Why Swapping Batteries Around Works: Improving Battery Performance Through Simple Techniques

To start, let's explore why swapping out your batteries or simply shuffling them around can sometimes improve their performance. This might be due to a poor connection, corrosion, or differences in battery capacity leading to an uneven current flow.

Issues Due to Poor Connection and Corrosion

One of the most common reasons for poor battery performance is a poor electrical connection. This can be caused by corrosion or simply bad contact between the battery terminal and the device's contact point. Shuffling or reinserting the battery can help improve the connection by removing any built-up oxidization.

Shuffling the batteries near their limit can be particularly effective. By moving them, you scratch off the oxidization from the contacts, which can extend the battery's life slightly. For some, the problem might be corrosion on the contacts or between the batteries themselves. Moving the batteries can move the contact point to a region with no corrosion, thus improving the connection.

Impact of Chrome Plating on Battery Contacts

Often, the battery terminals and the contacts in the device are chrome-plated. While chrome looks nice, it's not an ideal conductor and can build up an insulating layer over time. In some battery holders, you can find a chromed rivet, holding a chromed wire lug and a chromed spring together. Despite the clean and tight appearance, there might still be no electrical contact.

To test this theory, take a pair of headphones with a chrome-plated connector and turn it around in the socket while playing music. You'll notice a scratchy sound, indicating intermittent contact. Replacing these chrome-plated connectors with gold-plated ones would substantially improve the connection. Gold conducts electricity better than chrome, which is why you don't experience the same scratchy sounds with gold-plated contacts.

Improve Battery Performance by Moving Them Around

Though moving batteries can sometimes improve their connection, it’s not always the solution. Depending on the extent of battery depletion, let's consider why it might not work in all cases.

1. Reseting the Internal Chemical Reaction

One possibility is that pulling out the batteries to switch them temporarily stops the internal chemical reaction, thus resetting or cooling down the batteries. Once the batteries are reinserted, they are able to produce a little more current. To test this theory, extract the batteries and put them back in the same way without switching them and note the outcome before trying to switch them.

2. Battery Capacity Variations

Another reason might be the variability in battery capacity. Batteries are not always perfectly equal, and one might discharge faster than another, especially when they are connected in series. This is a common issue in larger rechargeable batteries, where periodic equalization is necessary. However, in smaller non-rechargeable batteries, switching them may allow a battery that has a little more charge to compensate for the one that is nearly depleted.

Given my background in Electronics, my insights come from common sense and practical experience. These simple techniques can work wonders for improving battery performance in devices that you use daily. From a technical perspective, they enhance the overall performance by addressing common issues like poor connections, corrosion, and unequal battery capacity.