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Comments: Exploding 9V Duracell alkaline battery

145 comments

Today, when I was checking a terrarium for more baby Centruroides flavopictus 2nd instar scorpions to be moved to a container of their own, I suddenly heard a very loud plop, loud enough to hurt my ear. Esme and her mother were down in the livingroom and heard it as well. At first I had no idea where the sound had come from. Esme and her mother told me that it was coming from where I was standing.

Read the rest of Exploding 9V Duracell alkaline battery.

Comments

I did not hear the one on my desk but it also blew but this one was not in a circuit. It had the black plastic cover in place.

bf

Posted by bigfoot at 15:48 GMT on 27 October 2007

Oddly enough, I came to your website after doing a search of "exploding Duracell batteries" for my brother. He installed a Duracell battery into his universal remote and one of his AAA batteries exploded for no apparent reason. I found a few other similar stories (one is in the UK version of PC World in Aug. 2007), so I immediately went to my battery stock to make sure I didn't have any Duracells on hand.

Posted by Tracy F at 13:42 GMT on 4 December 2007

i had one in my pocket with some loose change (idiot) and i pulled it out and it was extremely hot, and exploded in my hand. Scared the crap out of me.

Posted by austin at 18:33 GMT on 7 December 2007

Hello

Five nights ago i heard a loud POP sound in my kitchen, and i wondered what made it...

Six days later I found a Nine Volt Duracell Battery I had on my computer desk for a couple of months (not connected to anything) blew the bottom end off.. one out of six small battery's blew out and found one another half out of the case..never found the missing battery yet, I am sure I will find it sometime...I wonder if anyone had the same problem....

Thanks Woodworker

Posted by Woodworker at 01:58 GMT on 3 January 2008

I've just had exactly the same experience. A Duracell 9V battery - this one inside a smoke detector. A very loud pop, that I knew was close but couldn't find out where it had come from. Thought initially it must be my laptop battery or something else electric - but no luck there. Then the smoke detector started beeping - running on 5 of 6 cells I guess is equivalent to being out of juice and it gave itself away. The battery was nearing the end of its life anyway - the other smoke detector with a battery of the same age started beeping the same day. Does anyone know if this is a common occurrence? First I've heard of it.

Posted by aw at 23:59 GMT on 3 January 2008

December 2007 A loud shot, thought it was gun fire. Duracell AA alkaline batteries in a small toy shot out of the toy and across the room. No moisture, no heat, no direct sunlight or any other cause known. Are these dangerous?

Posted by carol at 01:23 GMT on 5 January 2008

A couple nights ago I was upstairs in my condo and I heard a very loud POP downstairs in my living room. I ran downstairs and worried that something happened to my furnace. When I got downstairs I saw a round flat silver object on my living room laminate flooring. I could not figure out what it was or why that was on my floor or where the noise came from. Then the next morning I was looking at the silver round object again and it occurred to me that it was the end of a battery. Sure enough... on my bookcase I had 2 AA Duracell batteries sitting there and one of them blew. I don't understand why it happened and what would cause such force and loud pop from such a small battery. Strange.

Posted by Den at 03:23 GMT on 7 January 2008

I was sitting here working on my laptop with a wireless mouse. I heard a loud pop in the mouse and took the batteries out. they would crackle and pop at random. This is weird.

Posted by Jeff at 21:35 GMT on 8 January 2008

Replaced the 9V battery in one of my smoke detector 2 weeks ago, this morning it popped making all the detectors go off in my house.I removed the 9V which was hot and making a sizzling sound, I placed it in the garbage and it popped one more time!

Posted by Shawn at 16:02 GMT on 30 January 2008

A 9 volt Duracell battery sitting on my desk for the past 2 months exploded this morning with a very loud bang..maybe they self destruct as this one had a Mar 2008 date....and this is Mar 1st. This one did have power in it as I used it in Dec. I sent Duracell a note...I wonder what they will say about it.

Posted by john at 17:28 GMT on 1 March 2008

I was using one of those vibrating razors from gillette this morning in the shower and the battery exploded. Duracell AAA. what gives?

Posted by Patrick at 20:57 GMT on 24 March 2008

I heard several loud pops last night, then the fire alarm started the low battery beeping sound. When we took the battery out of the alarm, it popped again and the top of the battery was separated from the body of the battery. I double checked this morning and it was a Duracell 9 Volt.

Posted by Anke at 15:51 GMT on 3 April 2008

i just had an energizer battery in my mouse that popped. scared the shit out of me . . . it is now starting to hiss at me . . . crazy stuff . . . never knew something like this could happen

Posted by Dave at 17:31 GMT on 3 April 2008

Most of the comments are pretty recent. I just had a Duracell AAA battery explode 10 minutes ago __in my noise canceling headset while I had it on!__. I had the headset for a while and it never gave me any problems, and I had these batteries in it for roughly 2 weeks now.

My left ear (where the battery compartment for the headset is) feels a bit weird (the pop was *very* loud). I might have to go to a doctor and have it checked.

Posted by Eihab at 17:15 GMT on 18 April 2008

Bloody hell. I started hearing "pop-pop" sounds from my amplifier, thought the speaker broke or something, so I turn it on, it works fine. I turn it of, another "pop". I take the battery out, it pops, I see the end piece is falling off. Mom comes in, takes it in her hand, it pops. We put it on the table to try and figure out what the hell is going, it blasts the plastic and one of the cells out like a bullet.

Does anybody know why is this happening?

Posted by Anonymous at 12:03 GMT on 25 April 2008

I threw a Duracell 9 volt in my pocket and walked one flight of stairs to replace a chirping smoke alarm. It popped in my pocket, and after figuring out where the sound came from I pulled it out of my pocket and was inspecting it when it popped again in my hand. Scared the crap out of me. It was then I noticed the explicit warning on the side of the battery to not carry the battery in your pocket.

Posted by elmatt at 03:40 GMT on 28 April 2008

About 10 minutes ago, I heard this extremely loud pop, and thought perhaps my kitchen lightbulb exploded. I went to the kitchen, and the light was fine. Then my smoke detector started chirping, like when the battery is low. I took the cover off, removed the 9v Duracell battery and the end of it was completely torn off - it had exploded! I found this website by Googling Duracell battery exploded. I also found a bunch of articles stating that in certain First Alert Smoke Detectors, manufactured prior to 2000 - you cannot use Duracell batteries. You are to apparently use only Everready or Energizer. Not sure what's up with Duracell batteries - but after reading all of the above posts, and seeing that they are not just the Duracell 9v but the Duracell AAA and others, I am definitely going to contact Duracell to inform them of this website. One of the articles that I had read mentioned that a consumer contacted both Duracell and First Alert and neither one seemed concerned. WTF???? Exploding batteries is not a concern??? Especially after reading above about the ones that exploded, just sitting on a shelf. Something is DEFINITELY WRONG with Duracell Batteries!

Posted by DaynaE at 11:08 GMT on 3 June 2008

Just had a 111 duracell pop in my wireless mouse scary shit happened about 5mins ago - no reason for it

Posted by smity at 07:53 GMT on 7 June 2008

I notice of all these comments, they are all DURACELL batteries! I just a had a Duracell battery explode in my fire alarm, and it was less than a year old!!! It was the middle of the night, and my daughter was screaming, so when the alarm started beeping, I took the battery out in the dark with bare hands... now my thumb is peeling off skin, is this from the battery? Is there acid in it? What is that all about?

