Do vintage batteries for display leak over time?

[TokyoProf]

I have old vintage batteries which have leaked and dried with green acid on the terminals. I also have 20 and 30-year-old batteries that appear perfect on the outside, and which have never been used.
After batteries have leaked and dried is that pretty much the end of all leaking going forward? And, if new but unused vintage batteries appear perfect on the outside, does that mean I will no longer have issues with acid leak since so much time has passed? If 20 years have passed I would think that they will basically look the same for many years going forward.

I will not charge nor use any of my old vintage electronics and are for display purposes only. I feel like most battery leaking occurs within 5-10 years and after that its pretty much the same state after that...
Do you keep your vintage batteries in your display in any special way?

[TRX-1-3]

I have this grand idea as some have had before to make weighted dummy cells and solder those into display packs to avoid this very issue. I had a display pack of vintage cells in one of my buggies and pulled it out as soon as some of the terminals started getting fuzzy. I wasn't going to wait and see what would happen. One thing is for sure though, the best display builds are the ones that look like all you gotta do is flip the switch and drop it on the track...

[Frankentruck]

I have a really nice RC10CE. It's not perfect, but the only real blemish is a spot between the battery cups where a battery leaked and scarred the chassis. No storing batteries in vintage RCs for me.

[1911Colt]

Maybe there is a market there for someone to exploit. Manufacture tiny metal can sized like a NiCad but have the "positive terminal" be a plug. Use the plug to add BBs or lead or whatever to weight it properly. People could print or buy the decals they want for their application.

[LowClassCC]

Maybe there is a market there for someone to exploit. Manufacture tiny metal can sized like a NiCad but have the "positive terminal" be a plug. Use the plug to add BBs or lead or whatever to weight it properly. People could print or buy the decals they want for their application.

there have been cell place holders made and sold in the past for this. they were made from cuts of carbon fiber tube. i want to say Associated sold them but i'm probably wrong on that.

[Mark Westerfield]

Just 3D print some...

[1911Colt]

Just 3D print some...

I think the metal cans would look much better than printed. You could heat shrink the proper color (red, yellow, purple, black), and solder bars and wires on them just like the originals.

It just occurred to me that not everyone assembled packs from loose cells like I did. So the bars and wires may not matter to some folks. No doubt it would be cheaper and easier to 3D print a Tamiya hard case.

[V12]

I have had both, old cells leak and not leak. As the leaked stuff could be dangerous to health I binned most of those cells.

What I found is
Cells which have been pushed or treated in some way to lower IR and making more power will leak at some point.
Cells which have been not pushed might leak not or just slightly.
That´s for Sanyo and Panasonic cells.

The very early cells (GE, Varta etc.) will leak, more or less. I keep a couple of GE cells because those are super rare now.
The early Intellect cells leak badly. I binned them long ago.

GP cells might leak a bit or not. But they have been high quality cells anyway.

Some cells leak just a bit that way, the cell connectors corrode a bit but you can´t see any bad signs at the cells.
I keep such batteries.

I think the same, if batteries have not leaked or just slightly within 20 years, they will keep the same condition most likely.

But I charged a 1200SCR pack which looked quite good. Charging by moderate current and the battery accepted and hold the voltage.
But after applying a very small load the voltage collapsed. There was no energy stored.

[Lowgear]

This is a great topic, and I know it's been touched upon here before. I swear there's a thread or two of someone creating fake cells.

Last summer I think it was I became interested in buying old used battery packs, and have the same concerns. I ended up buying a few in nice shape, and as soon as I got them I immediately put them on a discharger to make sure they were drained completely dead. It would be nice to know what if any steps can be taken to help prevent leaks or corrosion. It seems to be the luck of the draw at the moment.

Also, I imagine the environment they've been stored in plays a factor. Temperatures, humidity, etc...

[V12]

I´m not sure if it makes a difference, if the cells hold a small charge or are compleley dead voltage. It will make a difference if you want to run them but maybe not for colllection purpose only.

Quite all of the cells I had which were pushed, VISed or in any way treated leaked. Most of them badly.
Maybe the only exception so far had been the GP 4600 based batteries.

I also have a few batteries which didn´t got the green acid but some white powder, which seems not to corrode connectors. These are Sanyo 1400 SCR cells, which are not pushed.
They also never got dead discharged.

The reason for leak usually is if the safety valve at the top was activated. And it could by overcharging as it was done in the past. Any high thermal charge will end in activating the valve at some point.
If the valve was activated once, there will be some of the electrolyte disappear and corrode the connectors. Cleaning could help.

Another reason is if the safety valve or the seal ages and don´t work properly. I think in this case there is no chance to prevent the corroding.

[LowClassCC]

Here are the Team Associated cell place holders I mentioned previously. I don't know it you can still find them but they would not be very hard to make. cut some metal disks to glue on the ends and shrink wrap them as you see fit.

[TRX-1-3]

Maybe there is a market there for someone to exploit. Manufacture tiny metal can sized like a NiCad but have the "positive terminal" be a plug. Use the plug to add BBs or lead or whatever to weight it properly. People could print or buy the decals they want for their application.

I've had the idea of using wooden dowels of the proper diameter, bored out and weighted, tin end plates/discs, cell label shrink wrap, solder it up and shrink wrap the whole thing over. I am thinking side by side packs, not sticks.

Here's a thread for a look.....dummy stick packs
https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=32872&p=388929

[juicedcoupe]

Anymore, I'd think that 3D printing something would be the best option, especially if they will be covered.

[Dangeruss]

If you want display batteries, Ebay and Amazon sell "fake C battery pill safes".

[juicedcoupe]

If you want display batteries, Ebay and Amazon sell "fake C battery pill safes".

Those are larger than sub-c nicd and nimh batteries, by a good bit.