Rechargeable Batteries

[Barquentine]

I put some ordinary batteries (Duracell) into a cordless (DECT) phone I found when tidying some old boxes at home. It used to have the rechargeable batteries so I took care not to place the phone into the recharger cradle (that also acts as the signal receiver). My wife however placed the phone into it a few days later when it was signalling a low battery. The charger successfully recharged the batteries. I thought ordinary batteries were at risk of exploding if you try to recharge them. Is that incorrect? Thanks.

[LILIA]

I put ordinary batteries in my phone, and after a short time they started leaking. Removed them quickly and cleaned the inside and replaced with correct rechargeable ones.

[wildwood]

I did the same thing a long time ago in a battery charger with alkaline batteries, and they started smelling and sparking after a while. Maybe the adapter for the phone is only a trickle charge.

Did the phone charger really recharge those batteries? An alkaline battery is 1.5v and a re-chargeable one 1.2v, so maybe there was still a fair bit of oomph in them.