This whole thread is actually making me kinda mad now. I had chalked my destroyed trackpad up to my own failure to maintain the batteries, although I was surprised because I didn't think they were that old. I was kicking myself and thinking "well that's what you get old man." Nothing Apple sells is cheap and their trackpads are no exception. I don't use the Mac Mini the trackpad was paired with very often, my main machine is a linux box these days, but literally tonight I was using it to make a Mother's Day photobook with mouse and I really missed the trackpad. In macOS I really rely on trackpad gestures I can't do with a mouse. Now I'm feeling a mix between vindication and anger that these name-brand batteries may have been to blame rather than my neglect.
On Tue, 2020-04-28 at 15:45 -0700, me wrote: > HI Jim - > > Yeah that was my last straw. Last year I had some fresh batteries that I > had put into my noise cancelling headset for my plane. The night before > a trip. > > We were piled in and ready to go when I put my headset on and the power > light didn't turn on and i didn't hear the hiss. Mind you twelve hours > hadn't even passed yet and I tested it before leaving the hangar. > > I looked in the battery compartment and all the fresh duracell's had > leaked battery acid inside the battery compartment. Talk about a downer. > > I have spare ear plugs so I wore that with my headset. Not the same > thing but I heard everything okay. > > I thought it was just bad luck. > > On 4/28/20 12:36 PM, Jim Anderson wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > > > multimeter and all but a few of them were near dead. After returning > > > them to Costco, I obtained a fresh pack of AA duracell's and tested them > > > before putting them into the machine. > > > [...] > > > As a 46 year old, this is the first time I've ever bought batteries from > > > such a major manufacturer of batteries that were already dead. So > > > bazaar, but now I know to test them. Sheesh. > > Just a remark about batteries (catching up on list messages that are kind > > of old, as I've been kind of burned out working on my computer from home > > all day): > > > > I've had really poor results with leakage from the big Duracell packs from > > Costco, particularly the AA cells, over a span of many years. I never used > > to have big problems with batteries leaking but I can't even tell you how > > many things I've found with substantial leakage and corrosion from these > > cells, even when they have not reached their 'use before' date. > > > > I don't have conclusive evidence of this, but it seems to me that the > > devices most prone to experiencing leaking batteries were those with strong > > spring tension - I have an analog wall clock which takes a single AA cell > > and keeps a vice-like grip on the battery, and it used to be leaking every > > year even though the battery was still working fine. The gaskets just > > don't seem to be able to take the pressure. Having said that, I have had > > other devices with weaker battery compartment springs experience leakage > > too, it just feels like it happens more frequently in things with strong > > springs. > > > > I'm not sure if the problem is with all modern Duracell AA cells in > > general, or just the ones Costco sells, but I've since given up and > > switched to Energizer which I try to buy in 20-packs at my local drugstore > > whenever I spot them on sale. Not quite as good a price per cell as the > > Costco packs but Energizer does at least have an explicit warranty against > > damage caused by leakage, and I've had good success with them thusfar. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > jim > >
