Luthiery Laboratories

This is a pack of Duracells I found in my dad's closet. The 'use by' date is January 2002, you can see it right there. Yet, there is not a speck of white mange on them. They have not leaked after over twenty years! These batteries were made in the USA. Modern Duracells are made in China, and are pretty much guaranteed to leak in 20 weeks, if not 20 days. The whole point of alkaline batteries once upon a time was that they didn't leak like acid batteries. You paid extra for that.

Now that batteries are all made in China, they all leak, but Duracells are the worst. I strongly recommend you go through your entire house and get rid of all Duracell batteries, regardless of their age. I've had better luck with Rayovac or Energizer, although none are completely trustworthy any more.

Non-existent is the best way to describe the quality of manufacturing in China. I recently had to buy some car tires, and I went out of my way to find some that are not made in China. If a Chinese battery leaks after a few weeks, you might lose a flashlight (or an effect pedal). If a Chinese T-shirt falls apart after six months, oh well. If a Chinese tire blows up on the freeway, you could die.

Here is another modern problem with batteries. The mechanical on/off switch has long-since become extinct. That means that nothing is every really off, it is always on, waiting for you to press the button. Something you use infrequently is going to eat up its battery anyway, and when you need it, it will be dead. I always take the battery out of my gadgets and store it separately. The battery will last much longer, and if it leaks, it won't wreck anything. I haven't used this caliper in ages, but when I put the battery in, it started right up.

Progress is not always forward. Battery technology has been going backwards for decades. Don't even get me started on lithium-ion ...

And once again, I must say that I have nothing against the Chinese people. They did not create the system, they are just trapped in it. I try not to buy anything made in China anymore, because it is all junk. With Covid, Chinese quality only got worse, and with the coming recession/depression, it will get much worse. America must learn to make its own socks and underwear again.