Are there adverse effects of reversing polarity of batteries?

Question

I'm bringing my son's electronic toys with me on my flight, but will check them in as baggage. I'm afraid that they might accidentally be turned on (i.e. flipped switch). It's kind of a hassle for me to take out the batteries, mark which one is for which toy, and pack them separately. Is it okay to just turn the batteries in reverse for around a month and then flip them back later to the correct position? Would that have adverse effects on the toy or the battery?

Answer 1

Don't reverse the polarity. That could be dangerous and ruin the batteries or the toys.

how about putting a piece of tape at one of the connectors to prevent them from actually touching the metal?

Of course ideally, you should just pull out the batteries and label them with stickers or something similar

Answer 2

first im wondering how many toys you are bringing and why would the battery be turned around for a month?

wont he play with the toy? does the flight last 1 month?

Is it okay to just turn the batteries in reverse for around a month and then flip them back later to

Answer 3

Coffeegirl:

Y'know, in a lot of cases it would probably be just fine to turn the batteries around, but there are issues:  1) Some toys might still work even with the batteries in backward.  

2) Since it is a toy, its circuitry might not be diode protected (read - cheap) and the reverse voltage will kill it.  In most cases, though, the toy's circuitry should be diode protected to prevent death due because the batteries were installed backward.  People often do that, y'know.  

When a diode it is reverse biased the current draw may still be just enough to draw the batteries down slowly, slowly.  Then when your child goes to play with the toy the batteries may be dead.    

You could run a test at home and see if putting the batteries in backward works.  Probably will be OK for the duration of a flight and maybe even longer, but play it safe and return them to normal soon after the flight so you don't have to buy a bunch of new batteries.

I recommend that you get a piece of wooden dowell of the proper diameter.  Cut it off to the length of a battery and replace one battery with a wooden plug.  (Be careful if you use a pencil.  The pencil lead is conductive.)  This way you only have to replace 1 battery.  

Have a safe trip - 73 from the Fisherman