If you look around, you may be amazed with the amount of equipment that uses batteries. They are in things as small as Remote Controls and as life saving as Fire detectors. But how safe are we from batteries.
Recently Dell computer has recalled batteries in some of their portable computers. The batteries overheat and when they do they can cause fires. The batteries are made by Sony and Sony supplies batteries for many other portable computers than those made by Dell. So far there’s no over all plans to recall Sony batteries. In fact, Sony is saying the problem isn’t in the batteries, but with an incompatibility between the battery cells and Dell’s charging system.
One thing we all need to be aware, while batteries are a way of today’s life, they need to be used and disposed of properly. Batteries are made of chemicals and many of these chemicals can be dangerous and can cause a hazard to the environment. It’s best to recycle the batteries than simply to put them in the garbage.
Here’s some safety tips for use of batteries. These came from the Rayovac web site.
1. Fire – Never dispose of batteries in a fire. They may rupture, releasing internal ingredients.
2. Promptly remove dead or weak batteries from devices.
3. Never mix old and new batteries in a device. Battery leakage may occur. Replace all batteries in a device at the same time.
4. Never mix battery types in a device. Battery leakage may occur. Examples of battery types are alkaline, heavy duty, rechargeable.
5. Recharge batteries in the charger designed for the battery.
6. Carefully install batteries in the correct polarity direction ( + and -) per the device manufacturer’s instructions.
7. Do not leave battery powered devices switched “on” after the batteries are exhausted. Battery leakage may occur.
8. Remove batteries from any device that will be stored for long periods of time.
9. Store batteries in a cool, dry location. Avoid temperature extremes. Keep batteries in original package until you are ready to use them.
© 2006 Steven G. Atkinson – All rights reserved – tt4sb.com