Posted by Dina at 21:02 GMT on 7 June 2008

The same thing happened to us with a 9V Duracell in our carbon monoxide detector. We heard two pops, very loud, within maybe 5 minutes of each other.

Posted by buber at 03:24 GMT on 8 June 2008

I've just had a similar experience. A "new" Duracell 9V battery (replaced 10 days ago) inside a smoke detector. A several very loud pops, several hours apart. I couldn't figure out where it had come from. Thought initially it must be my head or something else. Then the smoke detector started beeping and my home alarm sounded briefly. I thought someone broke a window or I had an electrical fire that broke a window?? I searched the house and found nothing. The smoke detector stared to beep again. I decided to check the detector and could not open the battery door. I took down the detector and pride open the battery door, it was jammed with battery parts, three od the cells were exposed from the bottom of the battery. Is a common? Does duracell know about this? Any real hazards? David in Mesa, AZ

Posted by David at 17:17 GMT on 12 July 2008

I just found an exploded duracell 9 volt in the drawer where we store batteries, and another just like it next has clearly expanded and I would guess it's getting ready to blow ... anyone know how to get a rebate?

Posted by wacky battery in Nashville at 19:46 GMT on 13 July 2008

I guess I've just joined the club - I thought someone had fired a gun into the room. I though I was losing my mind until I stepped on an anode in my bare feet and then found a 9 volt Duracell that had exploded (luckily not near my children who were nearby). The battery wasn't even connected to anything - just sitting on the floor. Now that I see AA's and AAA's involved I'm going to be removing all Duracell batteries from my house, and dropping a note to a few select engineers and administrators in my company (we are a manufacturer and have over 70,000 people just in my part of the company - I wonder if we have a purchasing agreement with Duracell?).

Posted by Dave at 18:28 GMT on 15 July 2008

Well..my husband and I heard a popping noise also and didn't know what it was. Nothing happened for about 2 hours and then a very loud POP Again occurred and even woke my husband up. We did replace the battery (which had exploded like so many others in the stories) but we used a DURACELL!!!) Yikes. Tomorrow we're replacing all of the batteries with anything OTHER than duracell. Thanks for comments. We were wondering if we'd be DEAD in the morning! :0

Posted by karen at 07:10 GMT on 4 August 2008

I have had several duracell 9 volt alkaline batteries explode in my fire detectors. (I have about 8 detectors in my house). I have had them pop/explode apart, shortly after installing them. About 3 of my detectors won't reset at all. I don't know if it's just the 9 volts or the brand? Glad I saw all the other comments though.

Posted by Kathy at 00:47 GMT on 26 August 2008

I just heard a loud popping noise in my kitchen. I looked up and saw black stuff had shot from the smoke detector on to the ceiling. The Duracell 9 V battery had exploded. When taken out of the smoke detector it was extremely hot. This is the second duracell battery to have done this in our home. The last time I called duracell, I was told, we will send you a new battery, however, this does not happen. Not sure what to think.

Posted by Virginia at 23:31 GMT on 26 August 2008

i just bought an rc tank off ebay,great fun.i stopped playing for about 20 mins and i heard a bang,the a nother bang,I looked at the batteries on my tank and the acid was pouring out.

Posted by lee at 11:47 GMT on 27 August 2008

Hi, I'm a consumer producer out of the San Francisco Bay Area. I produce the 7 On Your Side consumer segment with Reporter Michael Finney on KGO-TV/ABC7. I would appreciate it if anyone who has experience with exploding duracell batteries to please contact me at randall dot yip at abc dot com.

Thank you.

Posted by Randall at 16:55 GMT on 15 September 2008

I was using the mouse this morning after replacing the batteries with AA Duracell. There was this loud bang from the mouse. i was using it at the time, I screamed and almost s*** myself. What i am saying is, if according to all the comments about Duracell batteries, why is it still happening and happening so often. What is Duracell doing about it?????

Posted by sandy at 22:45 GMT on 25 November 2008

Another exploding 9v duracell alkaline battery story. I removed a battery from my RV smoke detector when I parked the vehicle for the winter and put the battery on its own in a small compartment near my stearing wheel in my car. A couple of months later I was driving and I heard a loud pop that scared the crap out of me and could not figure out where it came from at first. The only thing in the area was the 9 v battery that I took out of the compartment and one of the cells blew out the bottom of the battery. I felt it to see if it was hot and it was not hot so I placed it back where it was and kept on driving. About 10 minutes later it popped again. This time I put it on the floor of the passenger side as I was not sure if it would completely explode or catch fire. What is wrong with these batteries? Expiry date is March 2010 and now it is December 2009. mm

Posted by Anonymous at 17:14 GMT on 3 December 2008

Last week heard a pop, but couldn't find what it was. Thought it was a dog kennel door latching. Last night heard another louder pop and investigated a little further. Found the bottom piece of the battery, not knowing what it was until I found the innards of the battery and casing.

Had another battery with the same dates on it and I'm pretty sure out of the same package right beside it and it was OK.

Posted by ry at 13:27 GMT on 9 December 2008

Sitting here in Australia tonight and just experienced a loud "crack" from my cordless mouse.

Opened the battery compartment and sure enough - acid everywhere and AAA Duracells (expiry date March 2013).

The seal at the -ve end of one of the batteries has separated.

Posted by ES at 12:53 GMT on 27 December 2008

like ten minted ago this happened but it didn't fully explode so it's on the deck, I had to run it out cause I knew it's explode it just popped, I thought it was my laptop

Posted by mike at 07:16 GMT on 2 January 2009

This exploding 9volt experience happened to me as I was watching the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Carolina Hurricanes last night. It came from an expired DURACELL(March 2008)in my smoke alarm. Has anyone recieved an explanation from Duracell yet?

Posted by R.W. from Canada, EH! at 02:20 GMT on 17 January 2009

Same problem.

I opened a new "rack of 9v duracells bought from Costco recently (interesting the expiration is Mar 2008 and they were recently-purchased) and the bottom was pushed out of one of the batteries. Didn't have time to fool with the problem, so I tossed it aside.

Tonight, I was sitting at my computer desk and POW - sizzle. I looked around the whole office, unplugging things and checking chargers, and there on my desk under some stuff was a Duracell 9v battery with the guts blown out of the bottom.

If this many people are seeing this, there have to be literally thousands of these blowing up.

Maybe they need to change the slogan to "popper-top".

Seriously, what is going on?

Posted by DB at 00:22 GMT on 18 January 2009

My morning was interesting and I thought this was just a strange coincidence but after googling "exploding 9 v batteries" I'm thinking that maybe what happening is not so strange.

First my CO monitor was beeping to warn me of low battery. I thought that was weird as I had just replaced it not long ago. When I took the Duracell 9 V battery out it was warm and the bottom had exploded out. I had grabbed another Duracell battery to replace it and put in in my vest pocket. Before I had a chance to put it in, however, I heard a pop and felt heat, and sure enough pulled out a too hot to touch for long exploded battery. The only other thing in my pocket was a tiny foil wrapper from a little chocolate Santa that I had picked up while cleaning house and neglected to throw away. I'm guessing that it just happened to connect the terminals by chance, which in short order caused the explosion. Kinda scary...

Posted by red2blue at 17:19 GMT on 23 January 2009

I bought batteries for my gradson's toy's for christmas. his birthday was this week and got him a toy needing a 9v battery. my wife says we still have one we haven't used yet in the kitchen drawer. picked it up and it is hot as heck. i'm thinking that the stove or something is causing it but the stove isn't on. i mean this thing is hot! so then i said i will google about this and i found this site. in my opinion these things should be recalled before something tragic happens to someone using them. duracell has to already about these issues.

