think)  in bricks (I think 60 to a brick) around black Friday time.  They are white, orange and gray.  If I remember correctly the cost was less than 0.20 each and they seem to last a long time.

@Allan Miller posted:

Okay, so thus far in this still relatively short thread, we have had concerns expressed about Ray-O-Vac, Duracell, Energizer. and Kirkland batteries. Are there ANY 100% (or close) brands one should look at?

Probably not from what I'm reading here!

I've not had issues with NiMh rechargeable batteries leaking, so I'm using those in all my remotes for now.

I hope most forum members realize that there is only a couple different manufacturers of batteries, just they are sold with many different brands.  So you maybe avoiding one brand, but still buying the same batteries under a different brand.

Energizer brands makes Energizer_®, EVEREADY^®, Rayovac^®, and VARTA.

Duracell makes Kirkland brand.

Jim

I've had good luck for about 5 years now using disposable Energizer Lithium batteries in remotes that are used frequently and outdoor weather station sensors with no leaks.  But I have been told by one person that they had some that leaked when in a remote in a non-climate controlled building.  Anyone else?

USE RAY-O-VAC ALL THE TIME.  NO PROBLEMS.

I wonder what batteries are in my remotes. I think they're Energizers because that's what I usually buy. So far so good and I don't do much train running in the summer months. I'll have to try to remember to check when I get home.

I did have some Duracells leak in my old Lionel Clock. How would a guy go about cleaning the residue off the contacts??

check out these pics....heed the warning....joe

Make a Baking soda paste.  Let it sit.  Wipe off with paper towels

Or use Vinegar and clean with that (or lemon juice).

John

If we're talking about storing alkaline batteries in devices, virtually all battery manufacturers recommend that they be removed if they are going to be there long term. Although their recommended time frame may be shorter, Rayovac is not alone in this regard.

From the Duracell site,

"SHOULD I REMOVE BATTERIES FROM MY DEVICE IF I’M NOT GOING TO BE USING IT FOR A WHILE?

I'm not sure how you define "several ", but Duracell's warning/recommendation is not substantially different than Rayovac's.

After dozens of leaking Kirkland batteries I have switched to Ray-O-Vac. So far all is good, but I am getting better at removing batteries after use. For my battery operated trains, I have switched to EBL rechargeable batteries.

Steve

@joe krasko posted:

check out these pics....heed the warning....joe

Come on Joe.....  That is a 50-60 year-old non-alkaline battery that has no relation to Ray-O-Vacs sold today. 

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I have had TERRIBLE luck with Duracell (and their Costco clone), and I will never use those again.  I currently use Energizer batteries as I have yet to have one of those leak and destroy something.

There's Youtube videos of this very thing.  I can second with my experience as well.  Stay away from Duracell.

Joe, that looks like a mighty old Ray-O-Vac.  I get mine from Amazon and they don't look like that, ever. I've had the best luck with Ray-O-Vac and Energizer (esp. the Lithium batteries). I avoid Duracell and Kirkland like the plague.

The true story might be that every manufacturer produces their bad batch of batteries from time to time. I do believe Duracells are more prone to leakage. Having said that, there's probably Duracell batteries that never leak. 

Dale

@Pennsylover posted:

Joe, that looks like a mighty old Ray-O-Vac.    I get mine from Amazon and they don't look like that, ever.  Dale

Yeah, see my post above.   Its a 50+ year-old non-alkaline Ray-O-Vac.   No connection with today's batteries.

I found many posts about batteries on YouTube about a year ago.  Most posters agreed that Duracell and Costco batteries eventually leak.  Since Duracell makes Costco batteries, that makes sense.  I have had a lot of leaks from Costco (Kirkland brand) batteries in flashlights and in my hand held controllers.   This is the reason I searched YouTube to find a different brand.  

The YouTube folks seemed to have a consensus that Energizer batteries seldom leaked.  I switched to Energizer about a year ago.  So far, so good.  The downside to Energizer is that they are more expensive than Costco.   My local Costco doesn't carry Energizer.  NH Joe

Guys...just posted it as an example of what could happen...with any battery....yes...it's quite old

People can only go by their own experiences.   I am another one of those who has been using Kirkland and Duracell batteries for years, with no problems, ever.   I am especially cognizant of it since my main battery use is 9volt and AA in $$$$ stage rig, such as in-ear monitors, guitar and mic wireless systems, etc..

Of late I've had fresh Duracell and Ray-O-Vac start leaking while in the packages less than a month after purchase. My preferred batteries are Energizer. Had them in my 3 CAB1 remotes for almost 2 years just sitting and they all were fine and tested good on my voltmeter. I do use the Ultimate Lithium in my Mac cordless mouse with good results as far as longevity is concerned. I've also used batteries from Harbor Freight (very cheap) with no problems except they don't last very long, but are 1/3 the price of Ultimate Lithium.

Stop using alkaline batteries.

NiMH rechargeable for remotes and batteries that require frequent changing.  For items such as flashlights that may sit for years, use Lithium Batteries.  They won't leak like alkaline.

I am no doubt jinxing myself, but I have used Duracell and Energizer and a few oddballs thrown in for many years in TV remotes, CAB-1's, BP monitor, small LED flashlights, and so on - and I have never had leakage problems with any of them.  Some - as in my CAB-1's - tend to stay in there a long time.

The store brands that I happen to have used do tend to not last as long as the name brands, it seems to me. Can't prove it. Don't remember the "stores", though.

Lithium batteries won't leak. It is funny about the Ray o Vac battery thing, my dim memory is the horn unit in the old F3 dummies came with ray o vac batteries and many of them were lost due to battery corrosion when people left them in there.

Remember when the battery manufacturer would replace an item if the battery leaked?

Just drove two leaking Duracells out of an LED Craftsman flashlight.  Modern batteries are not immune.  Modern flashlights are not much better than the olden days - darn thing will not work ever again.

I don't worry too much about TV remotes cause you can pop the cover anytime and take a look. Duracell did leak in one of my train remotes, it did clean up, now I remove the batteries when I am through running trains.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I've not had issues with NiMh rechargeable batteries leaking, so I'm using those in all my remotes for now.

Exactly what I’m using too John!

Curt

@Allan Miller posted:

Okay, so thus far in this still relatively short thread, we have had concerns expressed about Ray-O-Vac, Duracell, Energizer. and Kirkland batteries. Are there ANY 100% (or close) brands one should look at?

No they all leak.          The only batteries I own which have never leaked and perhaps I am just lucky are the MTH 8.4v rechargeable used in PS2-5v locos.   For the last five years or so the last thing I do before I set a MTH or Lionel remote down is to pull the batteries out.  I have purchased several remotes both MTH and Lionel CHEAP because of battery damage.           j

@Allan Miller posted:

Okay, so thus far in this still relatively short thread, we have had concerns expressed about Ray-O-Vac, Duracell, Energizer. and Kirkland batteries. Are there ANY 100% (or close) brands one should look at?

Like Gun Runner John

I'm using NiMh rechargeable batteries in all my train remotes and been replacing them in our TV remotes, Fire Sticks, Roku etc with rechargeable's. In the clocks I only use Energizers and replace all the them  January 1st. 

I said it before & i will say it again ,I have never used any brand but DURACELL ,for many years without any leakers ,i guess just lucky so far ,i have had batteries leak when i ordered a flashlight that came with batteries ,not Duracell some other brand ,Duracell has been very good for me & i will continue to use them .