Daily Blog – John E. Johnson, Jr. – April 14, 2008: DUMP THE FACTORY BATTERIES.

When you purchase a DVD player, TV, receiver, satellite box, or any component that comes with a remote control, there are always a set of AA or AAA batteries in the box.

Most of the time, the brand of the batteries is not a familiar name.

Usually, I throw them out and use Energizer or Duracell batteries that I keep on hand in bulk.

Occasionally, though, I just use the ones that came with the component.

What a mistake!

Yesterday, I went to change the batteries in a remote that had gone dead. It was the no-name batteries that came with the component.

The batteries had leaked all over the inside of the remote. I cleaned it out, but there was still corrosive material in there that had damaged the battery terminals.

My suggestion is, whenever you buy a new component with a remote, throw the batteries that came with it in the garbage and use name brand batteries instead. If you don’t have them on hand, go to the drugstore or grocery store and buy some.