Posted by Dennis at 02:54 GMT on 24 January 2009

I just had a Duracell 9 volt explode in my smoke alarm. All 6 cells. Interestingly my battery has the same expiration date as the photo MAR 2011. Thank you for posting this information.

Posted by PD at 22:58 GMT on 24 January 2009

Sorry to spoil the party, but it is not only the Duracell batteries that explode. I Have just had a Maxenergy 9v explode in my smoke alarm, The expiry date is Mar 2010! I`m glad I found this site because I now know that is very dangerous to handle these batteries, especially after they have just exploded. I`m so glad that it didn`t re-explode when my Wife removed it this morning!

Posted by matt chrome at 10:26 GMT on 27 February 2009

I just had a Duracell 9V explode while sitting on a shelf - just like a 22 and it sprayed a little grey stuff on a nearby wal. It was MAR 2007 battery and I thought it was dead so it was sitting on the shelf to go into the haz waste collection - guess I won't recycle these anymore....maybe I'll juingle Duracell and see what they say.

Posted by Bill at 22:33 GMT on 3 March 2009

While I was practicing on my battery powered practice pad yesterday, the 9V Duracell battery died. I pulled it out and set it on the file cabinet beside the computer desk. This morning I was working at the computer when the dead battery suddenly exploded. So I googled "exploding duracell batteries" and wound up here. I can't believe how many similar stories there are. Kind of freaks me out. I'm thinking maybe I won't buy duracells anymore.

Posted by Ron at 18:54 GMT on 8 March 2009

I went to my cigar box to get a spare 9volt batter, grabbed a duracell and put it in my remote control car. The other battery next to it in the box was an energizer 9volt. It was so hot I couldn't even pick it up. It had been in the cigar box with some AA batteries in a dark closet for months, why was this battery so hot?

Posted by Cyndi at 17:47 GMT on 19 July 2009

I had a similar thing happen to me this morning. A 9V Duracell Ultra exploded in one of my 3 smoke detectors after being in operation for 2-3 years. Expiration date was Mar 2009.

I just had call with Duracell Customer Service and there are certain models of smoke detectors where this is a known issue. But the issue may shed some light on a few other cases...

They say the problem stems from the battery housing being oversized to allow Energizers to fit, whereas Duracells are made to ANSI/IEC-specified dimensions and are smaller. Duracell says having the battery compartment oversized somehow allows the unit, in rare occasions, to effectively attempt to "recharge" the battery instead of only draining it, which leads to the explosion.

As an engineer, this sounds a little fishy, but the only thing I could think of is if one of the leads becomes disconnected/dislodged due to the wiggle room, perhaps that does it? But if that were true, I think it should have exploded several years ago?

I got the impression that, as far as Duracell is concerned, it's a known issue, but a rare issue to them (compared to the number of batteries they sell), so they aren't going to do anything other than replace the exploded batteries and perhaps 'compensate' people to whom this happened.

Anyway, hope this helps.

Posted by New Energizer fan at 21:32 GMT on 30 July 2009

I forgot one last thing about smoke detectors and exploding Duracell 9V batteries.

Duracell said First Alert smoke detectors manufactured between 1998-2001 with model numbers 4120B[RK?] and CO5120B are known to contribute to the problem. (They have the larger battery compartment to suit Energizer-sized 9V)

FWIW - mine is a First Alert SA302 made in 2004.

Posted by New Energizer fan at 03:57 GMT on 31 July 2009

Had a 9 volt duracell battery on my desk.. Thought someone shot a gun. Found the end out of the battery. No reason for this to happen. Duracell, What is the problem?

Posted by Anonymous at 02:38 GMT on 8 September 2009

I have Costco 9v batteries, not installed in anything also blowing the bottoms off of the batteries. So far it seems close to 100 % of them (and I had several Costco paks). This really is a hazard and I am amazed that Duracell is not stepping up to the plate.

Posted by Roy at 01:28 GMT on 9 September 2009

I have four AA batteries in my wireless keyboard, two rechargeable batteries, and two non-rechargeable ones. I was playing a match in a game and one of the batteries exploded. I heard a huge popping noise, and was like WTF. I thought a spring or something messed up, so I started pressing keys but couldn't find anything. After the match finished, I closed the game and bam another exploded. But this time I heard it clearly coming from the bottom, so I flip over the keyboard, and there is battery acid all over. Great. 30 minutes apart, they explode. Coincidence? I think not. Manufacturing issue? I think so.

Posted by Arun at 22:17 GMT on 15 September 2009

My story is eerily similar to a couple of others. Heard a loud bang. Looked around and couldn't find anything obvious. Then 10 minutes later the smoke detector began to chirp (low battery). Upon opening the smoke detector I found that the bottom had been blown off of the Duracell 9 volt battery. Had to wait until the battery cooled down to remove it. Cleaned the detector. Replaced the battery and the smoke detector appears to be working just fine.

Posted by zzoozz at 16:26 GMT on 6 December 2009

I heard a loud pop and ran to turn off my computer (call me paranoid), then my smoke detector started to beep and when I checked the battery, I found that the end of the 9 volt had exploded! It's a hell of a way to be reminded to check the smoke alarms in the house!!

Posted by Jess at 19:11 GMT on 8 December 2009

Just put 3 duracell AAA batterys in a christmas light up LED tree, its been on 24 hours and 1 huge pop and sizzling the negative end of one of the AAA has a hole in the side and is venting mucky brown fluid! ... Good job it was not a kids toy!

Posted by Shane Gosling at 13:57 GMT on 14 December 2009

I had an old safety pin and a 9 volt battery on my computer desk. I was messing around with them and I placed the safety pin on the battery so both ends(- and +) were touching the safety pin. Later on I picked it up and it was hot. I noticed a slight bulging in the black top and bottom parts. I decided maybe I should take the safety pin off... What would of happened if I didn't and it exploded... would have I been hurt.?

Posted by AmberxCoree at 23:58 GMT on 3 February 2010

Sunday evening I heard an unidentified pop, and later found the remains of a Duracel 9V on the floor with one of the cells having blown out the bottom. This was an older battery I had removed from the smoke detector but not thrown away.

Posted by rushwal at 23:02 GMT on 11 February 2010

I had a Duracell 9 volt battery just laying out and I heard a HUGE pop! It took me a while to figure out it was the battery blowing up! The battery was relatively fresh and good - but not hooked up to anything at all. I left it laying there and several days later another of the six internal cells blew up in the same way - BANG!! I'm sure that injury will result eventually as there must be small fragments and perhaps some larger ones being blown out under that pressure.

Posted by Bon at 22:44 GMT on 17 February 2010

I also had a 9v Duracell explode when it was not connected to anything. Is there any explanation as to why this is happening?

Posted by CWS at 17:48 GMT on 20 March 2010

Two weeks ago I jumped out of my chair. Obviously someone took a shot at me in my own bedroom. After an inspection I saw that a Duracell Batt had shot a hole in the plastic container it was in. Right through it!! 2.5" in diameter. Hokey smoke! Last night, the same loud burst. I turned quickly to see my camera case flying through the air (no lie) The Duracell AA Batt had blew the Batt cover off the camera along with a piece of the Camera housing itself. The Batt next to it was OK. Saving it just like that in the case that Procter & Gamble replies to my email. No choice now but to remove all Batts from things lying dormant. If ya can't trust Duracell, what can ya trust. Get on this P & G and fix it. I want my Duracells perfect. Bumpy

Posted by Bumpinthenite at 03:03 GMT on 27 May 2010

July 2010: Today I found 2 Duracell 9V batteries in my battery box with the bottoms exploded open. They were labeled good till March 2009. Glad they weren't installed! I found this site while looking up to see if I handled the powder/residue safely. Duracell says there's no mercury since '93, but not sure about the other stuff. Hope normal hand washing is good enough...

