Quote:
Originally Posted by Hartley118
three Duracell D cells from a 'barn find' Bruel & Kjaer sound level meter. When I saw that there were batteries still present in the instrument, I mentally wrote off the battery chamber, expecting it to be corroded to oblivion. However, these three cells, with September 1995 expiry dates are completely leak-free. They're probably at least 25 years old! Comparison with today's corrosion problems suggests that 'they don't make 'em like they used to  . |
Duracell seem to have changed their manufacturing processes in the late 1990s resulting in the problems frequently discussed here. Before then they were some of the best alkaline batteries available with a phenomenal shelf life. NATO bought all their batteries from Duracell then, and when they passed their expiry dates you could confidently buy them from surplus shops knowing that they had many years of life left in them. NATO started buying from Varta after Duracell went down the pan.