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Batteries and magnetic media

I've been told that magnetic fields can erase magnetic media such as videotapes, audiotapes, and floppy disks. I always figured it was possible that batteries might have magnetic fields, so I've always been very careful to keep batteries away from magnetic media. For instance, if I go on a trip with my portable tape player, I'm careful to keep my spare batteries in a different pocket from my tapes.

Am I being paranoid? Is it a real possibility that batteries would harm magnetic media? Thanks to anybody who knows the answer to this.

Since

Reply to
WRITETOgregAT
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Yes, you're being paranoid. Batteries have no magnetic field. They contain little or no material that can be magnetized. What little they might contain couldn't hold a strong enough field to make a blip on any form of magnetic media.

The magnets in your headphones are a larger risk than any battery will ever be, and even those are close enough to a zero-risk item as to be meaningless. The magnets in the motor of your tape player (much closer to the tapes when playing them than batteries usually get) are also more of a risk, but again, that risk is so close to zero as to be indistinguishable.

Don't worry about it.

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Reply to
Don Bruder

Thanks. :)

Greg

Reply to
WRITETOgregAT

A battery _can_ create a magnetic field, by connecting to an electromagnet.

If you simply shorted it, it would create a magnetic field from the current loop, but if you've got a shorted battery in your pocket, you have more to worry about than the condition of your tapes! ;-)

Cheers! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

not really how ever, you may want to be careful as to what else you have in your packets if the batteries are not packaged!. things like coins hitting the terminals of a 9 volt cell can actually start a fire or explode the battery in your packet! :)

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Reply to
Jamie

dormant chemical batteries don't have magnetic fields.

alkaline cells have a steel case that could be magnetised, it may be possible to magnetise the nickel in recgargable cells too. but they aren't normallly built magnnetised, and probably wouldn't retain the magnetism long-term.

it takes a reasonably strong magnet (like from a loudspeaker) to erase casettes etc. your batteries won't harm your recordings.

Bye. Jasen

Reply to
Jasen Betts

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