Posted by Jason at 23:51 GMT on 25 July 2010

As described above, I too heard a lound pop similar to a small pistol. Knowing that was not possible I began checking around the house only to discover the smoke detector in our bedroom was making simpering little chirps barely audible. Upon close inspection I discovered the base of the 9V Duracell battery had blown open all along one side. Scared the bejeepers out of me. Do I now need to worry about other Duracell products in my other smoke detectors, cameras, recorders, etc???? Not a comforting feeling. Hypothetical: what if that had happened just as you are going through security at an airport. Conjures up an image, no?

Posted by BillR at 04:16 GMT on 26 July 2010

We had a adult toy lying next to our bed when a loud "pop" startled us. I looked in the the toy and the AAA batteries was foaming and hissing. WTF

Posted by regulator at 16:56 GMT on 28 July 2010

Hi, yestertday we were watching TV and a sudden POP with the cover of the smoke detector on the floor. Looked up, the 9v Duracell exploded, the bottom open... Wow are those what they are sending to the moon (Puclicity...)

Posted by majik at 02:42 GMT on 7 August 2010

I heard a bang from the cupboard the other evening, but could not find the cause. This evening I was using my mouse and it went bang in my hand. The AA duracell/s have exploded and are now busy fizzing and popping. This prompted me to investigate the bang from the other evening, found the same thing in the camera. Not a happy BUNNY as neither items work and the and my nerves are tested as I look around the house for more duracell batteries. I tried to email direct upon the P&G website... guess what, that doesn't work either.

Posted by daz in Bas at 00:28 GMT on 26 September 2010

The same thing happened to me with a Duracell 9 Volt in my smoke detector 1:30 am this morning! I hear a loud pop, but didn't know if I was dreamining it or it was real. I listened in the dark for a while, walked around, didn't hear or see anything other than the smoke detector started the low battery beep, though I just changed it less than two months prior. I have cathedral ceilings, so I said I'd change it in the morning. Went back to bed. A minute later I heard what sounded like a long match being struck. I live alone, got scared and decided to put some clothes on in case I needed to run out of the house. Still not knowing what it was, I heard another pop and a spark fell on my face. I thought for sure it was an electrical fire! Fire department came, found nothing. They decided to change the battery since the low battery alarm was going...and low-and-behold...the battery had exploded! They said they'd never heard of such a thing. Duracell said it happens with incorrect storage (too hot) or placing in rechargable device. I keep my batteries in the fridge and of course the smoke detector is not rechargable. I really think Duracell has a problem here. Thanks for the forum!

Posted by Cherl at 18:51 GMT on 30 September 2010

Duracell AAA batteries just exploded scaring the hell out of me. I thought somebody with a small gun attacked me. Looking around I saw my calculator with a Duracell exploded and destroyed. Can somebody open up a class action to sue these arrogant and aloof Duracell manufactures. Off course they know about this link!

Posted by Joe at 03:24 GMT on 14 November 2010

I had a 9V Duracell explode in my smoke detector. The end opposite the terminal blew off with one of the cells inside dislodging by about 6 mm. it made a loud pop, them the smoke detector started beeping low battery level alarm. Concerning!

Posted by Anonymous at 04:12 GMT on 30 November 2010

I am another victim of the exploding AAA duracell battery only 10 mins ago, in front of my eyes on the coffee table it just went bang. I have just taken it out of my head torch knowing that it was dead, i will no longer be using duracell ever again after reading all the horror stories on this website and i will spread the word.

Posted by marcus at 21:21 GMT on 7 December 2010

Near miss... 5 minutes ago I am was housecleaning when I happened to reach for two 9v Duracell batteries inside a cabinet and damn near burned my fingers off... One of them was extremely hot and scared the crap out of me thought the thing was about to explode on my hand. Got it outside and into the trash container safely.

Posted by Charles at 01:19 GMT on 22 December 2010

I just had a AA Duracell battery explode in one of my Wii remotes that was hanging on the wall next to my TV. I heard a loud pop and then a sound like shaving cream coming out of the can. I looked and inside (the plastic is clear) the battery was fizzing and acid was bubbling out. That was the first time this has ever happened to me. The remote seems to be fine though, don't know why the battery popped? I had both batteries situated in the correct way and everything. Never had this problem with any other battery, not even generic ones.

Posted by YabbaDabba at 23:24 GMT on 29 December 2010

Had a similar experience with a 9 volt exploding in a smoke detector. We didn't know it had exploded the first time...just heard the smoke detector was going off. Husband got it out and handed it to me, my son who is three was standing nearby and wanted it. So I handed it to him and it exploded in his face!!!! He immediately was screaming and covering his eye. My husband jumped down and hurt his ankle trying to get to me and my son to see what the damage was. Duracell better have some answers!!

Posted by Julie at 21:27 GMT on 2 January 2011

I have had Duracell 9V batteries explode in multiple smoke detectors on two seperate occations, we have six detectors in our house. One of the detectors was ruined and had to be replaced. I have also had one explode in the garage door key pad. I've learned my lesson and no longer buy them.

Posted by linny72 at 20:32 GMT on 4 January 2011

As an x-duracell engineer, I can tell you that if you short a battery, nasty stuff happens - known as spontaneous discorporation - internally. Seriously folks... don't put a 9-V in your pants with pocket change - DUH! The First Alert units that cause issues have battery compartments larger than normal. Duracell batteries are exactly as large as they are allowed to be by ASTM specifications. "Fat" batteries like an energizer don't rattle around and short in the first alert. And the first alert battery contact method is unreliable. Can't speak to the single cells like AA and AAA - I only did 9V.

Posted by boss at 04:17 GMT on 10 January 2011

My AA Duracell's just exploded in my atomic clock. I can't tell if both blew or one blew horizontally shoving the other inside the clock. Got part of one of the batteries out the other is in pieces rattling around inside the clock. Only one end of the 2nd battery can be seen but it is lodged and I can't get it out. The clock is ruined.

Posted by Thelma at 02:18 GMT on 12 January 2011

I just had the same experience (of the battery "popping" in a smoke detector) and looked up the 'net and found this site (and several others).

Mine was a 9V Duracell and the end opposite the terminals had blown out.

Posted by iajafer at 21:41 GMT on 20 January 2011

I too had an alarming experience with an exploding battery. This time a 9v PP3 "ELC" (Early Learning Centre) branded battery. Not sure who the actual manufacturer is; could possibly(?) be duracell though unlikely. This battery was totally unused and still in its blister packaging. See here: Exploded battery on flickr

Posted by Greg at 22:20 GMT on 22 January 2011

I just took a battery out of my kids toy and it was popping really loud, scared the crap out of me! It starting hissing at me and leaking white stuff >:O

Posted by Christine at 07:18 GMT on 30 January 2011

I got home and went to my garage, it was cold out, but right when I opened the door, I herd what sounded like a small gunshot went off. I saw a bag fall off my bench. After my ears stopped ringing, I opened the bag, and found a AA duracell battery with the base missing. It happens before, but I didn't know ware it came from.

