When I have a device that is powered by two batteries, can I disable it by turning one battery around?
For illustration, the purpose is to leave batteries in the device for storage, but it does not have an off switch. There are multiple solutions for this, but I would like to understand specifically the solution using reversed batteries.
My idea is as follows: By turning around one of two 1.5 V cells, I let the + poles touch in the middle. The voltage between the - poles should now be 1.5 V - 1.5 V = 0 V. Therefore, there is no current through the device.
The problem is: Two batteries may not be perfectly balanced. One of them may be more discharged than the other, so they have different voltages.
It could work if the battery with more charge would be automatically discharged until it reaches the same level. Then, the cells would get into perfect balance, and stay that way even with fluctuations.
Does that make sense? What properties of the device are required?
If it works with two batteries, does it work too with other even numbers of battery cells?