Duracell ruined my GPS

GyroRon

Former Gyro know it all
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
16,888
Location
Fort Mill South Carolina
Aircraft
Vans RV4 / Dominator 582 Ultrawhite
Total Flight Time
ALOT
Went and dug out my old trusty Garmin pilot III out of the cabinet last saturday to use for my flight to the carolina barnstormers event and noticed some corrosion on the outside of the unit. It wouldn't power up either. So I take the battery cover off and notice one or more of the batteries had spilled out its contents and leaked into the device, ruining it. Heck I couldn't even get the batteries out of it, they were frozen in with the corrosion.

This is the second unit Ive lost to batteries going bad. Lost a nice color 295 a few years back the same way.

Its my fault I guess because the batteries were expired. They were labelled good till 2014.

Anyways, I threw the old 295 in the trash once I knew it was no good, but afterwards someone told me I should have contacted duracell, because they guarantee their batteries will never leak out, and duracell would have bought me a new GPS. I am wondering if thats true. I haven't thrown the pilot 3 away just yet in case there is any truth to that
 
Meant to add, has anyone ever dealt with duracell to try to get them to replace something their batteries ruined?
 
Yes , check with Duracell Ron

Years ago I bought the expensive CC AM Radio made by the C Crane company , I could pick up radio stations 1000 miles away

Then the (Rayovac) batteries corroded and ruined it , the Rayovac company label said they would replace any device if the batteries went bad so I called them .... all I had to do was send them the radio and the failed batteries in a sealed Ziploc bag , they said it would only cost me the postage to ship it and they would take care of replacing it.

Trouble is two days later when I went to package it up my wife had thrown the batteries in the garbage and I was out of luck

Anyway , I found the battery company was absolutely prepared to stand behind their guarantee so give it a try
 
Bummer, Ron. I always take the batts out of my GPS if I'm putting it away for more than a few days, for fear of this sort of thing.
 
Ron, the title of this thread isn't really fair to Duracell. If you put expired mayonaise on a chicken sandwich, it's not fair to say "Hellman's ruined my picnic."

Your GPS manual probably included a warning not to store long-term with batteries inside, too, let alone expired ones.

This is not Duracell's fault, and if they bought you a new GPS it would be a bonus.
 
Ron, All...please remove batteries during long storage (> 6 month). Even during 'off' some current will flow due to current leakage. As a try you could apply some diluted white vinegar to the terminal ends and see if that will get 'em out; let 'em fizz a bit. After removal use rubbing alcohol to clean up the mess and dry as best you can. Let it dry in AC a day before replacing new.

Chris
 
Hello Ron

Could be just corroded terminals.

Chris has good solution to clean up the corrosion.

Before replacing new batteries use sort of WD40 for corrosion prevention.

Use the best stick to Duracell.

Best Wishes
Rehan
 
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Ron,

If you don't have luck on the warranty with Duracell, you might try giving Garmin a call about it. Probably worth a try.

Over the years I have had a lot of good luck with companies, from Weber to First Alert, to Eastpak, MSR-Whisperlite, and others who bend over backward to stand behind their products even if the damage is not really their responsibility. Worth a call anyway.

M
 
Duracell batteries have ruined more than one device I have owned...
Even if they "expire" , why do they leak corrosive stuff?
Mine leaked way before expiration dates.
Damaged a $100 led flashlight.
I would call and raise hell...
 
I bought a little swivel LED light to clip on my sun visor in my work truck so I could use it instead of turning on the dome light after dark. I didn't have it a month and noticed the light was dimming so I removed the batteries to see what kind I needed to get. 2 of the 3 batteries were already leaking. They weren't Duracell batteries but I thought they ought to last more than a month. Of course, there's no telling how long it sat in a warehouse somewhere.
 
Duracell are not the only batteries that leak, most given time will leak & corrode
 
I just recently took my Uniden handheld monitor out of storage to find that the Energizer batteries had leaked badly.

I called Energizer and explained the situation. I offered to send pictures and/or the radio as proof but instead was offered compensation without any proof!

I received a check within 10 days.
 
I quit purchasing Duracell batteries about two years ago. Their new types leak like a sieve.
All of mine also leaked way before expiration dates and they were not anyway near drained of voltage. Ruined several flashlights, a camera and a clock. I switched to EverReady and so far have not had one of them leak.
 
Duracell is different from cheap batteries by not using the zinc electrode as a beaker, which is bound to leak, once the zinc runs out (duh). I believe Energizer use the same technology. If you buy the high grade one, they will hold more charge than ordinary batteries, that is not just advertisement, but fact. And once worn out they will not leak immediately.
This being said, the electrolyte is corrosive and will eventually eat through the stainless steel container. It just takes a little longer.

edit: Ed, you posted in parallel. Maybe they changed their recipe now, my information is 3 years old, when I worked on a project in their plant.

Kai.
 
I didn't put expired batteries in it..... the batteries were brand new when I installed them. But I installed them a few years ago, back when I still had my two place dominator ( this is the GPS I used on it ) I just haven't had a need to even look at it since I sold the gyro, and so the GPS has sat in a drawer in my hangar till last saturday.

The GPS is ate up... there is no saving it. while trying to get the batteries out, the metal spring coil and some of the plastic its built into fell out.

Same exact thing happened to my 295 a few years ago, but the difference with it was I used it regularly.... but it had a power cord and ran off the planes power. The batteries were in it, strickly as a backup incase the planes power were lost in flight. Since there are times I might not fly for a month or more the last few years, the GPS could sit dormant for a while, and thats how I discovered it was messed up. Went to take a flight and tried to turn on the 295 and it wouldn't power up. Ended up taking it off the ram mount and took the back off to check the batteries and it was all ate up with corrosion. I took the GPS apart and two of the circuit boards were heavily ate up inside. I just chucked it in the trash.

anyway I called duracell yesterday. Typical response.... lady on phone seemed clueless and just follows some type of protocol. They are mailing me a label to use to ship them back the GPS and batteries and they will have their " Damage investigators " look at it and make a decision. The Pilot 3 is long been discontinued so to replace it, looks like I would need one of those 600$ Garmin touch screen units. I don't really care. If they replace it great, if not I won't cry. I can totally see them denying fault since the batteries were left in past expiration. Although its totally possible they leaked out before that date.

Last few years Ive seen people with Ipads with a GPS program that looks like it would be far better than anything Garmin ever made. I still haven't drunk the Apple koolaid, but did just recently get a Samsung Note 4 and downloaded a aviation GPS app that looks alot like the one people use on their Ipads. I haven't tried it out yet, but if it works as good as it looks I won't need a replacement for the pilot 3.
 
And regardless of the leakage, I still think duracells last far longer than most other name brand batteries.
 
Damaged a $100 led flashlight.
I would call and raise hell...

Dang it.
Caught my eye, because this afternoon I bought two LED flashlights. 1 takes 2 x D cell batteries, and is rated at 600 lumens. The package says good for 200 to 400 meters. A single Cree T6 LED.

You know what? Dang thing IS that good. Unbelievable!
At 50 metres the beam is about 1.2 metres wide (4ft) with a lighter cleanly defined, evenly lit large halo. (Very deep lens shape... must be all in the design!) Solid machined black anodized aluminium.

And it cost me Rp147,000..... = US $11.00.

The other is 3 xAAA. 250 Lumens. Single Cree XPE LED.
150 metres. Rp 79,000 = US $6.00.

Zehn brand. You guessed it, with a name like that.
Made in China.
I will see how long they last.
 
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