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Best way to store C2016 batteries?

D

daviddschool

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have about 40 C2016 batteries kicking around. I want to store them,
but someone told me if they are touching each other in a bag they
might lose the charge...what is the best method (besides selling them
on Ebay to get rid of them!)
 
B

Baron

Jan 1, 1970
0
daviddschool said:
I have about 40 C2016 batteries kicking around. I want to store them,
but someone told me if they are touching each other in a bag they
might lose the charge...what is the best method (besides selling them
on Ebay to get rid of them!)

I keep my battery stock in plastic zip bags in the fridge. They will
keep for years if kept cool.
 
H

hr(bob) [email protected]

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have about 40 C2016 batteries kicking around.  I want to store them,
but someone told me if they are touching each other in a bag they
might lose the charge...what is the best method (besides selling them
on Ebay to get rid of them!)

They will short out if there is a metallic path from one end of a
battery to the other, which could be thru 6 other batteries if they
happened to be arranged in such a manner that there is continuity.
Put some masking tape over one of the two contacts and put them all in
the refrigerator as the previous poster suggested.
 
L

lurk

Jan 1, 1970
0
I dunno know about the fridge thing but seems my devices that run on
batteries the batteries don't hold up well in the cold weather...always
carry cameras recorders in the jeep year round....just my thought


I have about 40 C2016 batteries kicking around. I want to store them,
but someone told me if they are touching each other in a bag they
might lose the charge...what is the best method (besides selling them
on Ebay to get rid of them!)

They will short out if there is a metallic path from one end of a
battery to the other, which could be thru 6 other batteries if they
happened to be arranged in such a manner that there is continuity.
Put some masking tape over one of the two contacts and put them all in
the refrigerator as the previous poster suggested.
 
B

Baron

Jan 1, 1970
0
lurk said:
I dunno know about the fridge thing but seems my devices that run on
batteries the batteries don't hold up well in the cold
weather...always
carry cameras recorders in the jeep year round....just my thought

Well the idea was for long term storage of batteries ! As you have
discovered the chemical reactions that produce the electricity slow
right down in cold conditions. Hence storing them in the fridge.
 
J

JeffM

Jan 1, 1970
0
daviddschool said:
I have about 40 [each] C2016 batteries kicking around.
Keeping them in their original packaging
(showing their expiration dates) would be the gold standard.
I want to store them, but someone told me
if they are touching each other in a bag they might lose the charge.
This would be a *specific* kind of "touching" (aka "short circuit").
If they are just loose to touch each other any way they might,
there is no guarantee some won't align that way.

To store them, get a tubular pill bottle
that is just big enough for them to fit
and stack them in the bottle.
Fill any extra space (with packets of silica gel)
so the cells don't change position.

....and putting masking tape on a battery would leave residue.
I wouldn't do that.
what is the best method (besides selling them on Ebay
to get rid of them!)
To dispose of chemical waste (e.g. batteries),
put them aside until the next Toxics Roundup in your locale
then find someone who has stuff and give them to him to take.
 
J

Jim Yanik

Jan 1, 1970
0
I dunno know about the fridge thing but seems my devices that run on
batteries the batteries don't hold up well in the cold weather...always
carry cameras recorders in the jeep year round....just my thought




They will short out if there is a metallic path from one end of a
battery to the other, which could be thru 6 other batteries if they
happened to be arranged in such a manner that there is continuity.
Put some masking tape over one of the two contacts and put them all in
the refrigerator as the previous poster suggested.

they are lithium cells and don't need refrigeration for a long shelf life.
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
clifto said:
It would make common sense to me to believe that the relative humidity in
a refrigerator would be pretty high.


It is, put a hygrometer in there sometime.
 
J

Jim Yanik

Jan 1, 1970
0
It is, put a hygrometer in there sometime.

every time you open the door,moist room air enters and condenses on the
cold walls and items inside. that's why the freezer has to have a defrost
cycle or be defrosted periodically,and there's a drip pan underneath the
fridge.

My folks used to yell at us kids for having the fridge door open too long.
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim said:
every time you open the door,moist room air enters and condenses on the
cold walls and items inside. that's why the freezer has to have a defrost
cycle or be defrosted periodically,and there's a drip pan underneath the
fridge.

My folks used to yell at us kids for having the fridge door open too long.


It condenses on the walls because the relative humidity is high. The
total amount of moisture in the air is lower as the temperature drops,
but relative humidity takes this into account.
 
S

Sjouke Burry

Jan 1, 1970
0
clifto said:
It would make common sense to me to believe that the relative humidity in
a refrigerator would be pretty high.
Its low. All the moisture is frozen to the boy of the
freezer. Thats why you have to defrost them on occasion.
 
A

Adrian C

Jan 1, 1970
0
James said:
It condenses on the walls because the relative humidity is high. The
total amount of moisture in the air is lower as the temperature drops,
but relative humidity takes this into account.

Someone remind me.

What's the reaction between Lithium and Water?

These are Lithium CR2016 cells? Wouldn't having one of them short out
inside a wet refrigerator be the first step to buying a new house in a
different town?
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
Adrian said:
Someone remind me.

What's the reaction between Lithium and Water?

These are Lithium CR2016 cells? Wouldn't having one of them short out
inside a wet refrigerator be the first step to buying a new house in a
different town?


To be fair, there isn't much lithium in on of those, it's not like it
would blow up the refrigerator.

Batteries are sealed anyway, unless the seal fails and they leak,
moisture should not get in any more than electrolyte gets out.
 
B

bz

Jan 1, 1970
0
It condenses because it's cold.

The air in a refrigerator is very dry. This is one of the reasons
vegetables wilt -- they lose the moisture that "props up" the cell
walls.

Actually, both of you were right, in a way.
The relative humidity in a refrigerator IS generally very high.
But the absolute humidity in a refrigerator is generally very LOW.

Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air divided by the
amount of water vapor the air CAN hold at that temperature when it is
totally saturated with water vapor. Cold air holds less water vapor when
saturated than warm air.

Opening the door brings in air that contains more water vapor than the air
in the refrigerator can hold (the dew point of the incoming air is above
the temperature of the refrigerator) so water condenses on surfaces. Most
of the water condenses on the coldest surface which is the evaporator coil
of the refrigerator (the coil where the compressed freon evaporates,
cooling the coil).

As for batteries, I would expect that some kinds of batteries [Gel cells,
for example] would lose moisture in a refrigerator. I would NOT expect
sealed cells to lose moisture at a significant rate, when stored in the
lower part of the refrigerator, where fruits and veggies are usually
stored.


--
bz

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected]
 
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