I mean seriously. I’m always digging top name brand batteries like Energizer, Duracell etc. out of equipment where they have leaked all over the place after a few years of idleness. It’s 2010, why the hell is it so impossible to design an affordable, leak proof consumer battery?
it is possible to make a more leak proof battery though it would have to be much larger (for the same amount of lifetime) or not last as long (for the same size). no disposable battery for the consumer market is expected to have years of useful lifetime, that i know of.
Useful uptime of course not, but when the battery is dead it should not begin leaking it’s vital essences all over the place.
and to get that the battery would need to be much bigger or not last as long as they do now.
with the current state of batteries, consumer training on not leaving batteries in a device beyond 6 to 12 months is the best that can be had. the world is a better place now with alkaline batteries, with carbon zinc batteries you would have had 3 months.
Also, in order to get longer battery life, manufacturers have made the casing thinner than they were back in the 60s (it may not seem like much, but a 64th of an inch all around give more room for the chemicals). Thinner casing means more likelihood of leaking.
Maybe it your usable patterns or equipment. I think the last time I saw a leaking battery was at least 20 years ago.