Posted by jesse at 02:42 GMT on 8 February 2011

Just had a Duracell 9V pop in my fire detector - must have produced some smoke as it set the alarm off. Anyone ever get an answer from Duracell?

Posted by DN at 01:43 GMT on 9 February 2011

Took three Duracell 9V batteries out of a new pack about two months ago. Didn't connect them to anything (I was weighing them for an amateur rocket project)- the batteries have been on a tabletop for the last couple of months- just noticed today the bottom had blown out on one of the batteries. There is granular blue-green material that was propelled out of the battery and landed on the edge of a keyboard. These batteries are not in contact with any other surface. I do not know when the battery exploded.

Posted by ShaneInAz at 16:55 GMT on 12 February 2011

We had and AA Eagle Premium battery get too hot and explode. We have a 130 Science Experiments board and it needs 6 AA batteries. We have had 3 AA get too hot and it always occur in the same battery slot. One time it was a duracell.

Posted by Ellie at 01:55 GMT on 14 February 2011

i was walking into my back bed room when i heard what sounded like a gun shot, "22 shell shot" to be exact, i duckt because i thought someone was shooting at me, and i live in the country so its not like i live on the west side of indy lol. ok bad joke but i relized the 9 volt duracell battery i used in my smoke detector had exploded out the bottom throwing the inside of the battery all over the room....had i been looking at the s,oke detector or changing the battery it could have done irrepreable damage to my self or any one doning the same. i am contemplating filling a suit agains durcell or just not useing there products any more.. what dose every one else think pls let me know at nathan-joseph@hotmail.com

Posted by nathan at 02:04 GMT on 14 February 2011

Just had a AAA Duracell explode. I'm returning them to bed, bath and beyond and NEVER buying Duracell again. I"m going all over the internet and I"m letting everyone know that Duracell is dangerous. HOpe they go out of business...Those asses haven't fixed this issue and it's been at least 3 years??? or more. They just sit and deny deny deny this issue, ripping people off. What material did they skimp on to make these batteries.. Jack offs..

Posted by BSpan at 04:09 GMT on 19 February 2011

It just happened to myself, I'm using Duracel 9V for my smoke detector, and all of sudden "pop" sounded from the smoke detector and it starts chirping, when I checked the battery, it's just exploded....

Posted by televisi at 11:14 GMT on 22 February 2011

the other morning I discovered a black ash type substance on my bedroom wall and along side it was blueish spots resembling mould,that's what I thought it was.Left it alone for several days, forgot to mention it to my wife,five days later she's doing the Saturday house clean and comes across a 9 volt battery with it'top blown off on the floor-behind a tall boy,so we worked out that the black substance and bluey looking mould was actually from the battery .It was three metres away. Boy we got a fright. By the way sitting on top of the tall boy!This battery was a Chinese no name brand

Posted by steel4406 at 08:51 GMT on 26 February 2011

I am yet another victim, of an exploding 9v battery.

Yesterday while at work sitting at my computer typing - there was a very loud pop which scared the life out of me.

I had a very sharp burning pain in my left eye , after trying to blink and open my eye it was then i moved away from my desk and to the toilet to try and wash my eye. After returning into my office i was told that my collegues had found the left over parts of the battery which had just been sitting in a pen pot on my desk (not connected to any current / or near a heat source etc).

I was taken up to the eye hospital and had it washed out and checked - lucky i wasnt too injured, other than slight scratches to my eye.

Posted by Jo at 12:22 GMT on 3 March 2011

Hi, thanks all for info. I too had my smoke alarm explode heaps of thick smoke came out. Anyone else have that too?

Posted by Kylie at 12:33 GMT on 16 March 2011

I was sleeping in the middle of the night and I heard a loud pop on my computer table I got up and turned on the light tought it was computer but computer was on without a problem there was a Duracell procell on the table was laying flat and the end opened I checked it, it was not hot but it exploded and forced the end cap out.I am concerned, what if somewhere else in the house same thing happens again, can it ignite while I am away, does this happen only to Duracell 9 volts or it can happen to other makes and sizes.

Posted by Dariush at 04:14 GMT on 22 March 2011

I was just searching the net when suddenly i felt this pop go inside of my mouse! I gave me a bit of a fright and when i opened it to see what had just happened, the duracell battery that was in there had exploded and was leaking!

It came out of nowhere i just searched the internet after (replacing the battery with a new one) to see why it had happened.

Posted by Louise at 01:05 GMT on 27 March 2011

Like all of the comments on this website, I also had a 9V battery explode. It happened to the battery on 2 different occasions. I had removed it from our gate opener about 3 weeks ago & it was on my kitchen counter in a baggie with other dead batteries (AA) waiting to be recycled. My husband & I searched all over our kitchen looking for the source of the POP with no luck. Last night it happened again. The source of the noise is near an outlet so we both thought that might have been the source.

This morning I called our electrician who installed that plug. After hanging up I noticed the remains of what looked like a firecracker. This was bizarre so I picked up the battery bag & noticed that all off the cells had popped. I have notified Duracell but do not expect to hear from them. I have 4 more 9V batteries with the same expiration date (3/2009) & will get rid of them.

Posted by Judy at 17:55 GMT on 30 March 2011

This morning a Duracell AAA battery exploded in my Microsoft Arc Mouse.

First I heard sizzling sounds and I thought something was caught under my laptop fan. Within a couple seconds I heard a loud pop, which came from the mouse. After I opened the battery compartment, I realized that the batteries has exploded.

Worst thing is that the batteries came with the mouse.

Posted by Joyce at 06:19 GMT on 4 April 2011

Wow, I've just had exactly the same experience. A Duracell 9V battery - inside a smoke detector. I happened to wake up early anticipating a storm. A few minutes later I heard a very loud pop. The smoke detectors all started going "off." I jumped up to yell for the kids to get up (4:15 am) and get out. I met my teenage son on the stairs and then the smoke detectors stopped "going off." My son and I started looking for the cause. One of the smoke detectors started chirping for low battery - after prying the detector's battery chamber, I found a 9V Duracell exploded in my smoke detector. The end opposite the terminal blew off with one of the six cells inside dislodging by about 6 mm. Upon close inspection I discovered the base of the 9V Duracell battery had blown open all along one side. The loud "POP" I heard must have been the exploding battery cell. Initially the heat and "explosion" must have set off the smoke detectors for about 10- 15 seconds. After cooling off, running on 5 of 6 cells I guess it's equivalent to a "low" battery which set off the "low battery chirping." Scared us but glad we found the cause. I had never heard of this until I found this website.

Posted by Ang at 09:28 GMT on 11 April 2011

I was also the victim of an exploding duracell 9 volt battery. It was not connected to anything ...just laying on my kitchen table. It sounded like a .22 rifle going off and hit me in the side with loose blue looking crap, maybe acid...I don't know. Anyway it shocked the crap out of me and could have injured somebody. Duracell has a problem and they need to rectify it before somebody is seriously injured.

Posted by Jim at 20:34 GMT on 11 April 2011

4/11/2011 8:45 PM. Heard a loud "POP" my interconnectd fire alarms all went off!!!! I ran into each room - and found nothing, but a strong odd smell in the upstairs hallway. That hall alarm began then doing the occassional "BeeP" indicating the battery was low. I keep spare 9v's for just this reason - and when I removed the old Duracell - the bottom was blown open!!!!!!! What is going on here?

