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Charles Charles is offline
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Default what causes batteries to leak acid?


"yawnmoth" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm curious... what causes batteries to leak acid? I understand that
it, initially, is supposed to be a liquid, but then dries into a
powdery white substance. I don't tihnk the white substance is all
that dangerous, but is it dangerous to people as a liquid? Like if a
toy that had batteries in it was leaking, would it be all that
dangerous for that toys owner to get it on their hands as it was
leaking?


There are many kinds of batteries. Some use an acid electrolyte and some
use a base. Both are corrosive and nasty.

What causes them to leak:

1/ Over-charging and thus overheating.
2/ Seal failure.
3/ Case failure.
4/ Tampering.

Wash your hands if you get the gunk on you and don't let your kids or pets
lick it.

It's no worse than many other household chemicals but indeed must be
respected and properly handled.

Eye contact and ingestion are the worst-case scenarios.