Batteries...
Too often batteries are the issue in things needing to be replaced. Years ago, I had cellphones that the user could change out a battery when it no longer would hold a charge. Cellphones now are sealed to be dust and water resistant. They require the user to send it to a factory center... a process that often takes 2 weeks to get the phone back.Too many things happen in my life and I don't want to be without my phone for weeks. Is it possible? (groan) Yes, but not practical. Some phone stores have loaners but they are entry level phones and limited, meaning I have a good chance I'll lose data in multiple transfers.
I'm at the crossroads now. My phone that used to go 2 days without a charge needs to be juiced twice a day. I can get around that with a charging station and I'm waiting for a deal on a new model with 5G capability.
For weeks, I've been saying the battery in my car is near the end of life and wanted to get it replaced at the wholesaler I normally do business with. I carry a spare battery in the back of my car for use when I go to the model aircraft field. It runs my laptop, chargers and some cooling fans. I charged it 3 weeks ago. Yesterday, without warning, my car wouldn't start. I connected jumper cables to the spare but it wasn't fully charged and didn't start the car. Lucky for me road service responded in 10 minutes and a new battery was installed.
I've been through packs and packs of AA batteries. The two main manufacturers claim 10 year shelf life. That said, I've had had to replace hundreds of dollars worth of electronic & mechanical devices due to leaking batteries that corroded rendering the device useless with batteries less than a year old.
I don't need a flashlight very often. when it doesn't work and I unscrew the case I'm guaranteed it will have some gooey mess inside from a leaking battery.
Currently, I'm taking photos and discarding the damaged devices (like smoke alarms and flashlights) at some point complaint letters will go out to manufacturers.
Seriously, I wouldn't try to rehabilitate a smoke alarm by cleaning the terminals with baking soda to remove the corrosion.
I've got a love/hate affair with batteries.
Comments (5)
I would have thought someone who claims to be so knowledgeable would have understood this simple process
Your comment is so cool and funny (to you of course) but in your zeal to be funny you missed the finer part of my blog. I'll go slow so you don't miss anything.
Smoke alarm with flashing LED to show the condition of the batteries.
New pack of batteries that are advertised to hold their charge for 10 years.
Installed and checked every month or so by pressing the test button on the device.
Normal maintenance and I'll replace batteries on safety devices but the batteries (see photo) failed in less than a year.
The photo was taken more than a year ago and you can see the shelf life date on the batteries is November 2026. 2 of the 3 batteries failed.
Visual inspection doesn't always work as batteries in a wireless transmitter that gets checked every month had started leaking. One of the four failed. Unlike the smoke alarm, the battery tray in the transmitter is replaceable so all is not lost.