Posted by John at 00:58 GMT on 12 April 2011

Two nights ago, the duracell battery in my cordless mouse exploded while I was using it. It made a loud pop, and I felt a surge through my hand. The battery didn't leak, but it looked "crackly". I didn't realize there was a problem with them. I found this site today. I guess the problem is on-going.

Posted by KG at 22:06 GMT on 14 April 2011

Just minutes ago I awaken by a loud crack, thought someone had put a rock through the glass in a window. But on investigation found a 9v alkaline battery on the floor, it had exploded, the top had blown off and one cell from inside had its end gone. The battery was not in a device, and was not warm to the touch. It was not a Duracell label but a Power Fist. That one cell had completely come out of the battery!

Posted by Art at 08:12 GMT on 22 April 2011

Just had a Duracell Battery explode in my wireless mouse -while it was in my hand - scared the beejeebees out of me.

Posted by JT at 17:33 GMT on 24 April 2011

I thank very much whomever created this "forum". I was really confused and worried. We had a couple of unused 9-volt batteries sitting on a shelf. A little while ago my children happened upon them, and brought them to me commenting about how hot they were. One was a Duracel and one an Energizer. They were both HOT to touch. I had NO idea what to think! I am almost 40 years old and had never experienced such a thing. I would have understood if they were connected to something. I instinctively brought them outside. So glad I found this forum. Outside they shall STAY!!

Posted by Anonymous at 19:47 GMT on 30 April 2011

My sister picked up her remote last evening and felt it was extremely hot, she attemepted to remove battery, it exploded inher hand and acid flew into her eye. She spent the night in the ER and does not know what the outcome wil be. She has corneal abraisons at this time.

Posted by Joyce at 18:08 GMT on 3 May 2011

Ok, so when i was like 10 years old, I found 2 9 volt batteries. I was dumb and stuck the ends into one another because i thought it was neat how they fit together (lol). I left them in a hat that was by my door, and later that night while i was in bed, i heard a really loud pop. In the morning i checked, and there was this black sediment stuff all over my hat and one battery was blown open near the bottom. Anyone have grenade ideas?

Posted by Ryan at 01:01 GMT on 20 May 2011

Twice in a two month time frame, the 9v Duracell "exploded" in one smoke detector. The bottom of the battery has physically blown off and exposed the individual cells in the battery. Making a loud enough pop to be heard 2 stories below.....

Posted by JimBRO at 18:47 GMT on 23 May 2011

My husband had a AAA Duracell battery explode in his wireless headphones. The battery compartment is behind the fabric that is directly over the ear. He wore the headphones at night to help him sleep because he had mild tinnitus. Now the tinnitus is considerably worse along with increased hearing loss, all due to the loud crack from the battery exploding. He's been crying because the doctors tell him there isn't much they can do. They're recommending a hearing aid, which our insurance doesn't cover. We will never buy Duracell batteries again and we believe they should be sued.

Posted by Lori Orr at 02:24 GMT on 24 May 2011

I just heard a very loud POP on my desk while I was working. Guess what? Mar 2010 Duracell 9v strikes again! The battery was just lying on the desk, I think it may have wanted to draw some attention. But, wait.. what if there's a new race of spirit aliens that just show up through duracell batteries?

Posted by pop star at 15:50 GMT on 6 June 2011

I had 5 batteries explode in the passed year. Three 9 volt batteries in smoke alarms only about a month old. had a new 9 volt battery explode in an expensive radiation detector (it was only in there for 2 days)

Then the other day we heard a LOUD bang come from the other room, it scared all of us, thought the gun went off. No it was a aa battery in the flashlight I keep in the drawer with the bullets. The flashlight was destroyed and there was damage one of the boxes of bullets. This could have been extremely dangerous. I no longer keep a flashlight in that drawer and no longer use Duracell.

Someday someone is going to get hurt or theirs going to be a fire because of these bad batteries and theirs going to be a big lawsuit.

Posted by DW at 10:03 GMT on 23 June 2011

I just had this same thing happen to me with my wireless mouse for my laptop .. the main difference is that my batteries were Energizer AA's. This is now the second time it has happened. The first time I honestly thought it was my mouse that blew something inside of it and couldn't figure out why it was still working so I just forgot about it. The second time I listened a little closer and realized it was actually the batteries as I could still hear them fizzing and crackling. They did not fully explode or anything however still very scary and I'm wondering if I should get a new mouse? Could it be the devices that we are using going faulty and causing the batteries to over heat or something? I see a lot of complaints on this page but very few if any answers as to why this is happening. Again my batteries were Energizer.

Posted by NascarFanSS at 08:27 GMT on 26 June 2011

I was using my mouse to search online. I had it in my hand when I heard an enormously loud POP sound. I was startled and had no idea where the noise came from. My right is has been ringing for over an hour. It was a Durcell AA battery. I will NEVER purchase another battery from this company.

Posted by LV at 18:38 GMT on 26 June 2011

Same thing just happened....thought it was my cat's fault initially but he had a good alibi --- he was under the bed when it happened. Heard something "crack" and land on the floor downstairs and immediately thought "what did Max do now?" and went down to the battery on the kitchen floor with the cap popped off (I thought he had chewed it somehow....he's a chewer). I had a brief theory that it may have exploded because he was nowhere to be found, but he's been guilty of other chewing mischief in the past (chewed a $100 bill, leaving me one of the corners as "evidence") but this time his alibi was airtight.

Thanks for the site....I thought it might be the ghost of Max's brother who passed away a few months ago, but now know better. ; )

Posted by G at 09:53 GMT on 29 June 2011

Just hav a Duracell AA battery in a set of wireless headphones explode. Got a chemical burn from the battery's contents when I removed it. This is the second time I have one explode. The first was two years ago and I contacted Duracell at that time. They obviously couldn't care less.

IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN STARTING A CLASS ACTION I WILL BE GLAD TO JOIN

Posted by Fred at 08:01 GMT on 30 June 2011

Woken up last night by a noise like a fire cracker. Could not make any sense of it so went back to sleep.This morning there was what I thought to be stud earring on the floor by the side of the bed. I gave it to my wife who put her specs on and said it was not an earring. I put my specs on and looked at the object. I straightened it out and realised it was one of the terminals of a 9v battery (that I had removed from my smoke alarm a month ago) and had left it on my bedside cabinet. It was a Duracell plus. Did not realise that this would appear to be a common occurance until we searched the Net. Bttery was not even connected and assumed to be dead.

Posted by steve hay at 20:41 GMT on 12 July 2011

I didn't hear a popping noise... I heard this weird spraying sound like air freshener being sprayed lightly or lighter fluid leaking from a lighter.. I look over and see smoke coming from the "change bowl" where we also keep a couple batteries. I grab the 9 volt battery and it's boiling hot!! It was fuzing out gas or sumthing I grabbed it with a towel n threw it outside .. I think it was about to explode. I think CHAnGE (coins) have a bad affect on batteries.. Maybe the different metal properties.. Idk but keep ur batteries away from change!!

Posted by Esg at 12:43 GMT on 21 July 2011

I had a big square battery explode and catch fire in a box in my garage it was one for my husbands automatic deer feeders its a miracle we noticed it before our new house burned down-we put a water hose on it. come to think of it it was a Duracell I think.I noticed he had several more in a row and 2 were starting to swell up so i threw them away. Today I had a 9v Rayovac in my purse as I was taking to rent house to put in smoke detector it was really hot and its brand new ! Whats The Deal? They should recall these batteries before someone loses everything. L

Posted by Leah Doyle at 02:15 GMT on 22 July 2011

Not only duracells does this, i bought a new 9v battery from IKEA earlier today, i have had it in my pocket a couple of hours, with some loose change. i suddenly felt a burning sensation on my leg, so i picked up the battery and it was disturbingly hot, so i left outside work to "cool of" you think i can bring it home anmd use it still? it hasent made a sound or anything yet, its just warm.

