# Have you ever licked a 9-volt battery? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461 "2011-12-16T22:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/81 "2011-12-25T04:33:44Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > Others have said it but I figured I’d join the chorus. You can get a pretty good idea of how much is left in the thing. If it’s fresh you get the full experience. If it’s dead you mostly just get the metallic taste without much else. We are the chorus, and we agree, we agree. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/82 "2011-12-25T05:55:23Z")
Why can’t you just put it in your radio or whatever and see if it works? Why do you need to test it first? I have never heard of doing such a thing but we always had a battery tester/charger as far back as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/83 "2011-12-25T06:11:25Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Why can’t you just put it in your radio or whatever and see if it works? Why do you need to test it first? I have never heard of doing such a thing but we always had a battery tester/charger as far back as I can remember. If you do not have a battery tester or a voltmeter at hand, and you don’t know if the radio or whatever is broke, it is the last resort of how to test the battery. Moses and Aaron on a stick! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/84 "2011-12-25T06:12:47Z")
Nope. I’ve always been too chicken to even lick a double A. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/85 "2011-12-25T06:57:19Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > (according to people with letters after their names) Like Notorious B.I.G.? 😉 I’m with the “why would you test it THAT way?” crowd. If it doesn’t work in the radio, test it on something that is currently working fine. (And who “checks” batteries anyway? Buy new ones, put them in - doesn’t work? Broken; save the batteries for something else.) ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/86 "2011-12-25T07:06:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Nope. I’ve always been too chicken to even lick a double A. I think you’d have to have a hell of a tongue to make that do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Eel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/977dab/32.png) [@Old\_Eel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Eel)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461/87 "2011-12-25T07:32:15Z")
Never heard of it. I have a thing called a “battery tester” that lets me know if the battery is good. It works on 9V just fine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-licked-a-9-volt-battery/606461.md?page=4)