Kitchen Mama can opener battery swap, anything tricky to know?

[Thomas Martinez]

Saw someone asking about this in another thread so thought it was worth its own discussion since there's so much talk about the Kitchen Mamas openers but hardly anyone talk about the battery side of things.
The process is honestly the simplest there is. You pop off the battery cover and insert 4 AA batteries (paying close attention to the + and; markings) then pop the battery cover back on. There are no screws to worry about and no special battery pack for the Kitchen Mama line of can openers. Just 4 AAs.
Now I'm curious to know if the Kitchen Mama can openers is particular about the kind of batteries that are used in them. For instance, are they picky about whether alkaline batteries are used vs. Rechargeable batteries (which hold around 1.2 volts)? I would think the motor itself would not mind, but I know from other appliances that use geared motors that the voltage from NiMH batteries may cause those motors to struggle to start or to maintain their rate of rotation. Similarly, I would think that the battery contact points on these openers would corrode from the dampness in the kitchen environment. Yet another reason these might fail before the motor does. Have any of you opened one up enough to see how the battery contacts are made on these Kitchen Mama can openers?

 

[We Love Mounta]

4 AAs and a cover, hard to mess up. I've been using the same eneloops for around 8 months now and they still works fine.

 

[Impossible Ibex]

ngl I didnt even know these were a thing until my mom got one. She runs duracells in hers and complained it was slow until I swapped them for fresh batteries.

 

[Spectacular Piano in the]

does it actually struggle on nimh tho? like noticeably slower or does it just not start at all on weak cells

 

[History of the Karate]

opened mine when the lid sensor got flaky. The contact strips are just simple steel strips that appear to be nickel plated looking so corrosion would likely be at the negative end of the batteries where they make contact with the strips.

 

[Poor Panda]

i use rechargables in everything and the kitchen mama works fine on them. You're overthinking it

 

[Fut]

the real tricky part is convincing your wife to stop putting it in the dish rack lol

 

[Spectacular Piano in the]

opened mine when the lid sensor got flaky. The contact strips are just simple steel strips that appear to be nickel plated looking so corrosion would likely be at the negative end of the batteries where they make contact with the strips.

is it the steel strips that corrode first or the battery negative end that touches them? curious where it actually starts

 

[Divine Worm Ma]

Ran mine on Amazon Basics AAs for over a year now. I feel like people overcomplicate everything with batteries. The motor only draw an amp or two so it cant be a big deal if the batteries are NiMH for example.

 

[History of the Karate]

is it the steel strips that corrode first or the battery negative end that touches them? curious where it actually starts

negative end first basically always. The spring on the negative end of the batteries tarnishes over time leading to high resistance while the strip is usually fine unless something actually leaks on it. Fwiw alkaline batteries tend to leak and that’s what kills these openers, not the humidity in the kitchen by itself.

 

[Victoriou]

why are we even talking about this its 4 AAs

 

[Impossible Ibex]

why are we even talking about this its 4 AAs

because some of us actually care how things work, scroll past then

 

[Feverish Disco Dynasty]

Kitchen Mama is garbage anyway. Buy a $4 manual opener and never think about batteries again.

 

[We Love Mounta]

Kitchen Mama is garbage anyway. Buy a $4 manual opener and never think about batteries again.

ok grandpa

 

[Spectacular Piano in the]

has anyone tried using lithium AAs in one? I remember seeing posts about people using energizer ultimates or whatever. Would you think the higher initial voltage would be an issue or would it just cause the can opener to work faster?

 

[Divine Worm Ma]

has anyone tried using lithium AAs in one? I remember seeing posts about people using energizer ultimates or whatever. Would you think the higher initial voltage would be an issue or would it just cause the can opener to work faster?

The spec for alkaline batteries is around 1.5 volts so 1.7 is within tolerance. With lithium batteries though they hold their voltage much better so it would likely work faster when using those batteries.

 

[The Muppets Turtl]

my aunts kitchen mama died after like 6 months and when she opened it up there was green crust all over the contacts. She def left dead batteries in it for months tho thats on her not the opener

 

[Poor Panda]

my aunts kitchen mama died after like 6 months and when she opened it up there was green crust all over the contacts. She def left dead batteries in it for months tho thats on her not the opener

this is the answer. 90% of dead battery devices are just leaked alkalines that nobody bothered to clean. Vinegar on a qtip fixes most of em

 

[Fut]

this is the answer. 90% of dead battery devices are just leaked alkalines that nobody bothered to clean. Vinegar on a qtip fixes most of em

vinegar on vinegar on alkaline corrosion? thats backwards. Alkaline leak is basically potassium hydroxide which is a base, you neutralize with mild acid sure but vinegar is acidic and will eat through the steel parts of the opener. I just scrape it off with a plastic card and hit it with iso

 

[Poor Panda]

vinegar on vinegar on alkaline corrosion? thats backwards. Alkaline leak is basically potassium hydroxide which is a base, you neutralize with mild acid sure but vinegar is acidic and will eat through the steel parts of the opener. I just scrape it off with a plastic card and hit…

fair, ive been doing it wrong i guess. Still works for me tho