Yeah, I've always figured it's best to pull the batteries, and I'm sure many people have gotten a radio with old batteries that leaked or seen the reminence of that. But I have some radio's that I use semi regularly and it's nice to just pull it off the shelf and go.Cpl-Chronic said:Uh, probably not but it's always good of course to remove them when not in use. They can leak, corrode or rust over time.
Where would I check? On the main board where the power leads connect?TW5 said:You can check with a current meter to see if theres some drain on the batteries
when the unit is off.
That's a good idea, but still a PIA.redbenjoe said:or --if there is any drain at all - just remove ONE ............
or slip in a piece of tape or anything thin --to break the connection
Easiest and most accurate way is between the terminal of the last (or first, depending on whither you count from left or rightLasonic TRC-920 said:Where would I check? On the main board where the power leads connect?
Yeah, that all makes sense. The Lasonic's all have AC switches on the back. That works really well.Gluecifer said:I think in the short term this doesn't matter. Like a few weeks to a couple of months, any power loss would be negligible at most.
The corrosion and leaking and other bad stuff is a long term issue and by long term I mean years. The batteries we find leaking and corroding in boomboxes are ones that have been there for 20+ years; not a few months.
This is all providing the radio is truly 'off' though. A nice little contraption you can put on a radio to ensure that it is really off is an AC lead. Just cut most of the lead off so only the figure 8 plug remains. Stick this in the power socket of the radio and it will switch it to AC, which of course isn't connected, but will truly disable the battery function. Definitely worth doing on radios that have 'soft' off-modes that power up with cassette deck keys and don't have true 'off' position.. just in case a deck button is engaged accidentally or has some dodgy going on with it internally that seems to flatten batteries when it isn't being operated.
I'm pretty sure rechargeable batteries are a different story and have much quicker constant slow drain, however, but I don't have any scientific theories, just experience from when I've charged a set up then not used them and gone to used them a month or so and they're markedly depleted.
Rock On.
I never knew there were different locations of manufacturing. No doubt the Chinese versions would be crap because they will sneak anything through without giving a care. I will look at the package next time I buy.Beosystem10 said:Good policy, just make sure to avoid the Chinese ones if you can. German ones aren't known for leaking and Canada also makes Duracells only we don't get those ones here so I've no idea whether they have a good rep or not.
Curved ball:
How may cells do you use in a year? Might Lithium Ion battery packs be cheaper in the long run? I'm getting a pair of these for my JVC PC-5 and PC-11, each one is the same size as one of JVC's original battery tubes and the pair can be charged off the job with my universal charger. They cost £42 for the pair but can be recharged up to a claimed 1000 times. Alkaline Procells (exactly the same as the copper topped ones, only the livery is different) are around £8 for a case of ten from eBay and last well but once they're gone, they're gone so potentially (), the Lithium ones can save me loads. Could save you a whole lot of cash too, Chris.
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Rick, you have some high power Ni-MH's right? 10,000+ mAH. What brand where those again?Gluecifer said:The batteries I've been using almost daily for 5 years show no sign of leakage or anything untoward (and these have sat in radios for months on in some cases as I have 20), so I'm just going off my own experience, BeoSystem, I'm certainly no authority.
I think everyone should get high quality Ni-MH D's for their radios as the investment can't be beat and the consistency avoids those awful problems with leakage you stated.
I wish Battery Maker was here!
Rock On.
Back when batteries were part of the unit!Beosystem10 said:Is Battery Maker a man from Ohio who makes replica HT & LT batteries for valved equipment or is the name just a coincidence? I ask because there's someone on the UK Vintage Radio forum who uses that identity and that's what he does. Brilliantly.
Here's some of his (fully functioning) work in one of my radios, with apologies for the deviation but if we're thinking of the same fella, he's a bloody genius:
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& yes, there's a boombox in the photo too, my long term resident GF-555, a box whose use of batteries is the most frugal ever and it has a proper on/off switch but also has the ability to work on tape by simply popping one in and pressing a transport function button. I've metered that for leakage and it uses not a single drop of current when it's dormant.