Pop goes the battery

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Couple of days ago a keyring torch I've had for a while stopped working. I took out the tiny 1,5v LR44 coin cell and checked voltage, only 1v so I replaced it.

The old discharged battery was promptly forgotten on the edge of my computer desk.

Sitting working at the desk this evening and suddenly a loud bang and I heard something hit the ceiling then clatter down into the floor – the old cell. I never found the negative terminal but it serves as a warning of the explosive potential of any cell.

Dave

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Makes you wonder, if the cell was dead, where did the energy come from to make it explode like that?

[Andy Stone 1Participant @andystone1]

Hmm what a horrible thought !

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Likely although dead from a producing electricity point of view, the component chemicals had deteriorated or morphed into something that could produce a chemical reaction.

Never buy cheap batteries. Not worth it from a longevity point of view, and they get used up quicker and just add to landfill waste.

Ashley

[Chris EParticipant @chrise]

I didn't think that we were supposed to put batteries into landfil.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

You are supposed to return dead batteries to any vendor who sells them. What they do with them is then up to them. Obviously they should arrange for them to be disposed of via local council but, in some cases, there are charges involved with this so the less than scrupulous ones do their own thing. Then, of course there are those who will not take many types anyway such as lead/acid or lipos so you should take them to your own local council run tip where there should be battery disposal facilities. The council should then send them to a specialist firm who will break them down to recover some of the, often very nasty, chemicals in them.

It's easy to see with so many hurdles in place a lot of them end up simply getting slipped into normal rubbish.  We keep dead batteries in a bag until it is full enough then take it to a local shop who takes them off us.

Quick story, in all my years at sea I experienced three fires in a garbage system incinerator feed silo. The only way to deal with it is to damp everything down then empty the silo and spread everything out all over the deck so it can be thoroughly damped down to prevent it starting up again. This also gives you the chance to look for the source. In one case we suspected it was a disposable lighter, probably set off when it went through the shredder and, in another, we found a couple of 'exploded' batteries, probably set off again when they went through the shredder. I always used to try to get the team to think of the silo tank as a tank of fuel and not a tank of shredded rubbish!

The third one was a welding accident! Doh!

Edited By Richard Simpson on 23/02/2023 09:27:29

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

It was one of 24 assorted size button cells for £1 from the Pound Shop. Kodak branded, made in China.

If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,

Dave

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Dave,

A freak accident, a chance in many many millions, If I were you I'd buy a Lottery ticket this weekend ??

Regards Ray

[Dave ReedParticipant @davereed72029]

Everything's getting more expensive – a lottery tick for Saturday in now £2. Oh well, you have to speculate to accumulate so I've taken Ray's advice and got a ticket for Saturday.

Ray, I won't be holding you responsible when that goes up in smoke as well….

Dave

[Author]

Posts