Think Battery Safety First

Safety Goggles

Rubber Gloves

BestBatteryTips.com can’t stress enough how important battery safety should be to each and every one of us. Many people have been disabled for life for what they thought was just supposed to be a routine procedure. Batteries are very unpredictable, so extreme caution must be taken while in direct contact with them. Battery explosions are more common than one might think. A automobile battery sounds like a 12 gauge shot gun when it explodes. You can only imagine the spray of sulfuric acid with a force so great to blow the top off of a battery. This is why wearing safety goggles while in contact with batteries is so important. Many people have been blinded due to battery explosions. Many battery explosions happen with incorrect techniques while jump starting another vehicle. Read our article on How to Jump Start a Car to jump start a vehicle properly. Sulfuric acid can cause severe burning of the skin. Remember to always wear heavy Rubber Gloves when in contact with batteries, as sulfuric acid will not eat through the heavy rubber gloves. Never wear clothe gloves, clothe gloves will soak up sulfuric acid like a sponge, and will make contact with your skin. Battery explosions are very common during charging. Overcharging a battery will cause boiling of the electrolyte inside the battery, with excessive gassing. This is a good recipe for a battery explosion. Always follow battery manufacturers recommended charging procedures when charging batteries. When adding water to a battery, don’t over fill the battery. The lead grid plates inside the battery should just be covered by water. Over filling a battery will cause it to leak electrolyte once the battery warms up while being charged. You must leave room inside the battery to allow for expansion. Read our article on What Kind of Water To Use In Batteries to learn more about adding water to a battery. Always take the time to put on protective equipment. The time it takes to put on goggles and rubber gloves is a drop in the bucket compared to being disabled because of disregarding safety.

Smoke Detector Battery

Everyone is familiar with the annoying chirping sound that a smoke detector makes when its battery needs changed. Many states have laws about smoke detectors in homes. Commercial businesses are also included in these state laws, lets face it smoke detectors save lives. So when you hear that annoying chirping coming from your smoke detector, remember that its there to save your life in the event of a fire.  We here at BestBatteryTips.com have a few Battery Tips to keep your smoke detector ready for a fire.

• It is recommended that you test your smoke detectors in your home once a month. Smoke detectors can and will fail, so its important to test your smoke detectors monthly.
• The smoke detector advises you when its battery needs changed by making a chirping or beeping sound. In the event that you hear your smoke detector chirping or beeping, change the battery as soon as possible. Remember, the smoke detector is there to save your life, and the lives of your family.
• It is recommended that your smoke detector battery be changed yearly. We here at BestBatteryTips.com recommend changing your battery every 9 months to be sure your battery is always ready in the event of a fire.
• Upgrading your smoke detector battery to a Lithium battery is a good idea. Lithium batteries have a lot more available capacity than alkaline batteries. Lithium batteries also have a slow discharge rate, which will aid in the duration of a operational battery in your smoke detector.
• Never use rechargeable batteries in your smoke detectors. The battery being fully charged is a unknown with rechargeable batteries, and is not worth risking lives over. A defective charger would lead someone to believe the battery is fully charged when its not.
• WARNING: After replacing the battery in your smoke detector, and the smoke detector is still chirping or beeping there is a problem!! It is possible to have bought a battery that is defective, or the smoke detector has failed.

How Do I Clean Up After an Alkaline Battery Leaks?

All alkaline battery leaks are generally the potassium hydroxide that’s inside the battery leaking out. Potassium hydroxide is a thick paste, it can get hard and form gunk inside your electronic devices. Inside the battery, the paste is wet and used for conduction. When it leaks out of the battery, it dries up. Since potassium hydroxide is a base, you need an acid to clean it up.

Alkaline Batteries

Remember when cleaning your electronic devices; you don’t want to get water in them, as electronics don’t like water. Make sure all of the moisture is dried up prior to loading new batteries into your electronic device. A highly used item like game controllers, are more likely to get a battery leak in them. They go through batteries like crazy, be sure to clean up the spill completely, or you will not have good conductivity.

Vinegar and Lemon  juice is a excellent cleaner when mixed with water for cleaning battery leaks up. You want the water to be slightly acidic. Use a Q-Tip soaked in the acidic water to gently clean the area out of the electronic device. When you use a Q-Tip, you avoid using too much water and control the cleaning.

Don’t forget to wash your hands when you are done. You do not want potassium hydroxide on your hands, as burning and irritation is a common side effect to exposure.

Alkaline Battery Disposal Note:

Alkaline batteries used to contain mercury, a toxic metal, but the government banned mercury in general purpose batteries around 1996. Alkaline batteries don’t have any special disposal requirements — it’s legal to discard of  Alkaline batteries in a trash receptacle. There is a exception which is button batteries, the batteries that are in watches and calculators. California has banned the disposing of any and all alkaline batteries.

Alkaline battery leakage

Manufacturers reimbursement

Many battery manufacturers of alkaline batteries offers a product reimbursement for damaged products due to leaking of alkaline battery or batteries. Most consumers are unaware of this offer from battery manufacturers. Contact the manufacturer of the leaking battery for more details.

Bestbatterytips.com Note

We here at bestbatterytips.com encourage everyone to recycle all batteries from big to small regardless of state laws. Please help keep the environment free of chemicals.

Recycle