Old battery question?

[Peter B]

Raking through some old photo stuff recently I've found camera batteries that were bought and never used (CR2, 123 and the like), some of them several years out of date. Some of them are for cameras I no longer have, so I can't just run them through to flatten them. Some others are lithium, and I'm not sure the usual battery recycling boxes in shops will take them. Any good cheap and easy solutions gratefully accepted!

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•



The European policy in these matters discriminates not
battery types… it's all electrochemical compounds; and
should all be recycled in a safe way.

Because of the heavy metals they may contain, there are
much concerns about seeing them in the environment.

 

[Peter B]

•
The European policy in these matters discriminates not
battery types… it's all electrochemical compounds; and
should all be recycled in a safe way.

Because of the heavy metals they may contain, there are
much concerns about seeing them in the environment.

They'll be properly recycled Daniel, but generally the recycling people want used/dead batteries, not ones which are still unused and which may or may not have a decent amount of life in them, so I'm looking for hints on exhausting them first.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

I'm looking for hints on exhausting them first.

The ones with the higher inner resistance —usually
not rechargeable— may be shunted. Since they are
old, not much juice will remain in these. A simple al-
ligator will do the trick on the flat ones, generating
little or no heat.

Cylindric forms batteries may also be shunted but not
so easily. Because of their greater capacity, using a
1V resistance will empty them in a relatively short time
without running into trouble.

The same goes for the lesser resistance batteries but
be sure to get a stronger resistance as they release
their stored energy much faster and that may burn a
weaker resistance cell and may create damage.

CAUTION
Always perform in open air and on a fire resistant surface.

 

[GreenNinja67]

I haven't got any Alligators, can I use a common garden Cayman instead?

 

[Kodiak Qc]

can I use a common garden Cayman instead?

 

[Peter B]

I've a mixture of 3v and 6v, so probably best to get a bulb from a torch and wire it up?

 

[Kodiak Qc]

I've a mixture of 3v and 6v, so probably best to get a bulb from a torch and wire it up?

Yes, a bulb will indicate the level of left over energy.
I think a 1.5V bulb would be ok if the on-loaded bat-
very does not exceed double the value of the bulb.

 

[Peter B]

Thanks Daniel, I'll give it a go in the next few days.

PS. we call them crocodile clips over here!

 

[Kodiak Qc]

PS. we call them crocodile clips over here!

In Canada and the other countries I know in the
three Americas, since there are only alligators…

Do I understand you have crocs and caymans in the UK?

 

[Peter B]

Nah, these are the only crocs we've got here http://www.crocs.co.uk/

 

[Kodiak Qc]

Nah, these are the only crocs we've got here http://www.crocs.co.uk/

Neither threatening nor useful for your purpose!

 

[RumpFace]

Offer them up on the film users page on here, someone will have them i imagine, even if they're past date.

 

[Peter B]

Offer them up on the film users page on here, someone will have them i imagine, even if they're past date.

Problem is that the Royal Mail don't like lithium batteries, so that means sending by courier at inflated prices for potentially useless batteries. I'll maybe get in touch with some politicians who seem happy to throw away money for nothing.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

so that means sending by courier

In most central Europe countries I know,
batteries retailers must have a special
box where consumers may drop old bat-
series… however old.

 

[Peter B]

In most central Europe countries I know,
batteries retailers must have a special
box where consumers may drop old bat-
series… however old.

We have these here as well, but they're for dead batteries only, and at least some of them exclude lithium ones.

 

[RumpFace]

Are they in blister packs? Then they should be ok.

 

[Mr Badger]

Most council run 'household waste' centres have battery recycling facilities, so maybe have a look on your local council website to see if there are any details of what they can recycle there? Failing that, give them a call and ask, I'm pretty sure they will be able to take lithium batteries these days, as most laptops and modern digital cameras use lithium based battery packs.

 

[Peter B]

Thanks guys, I'll take a run into our local recycling centre and see what the current position is.

 

[Alastair]

With lithium button cells, wrap a short piece of tape around them before putting into the battery box. I had a safety advisory come through a couple of years ago after a fire in a battery recycling collection box - when they all get dumped into the box there's an infrequent possibility of a short circuit pathway forming amongst the loose batteries. I'm only aware of the one incident, but it prompted the recycling company to send the advisory around all their agents (I had a client who was a battery box collection agent).