Lithium AA batteries...prone to leaking?

[Cesiumsponge]

I make it a habit to change lithium batteries on my birthday because its easy to remember. What's $20 in new lithiums once a year? I've never had a lithium puke. Lithium-ion rechargables are known to puke, usually under abusive high-current discharge, in spectacular fashion but they're quite reliable from a reputable manufacturer.

[a0cake]

JS, I can't agree with you here like I do in almost all other topics...and I do understand that this is a ridiculously long reply for a battery conversation.

Disposable lithium batteries generally have semi-solid electrolyte cells unlike the liquid in Alkaline batteries. While it is possible for lithium AA's to rupture, it is far less likely because they are manufactured with "armor" around the cells to protect them from physical damage and extreme environmental conditions. In order for the lithium to contact anything to cause a reaction, the battery would have to get almost cut in half to expose the semi-solid electrolytes since they can't leak in a traditional way, or it would have to be held underwater for a significant amount of time. In either case, the lithium battery holds out longer than the alkaline. But that's not even the key point here.

The main difference is that when Alkaline batteries are discharged too far, they automatically leak. Lithium batteries, on the other hand, become 100% inert and do not leak when they're completely empty. This is why lithium batteries can be thrown in the regular trash when they're used up but alkalines cannot. So if you forget to remove batteries before putting a device in long term storage, make it a lithium.

The only time I've seen CR123's and lithium AA's fail is when they've gotten wet and stayed wet for a long time. It smells bad and you can tell something's not right but it's not like what happens in the chemistry lab when you drop lithium into water. I'm sure it COULD be under the right conditions, but it's not a legitimate consideration in practice.

Guys, ALL batteries may leak.

There's no statistically significant difference between lithium or alkaline as to which is more prone to leaking or not. That's more a matter of whether or not you're buying some cut-rate Paki battery, or a first-rate one made in a non-3rd-World country.

Leaky lithiums are more likely to have violent reactions with their surroundings, particularly in the wet (causes fires), so folks tend to turn that into "more likely to leak!" because they're hearing hoofbeats in the distance and thinking "Zebras!" without bothering to consider that it might just be regular 'ol horses.

Check all batteries for leakage, cracks in the casing, dents, ANY deformities prior to use. If any are present, do not use, discard. Try to not store things with batteries in the compartments unless you have a compelling reason to do so.

[JSantoro]

Yeah, I'll cop to a certain level of institutional infection in terms of this by those that write the safety messages and ram what amounts to technical nonsense down the throats of the operational forces, but I also have also seen far, far too many optical devices with their battery compartments corroded into uselessness by batteries purported to be "safer" from a leakage aspect. I'm JUST familiar with the chemical aspect to know that that's not how it's supposed to be, but....

Always seemed to trace back to crap batteries, though, which is why I brought it up, above.

With a quality lithium of ANY size, I'm less worried about leakage than I am as to it's born-on date, what conditions it's been stored in, and how much altitude change its seen in transit...2 of those 3 I'm generally incapable of knowing.