Disposable Alkaline Batteries naturally develop a useable Negative charge?

[Mike D]

Hello.

I have just registered as a member here minutes ago, so that I can ask this question...

 

I was about to discard a pile of old "AA" and "AAA" alkaline batteries of assorted brands, that I have allowed to accumulate over the last few years. They were absolutely not useable when tossed into my "bad battery" collection. I didnt throw them out because I think they should be disposed of properly but didnt know where to take them. So the pile just grew, got moved around, got left on the shelves for a few years.

 

Now, as I was just re-checking them to look for any still useable batteries, (I'm cheap - I wanted to try to use them up) I measured them with a voltmeter, and found that MANY of them now have a NEGATIVE charge, some of them as high as 4 V !! I set aside the ones that are leaking & oxidized, and I'm left with quite a few that still look new, but they have these negative voltages ranging from 1.4V to 4 V !!!

 

I decided to put a couple with close to -1.5V into my magna-flashlite, but just put them in upside down. Now I should have normal power. It does!!

 

The flashlite is working fine with these old discarded batteries that are now oppositely re-charged on their own!!! It's actually quite bright and has been on now for a half hour without any noticeable loss of brightness, nor overheating of the batteries.

 

My questions are:

 

Is it a known fact that alkaline batteries do this??

Is there any danger if I leave the flashlight on unattended until it goes out??

 

Do the battery companies know about this & why don't people know about this??

 

Am I correct in saying that if you just leave your alkaline batteries alone for a couple years you can just use them again backwards ???

 

How much environmentally hazardous waste would be saved if the public was even told about this money saving practice, and why isn't the science community making anyone aware of the fact that disposable batteries just automatically become re-useable on their own?? Even if some leak or corrode, a battery with -1.5 V seems just as useable as a new battery if you just flip it over. What does that matter?? Not-Dead is Not-Dead, no matter how you look at it.

 

Anyone have a scientific explanation for this re-charging - or is called something else, since it's a negative charge??

 

Are there companies out there profiting from this & calling it an environmentally friendy "Green" buziness??

 

 

Any feedback would be great !!

 

Thanks

Mike

[gcol]

I hope you get some sensible answers, Because I have noticed this odd effect a couple of times, just assumed I measured wrongly or had a glass or two too much of the old "oh be joyful".

 

The phenomenon seems to be random and not reproduceable to order thus not lab procedure convenient. I have noticed occasional similar weirdies from my home-made alkalines. Just assumed I had made an error, introduced impurities, or had random electrode passivation (which I suspect varies with discharge rate).

 

Some weird partial reactions seem to take place in enclosed environments given enough time.

 

The patience of a saint and a hermit-like work environment are required to set up "I wonder what happens if....." type experiments that might take half a lifetime to do anything.

[jimmydasaint]

What percentage of batteries show this property on average? This sounds like an interesting experiment to do.

[Mike D]

Out of about 50 batteries in my "old battery" box, about 3/4 of them have a developed a usesable reversed charge - the rest have all leaked, corroded or just have a small charge. Even 9 volts have become re-useable, albeit in opposite polarity. I will likley make a gender-bender for them so I can put them back in my guitar pedals.

 

It seems that almost all of the batteries that are still in good physical condition (not leaked) have become reverse-useabel again !! I believe some of these batteries have sat for up to 4-5 years- but still - with millions of batteries each year worldwide being disposed of, I think it's worthwhile to find out if this is a normal tendancy. I would cost the battery companies a lot of lost revenue if people can just re-use them every few years, and I'm sure that's why no one know about this, but the global advantage would be worthwhile... wouldn't it??

I would be willing to send some of these batteries in to you scientists, if you are interested in exposing this phenomenon.... they are just normal Ever-ready's & Duracells, but sat dead, or near-dead for a long time in a safe place. Maybe it does take too long to allow them to studied easily .... but look how long they're taking researching cancer !! They still happily sell known cancer-causing food & drugs with gov't aproval & proof of the fact!!

I think the Obama admin would be greatful for this kind of study to go foreward ...

maybe you can get a grant to study it - please include my name somehow, if you get anywhere ...

 

Mike

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Hey guys -

should this thread be moved to a different category - like chemistry or physics??

 

Where should I post this to get more feedback from people ??

 

M

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Seeing as batteries are chemical, I've moved this to Chemistry for you. Perhaps one of our resident chemistry experts will know the answer.

[hermanntrude]

Seeing as batteries are chemical, I've moved this to Chemistry for you. Perhaps one of our resident chemistry experts will know the answer.

 

<runs away and hides>

[jdurg]

Well, the first thing to ask is did the batteries have their polarity reversed over time, or was the polarity reversed when they first were declared "dead"? It is widely known that if you have a device which has a large number of batteries in there and one of those batteries happens to die, the flow of current out of the "live" batteries can cause the dead one to develop a reversed polarity. What I'm thinking happened is that these "dead batteries" you collected that you've discovered a reverse polarity on may have been used with multiple other batteries that were still live and this phenomenon with the polarity getting reversed occurred while that "dead" battery was still in use. You just didn't happen to know that until just now.

[Mike D]

Oops !!!

Sorry guys !!

I just had my meter leads plugged in backwards !!

& it turns out that the flashlight will work no matter which way you insert the batteries - (unless they're opposing each other)

I guess we can turf this thread !!

 

 

M

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LOL !

Edited August 18, 2009 by Mike D
Consecutive posts merged.

[gcol]

I only mention this as the original OP seems to have voluntarily brought the original thread to a conclusion, so:

 

Well, he bravely "fessed up", but from my own experiences, there is stilll something weird going on here. Not just batteries. I accidentally connected a standard electrolytic the wrong way, and a supercap. Then used them with their new polarity, then reversed them again just for fun. The capacitances were large, and the charging currents small.

 

I dont fancy trying it again though, the capacitors were not cheap.

 

The homebrew windpower boys have connected electrolytics back-to back during their experiments to find the "sweet spot" of their alt/prop combinations with beneficial effects and are furiously discussing the whys and wherefores