Posted by Marcus at 11:19 GMT on 12 August 2011

I just was sitting in my hotel room and took the AA duracell battery's out of my flash light and set them on cabinet, about 10 min later heard a very loud pop, i went to investigate and found that one of the battery's exploded for no reason, it wasnt near anything nor had it been dropped or anything like that.. what would cause this?? Any Ideas. I seem to read that this happens most often with duracell battery's.. Please help, very curious..

ZenGodo13

Posted by Zengodo13 at 23:05 GMT on 15 August 2011

It is now three A.M. and I am too distrupt to go back to sleep. So, I am online trying to figure out what caused the 9V Duracell battery to explode in the smoke detector. Around 2:00 A.M. I heard a big bang down stairs. At first, I thought I was dreaming. Minutes later the smoke detector started beeping. I came down stairs to see what was going on. It was then I heard a second pop coming from the smoke detector near the closet. I try removing the smoke detector and once again another pop. This time it was too close for comfort. I waited awhile, and was able to remove the battery from the smoke detector. The bottom of the battery had blew out. Anybody know what is going on?

Posted by Jlin at 12:27 GMT on 21 August 2011

This morning, my wife reported the kitchen scales not working. Investigating, I found the 9V Duracell battery had disintegrated. One of the 6 internal cells had exploded smashing out the plastic bottom of the battery. The scales had not been used for a couple of days and now my wife recalls hearing a bang and being unable to trace it.

Posted by Bob at 11:21 GMT on 14 September 2011

Sitting in the study I heard a loud Pop followed by the passage smoke detector sounding. When I took it down I saw the end of the 9v Duracell battery had blown open.It has March 2011 on it . What does that tell us?

Posted by Jayjay at 02:08 GMT on 15 September 2011

Last night I suddenly heard a loud "pop" and my smoke detector was flung to the ground. One of the 9v duracell batteries had exploded through the bottom of the battery.

Posted by pseudo48 at 07:08 GMT on 23 September 2011

Me and my dad heard a loud pop didn't know where it came from, then I was making some juice and heard it again scared us..... Didn't know where it came from for a couple of hours.. Just found out where it came from . A duracell procell battery left two burn holes in a wood table.... Very dangerous be carful!

Posted by Laurel at 22:15 GMT on 4 October 2011

I use Energiser 9v batteries in my bass guitar/ bass synth wah pedal. Just now I was checking my wires work and thought I would try a battery in the pedal. Put my hand in the bag where I keep the batterys and pulled out a 9v battery. Hadn't been using it atall n it was so hot! Checked online to see what it's about and after reading these comments i decided to get rid of it! Surely we have to technology to make un blowing up batterys?

Posted by Perellio at 21:33 GMT on 11 October 2011

I heard a extemely loud noise---louder than a gun shot at 1am last night. The next morning couldn't find anything and was puzzled. But that night the smoke detector started beeping and found 9v Duracell battery exploded on the end. This never happened to me before so was a little wary about what to do. Thanks for all the posts. It helped me alot. I didn't know batteries exploded like that.

Posted by joe at 05:27 GMT on 14 October 2011

same thing happened to me i heard a loud pop coming from the kitchen..when i went in there another loud pop..the smoke detector battery blew up!it was a duracell..i popped it out into the garbage,..i had no idea they blew up like that..scared the crap out of me..thought it was a ghost or some animal got in..haha

Posted by windspirit at 05:14 GMT on 26 October 2011

I want to comment about a P&G employee. He is a lousy working partner going round making companies and people loose money and jobs due to his personal agenda and making use of contracts and name of P&G to please his alter ego. He is one lousy person I have whom I met threatening people not to his liking. I don't think P&G corporation encourage such practice and it is a disgrace to P&G to have such an employee around. He is racist, no regard of other people culture, no respect of law and rules .

Posted by Angry at 08:26 GMT on 29 October 2011

Same happened to me today. MN1604 lying next to keyboard just went BANG three times and blew the blue end plastic plug out together with the contents of one of the six cells. Have contacted duracell (proctor & Gamble) and they 'say' they will follow this up. I am very concerned that it could have been in one of my grandsons toys while he was playing with it! ....and it scared the C**p out of me!!!

Posted by Pete at 16:10 GMT on 4 November 2011

I more duracel story my duracell battery exploded in front of me it was on my desk near my laptop for about 30 mins so I guess it got heat and boooom! but it really wasn't that hot it can get hoter if u use them inside some electronig gadgets stupid duracel fix your bateries! i'm never going to buy duracel batteries again. They say batteries made in china are worst and not safe but none chine battery has blown up in front of my face!!!!!

Posted by Dennis at 22:44 GMT on 4 November 2011

Just purchased a set of Energizer 9V's for smoke detectors. Out of 5, 1 came out of the package hot. In my 63 yrs., never had this happen before. I simply disgarded it.

Posted by Harry at 18:43 GMT on 5 November 2011

Today, I was using my fresh-out-of-the-box Duracell 1.5V LR6 AA batteries good 'til March 2017 inside my wireless mouse. All of a sudden, I heard a loud pop and felt it in my hand which was holding the mouse. I opened up the mouse's battery box and sure enough, there was the battery with the negative end separated from the rest of it. This is the second time this has happened. The batteries are inside the mouse all the time, and the mouse is never in direct sunlight and never gets hot. I have no idea what is happening. I just emailed Procter and Gamble. Let's see what happens.

Posted by Afraid to use his mouse... at 23:00 GMT on 6 November 2011

Today, I was using my fresh-out-of-the-box Duracell 1.5V LR6 AA batteries good 'til March 2017 inside my wireless mouse. All of a sudden, I heard a loud pop and felt it in my hand which was holding the mouse. I opened up the mouse's battery box and sure enough, there was the battery with the negative end separated from the rest of it. This is the second time this has happened. The batteries are inside the mouse all the time, and the mouse is never in direct sunlight and never gets hot. I have no idea what is happening. I just emailed Procter and Gamble. Let's see what happens.

Posted by Afraid to use his mouse... at 23:01 GMT on 6 November 2011

A Duracell AAA battery just blew up in my son's hand. His calculator kept shutting off, so he removed the battery and it popped in his hand and liquid started bubbling out. He was unharmed.

Posted by John at 01:35 GMT on 12 November 2011

Happened to me as well - a 9v Duracell snapped really loud the other night. It took a while to locate the source of the noise. The batteries were in their packaging, never been used. The one that popped looks exactly like the photos. Glad I hadn't put them in the smoke detector; but think of the delicious irony if a fire had started - in the smoke detector. Anyone know why this happens? Apparently it happens A LOT.

Posted by lostmoose at 16:31 GMT on 16 November 2011

Earlier today I was startled by a loud pop, looked around but could not find anything unusual. About an hour after the first pop, there was a second pop, then the smoke detector's low battery beep , began to sound. I opened the detector while it was on the ceiling, and stuff dropped to the floor, looking at the detector, noticed that the bottom of the battery was half missing, with stuff sticking out of it. It was a duracell. Replaced it. Then searched the web for what could cause such an explosion. Happy to find this link, replaced battery with different brand.

