What could cause an AA battery to get extremely hot?

Factual Questions
1

Last night, I was watching TV, and when I picked up the remote, it was almost too hot to touch! That was certainly freaky, and I figured out that one of the batteries was overheated. I changed the batteries, and the remote quickly cooled down (and worked all along).

Because the battery stayed hot, instead of discarding it in the trash, I put it in an empty soup can and set it out on my porch so it couldn’t ignite anything.

What would cause that? I’ll probably just leave the battery outside for the time being.

2

Sounds like an internal short or maybe a metal sliver got dislodged into the battery holder.

3

It definitely sounds like a short of some sort or other. What sort of short, we couldn’t say without examining the battery.

Certainly what you did so far is a good idea, but also keep an eye on the remote to make sure that the replacement battery doesn’t overheat, too.

4

It’s right in front of me. It’s room temperature.

5

Firing too many rounds at incoming aircraft without taking time to cool down the gun barrels, or not adjusting your proximity fuzes to the correct burst altitude.

::D&R::

Tripler
That’s the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the title. :grin:

6

Step… away… from the explosives. Slowly.

7

You eat soup from a can?

8

No but I use soup from a can for recipes.

9

Well if you don’t where do you put an overheated battery? Putting an overheated battery in a can that still had soup in it would be silly.

10

Folks, I used the battery to heat the soup.

j/k

I always keep a clean can on hand for grease and other yuckies that I shouldn’t pour down the sink. I used that.

11

What could cause an AS battery to get extremely hot?

I once had a dead AA battery and couldn’t find a replacement. I needed a working AA for fifteen seconds. So, I put the (not rechargeable) battery in a charger for ten minutes or so. It got very hot, but it did what I needed, then I threw it away. In an empty dog food can.

12

Once upon a time, I was taking a bunch of pictures with flash and I had many AAs in my pocket. Also relevant to the story is that I regularly get change (coins) that clog my pockets. Part way through shooting these pictures my pocket grew incredibly hot. When I use that term, I mean you literally could not hold a battery for 2 seconds because it was like hot lava. The coins created a short circuit.

AIUI batteries can short internally. If fresh batteries fix the problem…