Doubt AA and AAA battery

Which AA or AAA battery is unlikely to leak and corrode the PCB, plastic and rubber of the joystick? Can any AA and AAA battery be kept inserted in the joystick without risk of leaking?

Hello,

I would not see any issues with most batteries leaking. I would use the battery composition that is recommended by the maker of the joystick. In most cases you should not have issues with battery leakage. I recommend buying a higher quality battery. Some in store brands may be a bargain price, but in the end they might cause more issues. Usually I use the Energizers and Panasonic like on this link: Alkaline Manganese Dioxide Batteries Non-Rechargeable (Primary) | Electronic Components Distributor DigiKey

I never have any trouble with leakage. I did though when I bought the “bargain batteries” It really does not save money in the end. You will have a better chance to buy a better battery.

Hi @cloudff7 ,

Generally speaking, batteries left in a device in storage for long periods of time have a better chance of leaking, especially if there are 2 or more batteries in series. It is recommended to remove batteries if the device is not being used for extended periods of time. I have had Energizer flashlights, and their batteries and have had problems with them. The flashlights were not reliable and i’ve had leaking/corrosion issues with some of their batteries. I have used Zeus batteries and so far have never had any issues with them, and they also appeared to last longer than the Energizer and other batteries i’ve tested.

Zeus AA 2059-ZEUSAA-ND
image
Zeus AAA 2059-ZEUSAAA-ND
image

1 Like

@Verna_1353 is correct. The only thing I would add is that any alkaline, regardless of brand, is prone to leaking if the battery is left in the equipment for very extended periods of time (as in a year or more) if the battery is completely drained of charge.

An alkaline battery is considered completely empty when the voltage is around 0.7V. If the battery is left in the equipment beyond this point and the device continues to draw current, (which is often the case in modern devices, even if the device is “Off” or not operating due to battery voltage being too low to operate properly) this is when a battery will become prone to leakage.

Also, alkaline batteries continually self-discharge over time, so even if literally zero current is drawn, an alkaline battery will eventually reach this fully discharged state. An unused quality battery will not reach this state for at least 5 years (typically closer to 10 years if kept at room temperature or cooler). However, if partially discharged due to normal use, the period to reach this level of discharge will, of course, be shorter.

I personally have inadvertently left quality brand-name batteries in an old remote control for some device I no longer use, and when I look in the battery compartment a few years later, I’ll find the batteries have leaked and corroded the surrounding circuitry.

So, as long as you use quality batteries and you do not leave them in a product that will continue to draw a low current after the batteries’ capacity has been depleted, this should not be a real concern. For a device which is sold with batteries pre-installed from the factory, a common practice it to ship the device with a battery insulator tab so that the circuitry cannot draw current until the user removes this tab.

1 Like

I will use rechargeable AA and AAA batteries in the joystick but every day when I turn off the console will it be necessary to remove the two AA or AAA batteries to avoid leakage and corrosion of the plastic and rubber PCB?

Assuming you have decent name-brand NiMH batteries, then no, there is no need to worry about removing batteries every day. The primary risk of leakage from NiMH batteries comes from over-charging them or physically damaging the battery case material. In either of those cases, you should discontinue use of those batteries. But otherwise, there is no need to remove them with regular usage.

I don’t know much about rechargeable Ni-MH technology but someone told me that it leaks potassium hydroxide

i have this brand

Hi cloudff7,

Yes, if a Ni-MH battery leaks, the chemicals which will leak are potassium hydroxide and water. However, if they are not over-charged, over-heated, or physically damaged, they generally don’t leak. I have no experience with your brand of battery, so I cannot comment on their reputation for reliability.

2 Likes

When it comes to construction and corrosive leaks There is a lot of difference between AA and AAA common, alkaline, NiMH?? I’ve lost many remote controls and joysticks because the AA and AAA batteries leaked and corroded everything

In general, assuming that they have not been overcharged or otherwise compromised, as described above, I think NiMH batteries are less likely to leak than alkaline batteries, if left in the equipment.

The downside of using NiMH batteries is that they self-discharge much faster. This means that if you don’t use them for more than a month, they will have lost much of their charge (due to a high self-discharge rate characteristic) and won’t run your equipment very long without being recharged. A big advantage of NiMH batteries over alkaline batteries is that they are re-usable, and therefore will probably save you money in the long term, and will cause less waste since you are not regularly discarding used non-rechargeable batteries.

Regardless, if you have experienced repeated problems with corrosion in the past from both alkaline and NiMH type batteries, then it might be a good idea to remove all of your batteries if you are not certain that you will be using them again in the near future. Better to go through the small inconvenience of removing and reinserting them periodically than to deal with damaged equipment.

  1. Do AA and AAA rechargeable Ni-MH batteries naturally leak when inserted inside the joystick for long periods?

  2. Do you have tips for extending the life of AA and AAA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries? more recharge cycles and greater durability?

  3. I have rechargeable AA Ni-MH batteries, brand Mox, I charged them 100%, I used them for two days on the Chinese joystick and stored them, they have been stored for 2 or 3 months, when should I charge them again so as not to harm the useful life of these AA Ni batteries? If the AA Ni-MH battery charge goes to 0% does it automatically shorten its useful life?

Q1 Depends if the joystick has a drain during storage., best not to store batteries in the joystick.
Q2 best storage is 80% charged do not store with low change, store in room temperature.
Q3 yes you never want to have batteries at low levels.

Hi @cloudff7

NiMH are the only chemistry that suffer memory loss which affects performance.
This article may help:
https://www.large.net/news/8yu43ph.html#:~:text=1%20%E2%97%8F%20Evade%20Using%20Ultra-fast%20Chargers%20The%20ultra-fast,Levels%20…%208%20%E2%97%8FTrickle%20Charging%20…%20More%20items

Here’s another document from Energizer about NiMH batteries that gave some good info.

1 My charger does not have a display to show the AA Ni-MH battery charge percentage. Is it better to keep this battery with a full charge or a low charge?

2 I have 4 AA Ni-MH and I left them stored unused for 3 months, was this enough to permanently damage the battery? I used 2 of these batteries for 1 day on the Koystick but before they were 100% charged

3 new Ni-MH battery when purchased, charge 100% and then use or use immediately after removing from the packaging?

  • The answer depends on how your charger works. If it is a quality one, it will switch to trickle charge when batteries are full. If so, leave them in to ensure they are fully charged, and then remove.
  • Probably not damaged. I wouldn’t worry.
  • Charge before using.

Please read the documentation we gave as links above. They will answer most of your questions.

AA Ni-MH battery suffers some type of permanent degradation if its charge drops to 0%, can you keep AA Ni-MH battery with 0% charge for the long term?

Here where I live the temperature varies from 33-35C if I charge the AA Ni-MH battery to 100% and store it, what is the time interval to charge again without damaging the battery’s useful life?

1 Like

Please read this regarding your questions.