Cleaning Battery Contacts

Hi,

Some of the batteries in a lamp leaked and made a mess of the contacts. The contacts are springs that aren't very accessible so abrading off the residue isn't feasible. Is there a solvent or other means of removing the residue?

Thanks, Gary

Reply to
Gary Brown
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This sounds like a question for one of those "How to Clean Anything" websites. :-)

First you'll need to get the gunk off with some kind of household cleaner. Then if the corrosion is bad, sand the contacts down to reduce the worst of it. Finally, use a metal polish to remove the rest of the oxidation.

To get to the inaccessible contacts, use something like a wood dowel or heavy gauge wire (coathanger?) to make a tool to get to them. Attach your piece of sponge, sandpaper or whatever to the end of that.

Monkeys use pieces of grass or sticks to fish termites out of holes in logs. I'm sure you can figure out how to fix your light. ;-)

Jay Ts

Reply to
Jay Ts

If the batteries were us/brand name, just contact the company. Some will replace any equipment damaged by leaking batteries.

I had a radio with leaky duracells in it. I sent it in with a completed ebay auction page and they paid me ebay price for it. No fuss, no muss...

Reply to
mike

If it's the white powder left after alkaline cells leak, try using plain water for the solvent. It's worked well for me a couple of times.

--- Joe

Reply to
Joe

I used water + sodium bicarb (baking powder) + old tooth brush to clean up a wireless mouse last week. Seemed to work ok.

Reply to
Dennis

I have found that the corrosion from alkaline cells is almost impossible to remove by abrasives or scraping, but it comes off easily with water and a good rubbing from a scratchy nylon cleaning pad.

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~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
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Adrian Tuddenham

"Gary Brown" wrote in news:srmdnXYgL9GOJtrRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@supernews.com:

it depends. are the batteries alkalines,or "heavy duty"(carbon-zinc)?

for alkaline leaks,you use a mild acid like vinegar to neutralize the leakage. For carbon-zinc,you a mild base like baking soda to neutralize the leakage. then rinse with plain water and dry.

the only problem left is that the chrome plating is usually gone from the contacts,and they will rust eventually.

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Jim Yanik
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Reply to
Jim Yanik

The replacement of plating on steel springs can be accomplished by solder-plating, or by soldering on a bit of brass to the end of the spring. Other (leaf) contacts can be scraped clean.

Alas, the only effective way to get the residue off the metal is some kind of abrasion or scraping. Can you get a small sandblast/glass-bead-blast nozzle to the affected area? Or maybe an electric eraser?

Reply to
whit3rd

After cleaning to bare metal and degreasing, I wonder if the contact can be protected with electroless tin plating?

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Winston wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news4.newsguy.com:

but will still rust after some time. I have a little handheld personal fan with a corroded rusting endcap contact plate,that is heat-staked to the endcap.can't solderplate it without melting the plastic cap.

you also assume you can get access to the springs. some may not want to pry apart their devices to get that access. some flashlights may not be able to be dismantled to where you can get access to the upper spring contact.

That sounds like a good idea,but how do you get the plating solution to the contact without plating other things around it?

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Jim Yanik
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Reply to
Jim Yanik

(...)

Why would we avoid plating adjacent metal surfaces?

Electroless tin is an amazingly thin coating, so there isn't any danger of shorting something. Even the small 125 ml bottle is enough to plate up the contact and any metal surface nearby, so we aren't concerned that the solution will be 'thiefed', leaving the contact insufficiently plated.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

I believe that's baking SODA.

Baking 'powder' is some sort of magical substance used by evil witches to make baked goods for their unsuspecting victims...at least that's what my wife did...

mike

Reply to
m II

Depending on what you mean by "mess of the contacts", it may be as simple as plain water on a long-ish Q tip to remove the "mess".

========>>>> Tell us what type of batteries leaked.

Reply to
Joe

(...)

Both baking soda and Potassium hydroxide are basic, yes?

Wouldn't we want to use an acid to neutralize KOH?

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Winston wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news5.newsguy.com:

some folks don't recognize the reason for the name "alkaline cell".

They think all batteries have acid in them.

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Jim Yanik
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Reply to
Jim Yanik

Look up sodium bicarbonate in a chemistry book, or on wikipedia.

Here's a portion of what wikipedia has to say about sodium bicarbonate (tolja, tolja, nyahh, nyahh :) ):

********** Quoted from Wikipedia ***********

Neutralization of acids and bases

Many laboratories keep a bottle of sodium bicarbonate powder within easy reach, because sodium bicarbonate is amphoteric, reacting with acids and bases. Furthermore, as it is relatively innocuous in most situations, there is no harm in using excess sodium bicarbonate.

********** END Quoted from Wikipedia ***********

--- Joe

Reply to
Joe

Hokay, what I know about chemistry you could put in a thimble and still have room for a medium size battleship.

(Physics too, apparently!)

However!

I see in the chart that plain filtered water is neutral and two pH increments less basic than bicarb.

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So, your first response looks like a better answer to me, Joe.

:)

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Thanks, Winston.

Chemistry was kind of a hobby of mine when I was in high school, but I never found the time to take a college chemistry course.

I was pretty sure about the "dual action" of sodium bicarbonate because years ago, as I remember, a friend majoring in biology told me about its buffering qualities. This was possibly in regard to first-aid for acid or alkaline spills on skin in the lab.

All of us responders to the OP still do not know what battery chemistry is involved in the "mess". I have found alkaline dry-cell leaks to be messy looking with all that white powder, but quite harmless to the battery contacts.

It *would* be a hoot if the "mess" was caused by a lead-acid battery. That of course would require serious effort and care.

--- Joe

Reply to
Joe

(...)

HooBoy.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

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