[Ti Pwun]

I've had some high power Duracell batteries for my headtorch and my small hand torch for a couple of years and they work flawlessly. Although I do recharge them as soon as the light is dimming so that makes a lot of difference. Only occasionally will I let them drain pretty low but I do that on the desk by leaving them on where I can't forget about them. Then they get a full charge.

Clocks and remotes are easy to neglect without realising it so there is a danger of leaks. Or anything else that isn't used and monitored regularly.

Your clock battery may still read 1.5v but with a decent load on there it won't last long. You'll have a lot more luck if you get into a routine of swapping them for newly charged ones every so often, instead of waiting for them to die. (edit: or drain very low I should say.)

I only use rechargeables, by the way - I stopped buying ordinary batteries when the kids were young and wanted replacements every two minutes. Never had a leak problem since.