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Pulled the batteries on my Garmin this morning. They were new in October. Checked other devices right away too. 8 batteries each in the dog caller and the trail cams. No problems with the trail cams but the Garmin and the coyote caller both had corroding Duracells. Glad I caught it. This is not the first time I have had problems with this brand. Anybody else having problems with Duracell batteries?

Hello,

We had problems with them in one large batch that we bought from Costco with GOOD DATES on them. They were in various sizes too. I should have RETURNED THEM but I did not catch these issues in a short time frame.

We always bought the Duracell brand and in large packages from a to z too.

The last batteries that we bought were in 2 sizes and in the Eveready brand. We bought SMALLER packages on purpose. We got them at Walmart. We are using up a FEW of the remaining D. batteries but I am keeping an eye on them.

We saw that some Duracell batteries started to LEAK - corrode a bit but the date was still valid. We dumped them. They were in a couple of sizes.

I do NOT think that we will STOCK UP on batteries like we used to do and in those larger packages.

I did read on some other forum that people had issues with the Duracell brand and I think that was within the LAST 2 years or so but I am not positive on that. It may have been posted on this forum too. Beats me but I do remember reading about it.

Right now, we will not buy Duracell batteries even if they are on sale at Costco. Maybe whatever was WRONG with them will take some time to get them OFF of their shelves. Maybe they fixed their problems.

I am glad that one German radio did not get ruined with a leaking battery and I don't LEAVE batteries in some emergency radios that I do not use that often like I USED TO DO. Two radios have batteries in them but the other 2 do not have them right now. I can put them in easily but they will stay OUT of them for now.

I am glad that I did not have leaking batteries in the smoke alarms too.

I had an old landline telephone and a battery LEAKED in it. I ended up dumping that old telephone. It showed numbers on it when I dialed a number - push button telephone. (Not the old rotary dial type.)

Take care!

Blessings to you and your wife.

Cate
 
I have never SEEN a Kirkland brand battery.

I have seen Duracell sold at Costco.

My husband said that he never saw the Kirkland brand in batteries but he does not 'shop' and LOOK at many things like I always did. He has been doing most of the shopping. IN and OUT of a store with our list! LOL

My late husband and I used to keep batteries in the refrigerator inside a plastic bag. They lasted a long time and might have been made better too.

I keep our batteries in the large 'pantry' closet which is like a small room with a regular door and NO heat vent is in there. I keep the door open so it does stay warm and dry. I designed my small house like this on purpose.

The large house that I built with my late husband in the 70's had a different style of pantry closet.

Cate
 
Duracells have been my downfall too. I finally learned my lesson and for a few years now all of my equipment uses Energizer Ultimate Lithium cells. Except I still use Streamlight or Surefire batteries in my CR123 equipped flashlights. I've used these CR123 batteries for many years and have never had one leak.

I am going to show this to my husband.

Thank you for the information.

Cate
 
I lost my favorite headlamp to Duracells a couple of years ago. Threw it in my gun safe after hunting season and the batteries corroded and wrecked the contacts. I've had other brands also corrode though, not just Duracells. I try to remember to pull all of the batteries out of my equipment before storing for more than a month. I got lucky the other day when I dug my predator call out for the first time in a couple of years and found I had been negligent in following that practice. The Energizers in it were corroded, but I was able to clean it up and get it working again.

I may have to look into the lithium batteries mentioned earlier in this thread. I sure love those lithium ion battery packs that come with the Garmin Rinos. They hold a good charge and seem to last a long, long time. I've never tried lithium batteries otherwise.
 
It's been said already, but any battery-powered device I have that gets used infrequently now gets lithium batteries. I only use alkaleakers in devices that are used frequently. Also, Costco's Kirkland batteries are just DuraCells in a different wrapper
 
I was cleaning my gun room out tonight and found my old Tesoro Lobo metal detector buried in the corner. It uses 8 AA batteries. I haven't used it in five year or longer.

Turned it on and it was just fine. Popped open the battery compartment and it was full of Rayovac AA batteries that didn't leak and still worked after sitting for 5+ years in my gun room.

That's pretty dang impressive.
 
mine came from costco also. ive had issues with more than 1 thing from costco since the pandemic started.
It looks like manufactures are cuttin corners.
 
Was in dollar tree for a second the other day.
Carbon zinc, Is this what you're talking about?
Panasonic "Long Life". No idea on the chemistry, needed them in a pinch.
Using the Werkers, four hours of continuous headlamp use and those things are toast.
mine came from costco also. ive had issues with more than 1 thing from costco since the pandemic started.
It looks like manufactures are cuttin corners.
it was about a decade ago that I figured Costco rebrands were crap-ola.
I don't buy "Crapper Top" batteries any more.
One other thing I've noticed since abandoning Duracels: my flashlights work well. Using Duracell, I'd turn them on, the light would flicker and die. Like trying to get a Bic lighter to work in the wind. Irritating to say the least, dangerous when navigating a crawl space.
 
Well, I burned myself again. I had forgotten about these Kirkland batteries I installed only 20 months ago. These are/were installed in an RC aircraft transmitter. I was going to change them out for Energizer Lithium's, and this is what I found. Please check your devices and get rid of these things. Totally my own fault. I regularly pull batteries out at the end of summer, but I brain faded and here's the result. Three out of six leaked and have a "Best if used by Dec. 2024" date code. Never more.

Kirkland Leakers.jpg
 
I've quit using Duraleaks and are going Eneloop rechargeable battery's for everything except 9V which have double bag construction and are less likely to leak. No more ruined electronics. (Eneloops are the best of the batch)

I will note that for expensive electronics that accept them (lower voltage) EBL brand 9 volt rechargeable work well.

BTW Phred, check out the Red Deoxit D100L, costly but wonderful stuff which will clean that crap up better than Vinegar (which also works). Get the version with the brush inside of it.

caig-8211_d100l2db_DV_WebXL.jpg
 
Which explains why Duracell's are stacked just as high right next to the Kirkland batteries. Just life in retail.
I use the Kirkland batteries quite a bit. The only time I have had problems with them corroding was if I left them in a device for an extended period, which will happen with any alkaline battery. Most manufacturers will tell you not to do this though. Crazy things happen when current is not contained or passes between different metals(such as the contacts in a device). Why do you think that batteries are packaged side by side instead of end to end?
 
Another issue is how good were the batteries when purchased? My GF recently bought some button batteries for me (308s I think they were), popped them into an optic, and nada. So I put the tester on them, all 5 read about .9 v. Energizer branded and the dates were good. This exact same scenario happened to me a few years ago, so I am 0 for 2 in online battery purchases.
 
I do use a lot of rechargeable batteries. Imedion, Powerex, Eneloop, Ansman. I also have a really nice
Powerex recharger. https://mahaenergy.com/mh-c9000pro/
Plus I've had good luck with Nitecore 18650. Some of my devices need the extra kick from the 1.5 volt batteries, rather than the 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries. For this reason I still use the non-rechargeable type in certain places. I just need to make sure there lithiums. BTW, I've had success using a slurry of baking powder and water to flush out leaked corrosion.
 

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