It seems that the cardboard would have to be wet in order to be conductive
enough to cause a problem but it would be very easy to run a simple test
just using a meter to measure current flow.
"Thomas G. Marshall" . com
wrote in message news:PAsGh.235$1C6.156@trndny04...

I recently ordered on eBay 100 energizer AA batteries.

I tested them using a simple battery tester from radio shack. 4 were
dead,
one was near death, and 95 were at an identical high mark, but just a
"little" below an energizer I bought from a retail package from Home
Depot.
The tester is simple and unmetered, save for a "75%" mark. The needle
moves
up to *almost* the same spot as my control (retail) battery does.

They were shipped in 2 corrugated cardboard boxes, roughly the height of
an
AA cell. 50 in each, all standing up on the negative (flat) end. So
(especially if they are stacked) the top and bottom of all the batteries
are
touching the top and bottom of the cardboard box. HUGE speculation: If
the
cardboard is even minutely conductive (humidity, acidity, or whatever)
then
I have effectively a wired in parallel 1.5V "50xAA-amp" "battery" that is
shorting through its own packaging (?)

Is there another possibility for this, other than just lesser quality
batteries? And is the cardboard shorting even possible? I'm working with
the seller to try to figure this one out. He's asking about possibly
putting a plastic or foam sheet above or below them. I'd appreciate your
thoughts on all of this.