Weirdly enough it is the unused Duracell batteries that show the first signs of corrosion. The unused homebrand ones are all fine.
Also, I need to buy new batteries.
@osfast Need the non-rechargable kind. Rechargables are too weak in power output.
@trinsec Duracell Industrial batteries are good in flashlights. They might also be called Procell batteries. They do cost more but I haven't had any issues with them. They kinda need to be reliable to be marketed for industrial use.
@AmpBenzScientist Yeah, I mostly use them for remotes and trackballs. So industrial would be overkill. I generally have to replace the batteries every half year.
I'll just buy the cheap supermarket brand instead, they're not too bad for light use like this.
@trinsec Zinc Carbon batteries are good for low power drain applications.
@trinsec I think it's a tradeoff between energy density and shelf stability. If you build a battery using a really energetically favourable reaction to get more mAh into the same dimensions, it seems plausible that the reagents will be more difficult to keep from reacting in ways you don't want, too. But both sides of the tradeoff can be marketed as lasting longer - if you change batteries in response to energy exhaustion, a more energy-dense battery will have longer lives in practice; but if they have plenty of charge until they physically fail, you'll have to replace more shelf-stable ones less frequently.
@trinsec Obsolescence