On Wed, 22 May 2019 17:52:10 -0700, Mike wrote:
Conspiracy theory notwithstanding...
I just hate it when someone ruins a perfectly good conspiracy theory.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained
by stupidity. Hanlon's Razor.
Standby/parasitic current drain of various flashlights (including
leakage current and estimated battery life):
https://lygte-info.dk/info/standbyCurrent%20UK.html
I suggest that some designer made a bad decision to use a cheap
part to manage the flashlight modes. Some manager made an uninformed
decision to remarket the result. Everybody saved a penny, except the user.
Caught with their pants down, some vendors are now advertising flashlights
with zero parasitic drain.
It's unlikely that Duracell had any malicious intent in this.
There is already a class action suit to prove otherwise:
"Duracell Class Action Says LED Flashlights Drain Batteries Quickly"
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/877506-duracell-class-action-says-led-flashlights-drain-batteries-quickly/
https://www.classaction.org/blog/in-the-dark-allegedly-defective-duracell-led-flashlights-drain-batteries-when-turned-off-class-action-lawsuit-claims
https://www.classaction.org/media/siddle-et-al-v-the-duracell-company-et-al.pdf
(12.4MB)
The case seeks to cover a proposed nationwide class of
consumers who bought Duracell’s 250, 300 or 350 LED
flashlight models from Duracell, Costco, Home Depot or
Amazon during the to-be-defined claim period.
There really is no clean fix for this. If you use your flashlight every
day, it won't affect you much. If you use it infrequently for emergencies,
you absolutely, positively want it to work when needed.
About all you can do is put an insulator somewhere in the battery
assembly and remove it when the emergency happens.
With alkaline cells, I like to store them outside of the device in a
plastic bag. I've had too many problems with alkaline cells leaking
all over the inside of flashlights, radios, and toys.
Next time, buy one that advertises zero parasitic drain.
Probably a good idea. I guess I've been lucky as none of mine seem to
have the problem. However, I haven't measured it, so I'm not really
sure.
--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558