"Caution, remove battery when engine is not in use"

[magicman710]

Hello!

I noticed that on the bottom of Lionel Postwar F3s, that were you put the battery in for the horn, it always says "Caution, remove battery when not in use" Why is that?

 

By magicman710 at 2007-11-25

[lionelsoni]

The cell will eventually leak, and its contents will eat into the locomotive's frame.  Many otherwise good locomotives have been damaged when they were stored away with the cell still inside.

[magicman710]

But wouldnt it leaking be a long process? [Start leaking]

[lionelsoni]

Yes.  So there's not strictly any need to take it out for short times, for example, overnight.  The reason for the warning is that you may intend to use the locomotive in the near future, but circumstances change and you don't actually run it for a few years, forgetting that it is in there.  It happens surprisingly often.

[magicman710]

If you have the video, "Lionel Christmas", most of the people interviewed said that their trains only came out at the Christmas, since their fathers told them that they are "special" (Luckily! If they didnt, we may not have PreW and PW trains in mint cond. today!) So, I wonder how many times a kid packed these up after christmas, and left the battery in, then next Christmas, no more horn!

 

Thanks for the help Bob.

[jimsrpo]

You have to remember too that the batteries of the 1950's were much less sophisticated than modern batteries.  They were much more susceptible to leakage over short periods of time. 

Collectors wish that more owners had heeded the warning to remove batteries.  They see too many otherwise beautiful engines ruined by internal corrosion.

Jim

[chuck]

The older zinc carbon batteries used an acid paste as the electrolyte.  It was very good at destroying almost everything it touched.  BTW, they didn't usually "slow" leak.  The case would swell and then burst.  While the contents weren't strictly a liquid, the damage would progress at a pretty fast pace once the case burst.

[Bob Keller]

As noted, the older 1950s-60s batteries were far lesss reliable, though twice in the past few years I've had to toss flashlights because over the course of a year the batteries leaked.

[Cheese]

Yes,

My Postwar 2343's that i bought almost a year ago, on the 26th of December to be exact (I thought it would be cool to remember the date), were great engines, however the frames and horn was eaten up with battery acid.

I had the frame repaired and the horn unit replaced and alot of cleaning and other maintinence done by a local gentlemen who does repairs on a limited basis. 3 months and $100 later I had my F3's and they are under the christmas tree right now, waiting for a matching set of silver streamliners.

Yesterday, when I went to get my F3's to put them under the christmas tree, I found something very shocking. Whenever I am not using the F3's, I take out the battery and store it - side down next to the F3's on my dresser.

I picked up the F3's and then I got the battery. When I picked it up, I discovered that acid from the battery had leaked and now there is a circle of battery acid on my dresser. When I saw that I was releived that I had decided to remove the battery.

So, a word of warning. When your F3's are not in use, REMOVE THE BATTERY. Even though modern batteries are more efficient than those of old (so I have been told), they still leak and rather fast I might say.

Cheese

Cheese

[gvdobler]

There was a set of F3s on EBAY and the caption said that there was battery acid damage.  That would bring down the value of the engine for sure.

Anyone that has taken a toy out that was stored with the battery in, can tell you it ain't a pretty sight.

[RockIsland52]

Cheese, I had to laugh at your post.  Relieved that the dresser was trashed but not the precious F3.  Now there's someone with correct priorities! 

[DdoubleU]

Ironically two mint 1950's era Ray O Vac D cell "leak proof" batteries sold for $80.00 during the ABT 11/25 auction.  Who would have thought that a battery that destroyed so many engines would have such value.

Darrell

[palallin]

They may be the only two left in the world!

[Semper Vaporo]

I have two Burgess D-cell batteries that have "Feb 1946" printed on them.  They measured 0-Volts when I got them, but I carried one in my pocket for a few hours and it later measured 1.5-Volts (but still would not light a flashlight bulb).  I haven't looked at them for a couple of years... wonder if either has started leaking yet?  Think I will go look.

Edit:  Well, I didn't find the Burgess batteries, but I did find a pair of EverReady cells labeled "May 1947".  They both measured 1.5 milliVolts.  That seems a tad low, so I guess "Ever" ready is limited to less than 60 years.

[ben10ben]

I have a pair of Eveready C batteries from about 1955 which came packaged with a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye Flash. They look to have never been used, and still measure about .5V. Surprisingly enough, they have never leaked.

Perhaps I should try them on Ebay and see if they sell :)

[Anonymous]

My dad took out his PW Western Pacific F3's a couple months ago and found he forgot and left a battery in there! It had been in there for 13 years and thank goodness it didn't leak. He was pretty lucky eh?

[Anonymous]

Even current technology alkaline cells can leak and cause corrosion - notwithstanding battery manufacterers who would have you believe otherwise. The probability is much higher if they are depleted, but they don't have to be to leak.

If you value your engine/electrical device, you will always remove the cell before putting it into storage.