On Tue, 20 Feb 2018 04:57:56 -0800 (PST), Terry Schwartz
wrote:

That package looks like it may have been frozen.

Nope. The white stuff is KOH (potassium hydroxide) which kinda looks
like frost. What's interesting is that the leaky cells in the photo
that I tested showed good on a voltmeter. I've also opened the
battery compartment on a working device, that showed a good battery on
its LCD display, but which contained cells that were leaking all over
the battery compartment.

On Monday, February 19, 2018 at 12:45:27 PM UTC-6, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 09:25:30 -0800 (PST), KenO
wrote:

Agree have never had problems with either NiCd or NiMH.

I beg to differ. I have had NiCd and NiMH cells leak. The difference
is that unlike alkaline, they don't leak in the package:
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/crud/Kirkland-AAA-leak.jpg
I've found from dealing with commercial walkie-talkie batteries, that
if I leave the packs totally discharged for more than a few weeks, the
batteries will leak. The good news is that this rarely happens.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558