Posted by casinojoe at 07:35 GMT on 29 November 2011

I had the same experience yesterday. I heard a loud pop and thought that some piece of electrical equipment had blown a fuse. I checked all my surge protectors and they were all good. No problem anywhere. Over night, the smoke alarm started chirping so I removed the battery and yes, it was a blown 9v Duracell. I work in the service industry repairing AV equipment and I have not heard of this issue before. Lastly, by far the majority of these posts do not mention any harm to people or damage to equipment. There are some notable exceptions like the lady's 3 yo boy and the man who's ear phones popped. This sounds to me that the batteries are failing in a safe manner. Now, I am not an expert on batteries but I hear similar incidents when capacitors blow in DVD players. There is a loud pop and some smoke but very little risk of any additional damage. Of course, lithium ion batteries are a different story...

Posted by Youngalex at 00:07 GMT on 5 December 2011

Ok this is a mess and very unsafe Duracell this mooring at 0700 I heard a very loud pop that set my smoke detectors off. When I removed the battery from the chirping smoke detector the battery had exploded.

Posted by Nubianqueen10 at 13:37 GMT on 10 December 2011

I was just watching TV and suddendly I heard a loud pop! found the bottom part of the 9volt batterie but without knowing yet what it was until I saw on my counter the Duracell batterie with 2 of the 6 cells inside torned!! I can't believe I putting those batteries in my kids toys!!

Posted by liz at 00:23 GMT on 11 December 2011

Just happened to me last night. 9V Duracell in a smoke detector in our bedroom exploded loudly enough to wake both my wife and me up. Thought it might be the detector until I looked at the battery this morning.

Posted by Dave at 14:51 GMT on 19 December 2011

I had a Duracell 9V in my pocket just pop. Not really loud, but I felt it. One of the cells burst through the bottom, about halfway out. Googled, and here we are. Weird.

Posted by Luke at 05:39 GMT on 20 December 2011

My aa Durracell battery exploded, so I came here to tell you guys.

Posted by Just another story at 16:33 GMT on 21 December 2011

Not only Duracell! Never (in 73 years) had a bad episode with batteries. Yesterday fitted 2 X AA Advanced ENERGIZER alkaline battries to a small light torch and switch that on. It worked but almost immediately started getting HOT. Extremmely HOT. You could not touch that battery as HOT as it was. I switch off, tested the batteries on my little DPB-168 battery tester and both show GOOD. Never realized that batteries can be that dangerous. Now I know and am aware of the dangers. Some things are bad in the WEB but other things are GOOD like this one. ThANKS TO GOOGLE.

Posted by Al at 03:52 GMT on 22 December 2011

Today I had a Duracell AAA copper top blowing up in my face. It was purchased at Costco and was used in a Christmas ornament along with 2 other batteries from the same company. The batteries needed replacing, so I had them on the table to take a voltage measurement with my digital multimeter and when I touched the one with the probes of the meter it blew with a pop and sprayed liquid in my eyes and face. I knew to go wash up right away. I am concerned about my grand kids Christmas toys with the same batteries. Is it just a Duracell problem? No more Duracell for me, thanks. Marcel

Posted by Marcel at 21:20 GMT on 31 December 2011

My alarm clock "back up" battery exploded last week. Hell of a way to wake up!!

Posted by Shelley at 05:24 GMT on 1 January 2012

I had a 9volt battery explode sitting by itself in a cabinet. It made a loud pop and ejected one of the cells leaving a lot of degree.

Posted by Ernie at 15:33 GMT on 2 January 2012

I was in a peaceful sleep and then BANG! And I mean BANG, like someone just lit off a cherry bomb in my room. I had no idea what was going on. It was about 5:00am and I'm sitting up in my bed looking around in the dark and there is absolutely nothing then but stark silence. It was too loud for anything I could think of in the house, and I thought of someone outside shooting a 22 but that was unlikely. The next day I'm reading my Nook and the LED clip-on light starts making a noise like a balloon slowly losing air. I open the cover and find the culprit is an Energizer AAA battery. The expiration says 03-2015, so looks like this one went bad a few years early. It was part of a 16 pack that I bought. There were still a few left so I replaced it with one of the other ones. A few days later (today) I hear a hissing sound coming from the light again. That battery is bad as well. I wonder if Duracell and Energizer are trying to pack too much power into these small things and the materials used to keep the reactants separated isn't strong enough. I'd rather use a cheaper battery and replace it more often if I knew this was the case.

Posted by Tom at 02:19 GMT on 25 January 2012

A small transistor radio by my bedside exploded with a loud pop, just as I was getting dressed. It wasn't switched on. The radio literally fell apart, and it all seems to have been caused by one of the two Duracell AA batteries inside it, which had the top blown off. very frightening, and could have been dangerous. Clearly legal action against Duracell is needed, and they need to withdraw this product worldwide. Why is no-one talking about this in the press and media? Why aren't these consumer watchdog programmes taking this up?

Posted by John at 22:25 GMT on 31 January 2012

10 mins ago, sitting on a bed in a hotel room, with an Alarm clock I've carried around for years on the bedside table. I thought at first a light bulb had blown in the bedside lamp. The back was thrown off the Alarm clock and it jumped off the bedside table. Duracell AA battery, expiry "March 2012".

Posted by mt at 02:13 GMT on 3 February 2012

I was sitting in my apartment at 1am studying and I heard what sounded like a gunshot about 10ft away from me. I nearly jumped out of my skin! I looked around and couldn't find anything wrong. About an hour later I heard the loud bang again and the smoke alarm came crashing to the ground. I looked inside and found a 9v Duracell battery with the entire bottom blown out of the casing. Like someone mentioned before me, this was an old First Alarm smoke detector. CRAZY!

Posted by Ryan at 08:44 GMT on 5 February 2012

AAA Duracell battery exploded. scared me pretty good. Never have had this happen before. I mean, i've had old batteries leak before but that is understandable because you shouldn't have old batteries. But this wasn't that old and it just spontaneously combusted. I won't be buying duracell anymore.

Posted by Charlotte at 19:32 GMT on 8 February 2012

I've had a similar experience. A 9V Duracell battery inside my basement smoke detector. All I heard was a very loud pop, which sounded just like a fuse. I searched everywhere and couldn't find anything. Finally, yesterday, my smoke detector started beeping which revealed the culprit.

Posted by MiKE at 11:29 GMT on 25 February 2012

Just had a duracell one explode.. Acid going everywhere. Never in my life has this happened before. Sounded like one of those cap guns going off. Scary stuff! Going to check all batteries soon to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Posted by FanOfAnythingButDuracell at 03:18 GMT on 1 March 2012

I have owned a maglite for the last 9 years without fault.At the time of purchase it cost me $140 and was the best money ever spent until I installed Duracell D sized batteries which exploded within the torch leaked battery fluid everywhere and consequently ruined the torch. The one battery I have removed by force is dated MAR2017 - These were new batteries purchased from bunnings Australia - What do you reckon my chances are of getting Duracell to replace my torch! Not happy!!!!

Posted by Kylie at 05:29 GMT on 4 March 2012

The number and variety of reports here is amazing! My Apple Magic Mouse with two Duracell AAs was sitting on my desk this morning minding its own business when one of the batteries exploded with a very loud POP! When I opened the cover, it was oozing noxious grey fluid all over the insides.

Posted by CM at 22:09 GMT on 13 March 2012

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