Battery Packaging Teaser

Hi,

A neighbour has one of those "Weather Station" gadgets with an outside sensor on the window and a screen inside. It wasn't working so he fitted a couple of 2032 batteries but it still didn't work so I was called in to see what was wrong.

Well the batteries were both dead (or so I thought!) after a bit of "are these the new or old batteries etc." we established that the new Duracell batteries were indeed dead although the packet had an expiry date of 2023 and had been bought as spares when the weather station was bought.

I went home and got a couple of new batteries from my stock and the weather could be updated but I found it strange that both batteries were dud. I tried one in a stopwatch I had and I found the battery was slightly stiff to push in and remove so after very close examination I found that the battery was sealed in a very thin skin of plastic. I had to go round the periphery with a craft knife to get it off and the plastic was 0.007 mm thick.

They were in a sealed packet and there was nothing on the packet to say that the individual batteries were sealed and I have never seen any others the same.

Any one else been caught out?

Brilliant

MichaelG.

Protective film is present on other things: eg mobile phone screens and car number plates.

I agree that there should be a warning.

When I was working I ordered some 2032 (Or similar cells.) though the companies logistics system. when I opened the package I found they had been packed in anti static bags. And as I expected they were all totally flat. A good example of a rule being made to protect things being use without applying common sense.

Les.

How thick was the film ? .007mm ? Reminds me of buying a calculator and not being able to change the numbers on the screen ! I was on the point of going back to complain when thank the Lord I spotted it was a film over the display ! Ah well. Noel

When I bought an early Kindle I had the reverse experience. It came with a protective film apparently printed with various branding information about Amazon and Kindle. When I peeled it off the info was still there, displayed on the actual screen as Kindles (then?) had an active ink display that didn't need power.

Before anyone thinks this might be the problem with my Miutoyo, it,s not.

Never a problem with real buttons!

My workshop calculator - wherever it's hiding - lives in a small plastic bag to protect it from my oily hands.

You were certainly on the ball to solve that mystery, maybe Duracell have started a safer packaging policy. I only have Panasonic which are still only in one layer of packaging.

There are a lot of fake Duracell batteries out there. Probably  other makes as well

Not all sold by dodgy traders

Edited By roy entwistle on 24/02/2021 20:27:39

Could it be the plastic wrap on button batteries is a safety development due to the increasing number of horrific injuries and deaths they cause when swallowed by children? Apparently a naked battery will sit in their esophagus or stomach and form a chemical reaction that literally burns through the tissue. Horrible stuff.

Video shows what one inserted in the "tissue" of a sausage does. **LINK**

That one would even have fooled a battery tester

I got my tester a long time ago at Lidl and it has paid for itself many times over

I found that when a gadget like a torch or a tv changer failed it was only one cell that was the issue, not 2 or 3 or 4

Indeed it did fox my tester as open circuit andI didn't even mark the plastic when I stuck the test probes of my Lidl tester on to the battery.

I don't know why I decided to stick it in the stopwatch as I was convinced that the battery was dead! Perhaps the fact that I had removed the old battery and left the cover off triggered a reaction to try another battery.

If I hadn't tried to fit it in the stopwatch and found it tight then it would have been placed in the dead battery box and be on it's way to the re-cycling centre.

Good point. We put so-called dud batteries in a box ready for recycling, mainly AAs. Next stage is for me to go through them with an Avo. Around 30% of AAs will usually produce in excess of 2A short circuit current - certainly useable for many applications.

Yes, I have been caught with stickers on batteries. Once bitten and all that!