Galvanic action related to material work function

[selwap]

I have been seeing occasional problems in low power battery circuits. The on board microcomputer indicates low voltage from the battery stack. Reinserting the same batteries or simply rolling them in place cures the fault. Is there a table which relates the work functions of dissimilar metals and the amount of their difference to a galvanic reaction? The metals involved are berrilium copper leaf contacts and off the shelf AAA cells. I think their terminals are zinc and nickel.

 

[LarryFine]

Reinserting the same batteries or simply rolling them in place cures the fault.

Sounds like simple contact resistance to me. Try cleaning them with something slightly abrasive, like an ink eraser.