Removing battery corrosion

I got an old AM-FM pocket transistor radio which looked good and clean
till I opened the battery compartment. Very corroded carbon zinc
batteries were in it. After removing them, I cleaned off as much of the
corrosion as possible by scraping with a plastic stick, and scrubbing
with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. That got rid of most of it, and I was
surprised to find the battery clips are not badly damaged, but I had to
use a fingernail file (sandpaper strip) on the ends of the springs.

Better yet, the radio works perfectly.

But there is still a little of that battery corrosion still in there. In
all the years I've worked on electronics, I have never found a perfect
way to clean up leaked batteries. Is there some sort of spray or a
chemical that will dissolve or deactivate that crap?

Of course it has to be safe for the circuit board and components too. I
use the 91% isopropyl alcohol, so it evaporates quickly and leaves
little water residue behind. (Then leave it dry well before use).

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 5:53:57 AM UTC-5, olds...@tubes.com wrote:

I got an old AM-FM pocket transistor radio which looked good and clean
till I opened the battery compartment. Very corroded carbon zinc
batteries were in it. After removing them, I cleaned off as much of the
corrosion as possible by scraping with a plastic stick, and scrubbing
with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. That got rid of most of it, and I was
surprised to find the battery clips are not badly damaged, but I had to
use a fingernail file (sandpaper strip) on the ends of the springs.

Better yet, the radio works perfectly.

But there is still a little of that battery corrosion still in there. In
all the years I've worked on electronics, I have never found a perfect
way to clean up leaked batteries. Is there some sort of spray or a
chemical that will dissolve or deactivate that crap?

Of course it has to be safe for the circuit board and components too. I
use the 91% isopropyl alcohol, so it evaporates quickly and leaves
little water residue behind. (Then leave it dry well before use).

My sovereign cleaning method for this is to use a very strong concentration of baking soda mixed into distilled water. About a tablespoon of soda into a teaspoon of water to make a paste. This will neutralize any corrosives from the batteries - but the material is highly conductive in its own right. So, after application with a small toothbrush or spiral brush, rinse again as yo have with distilled water, then alcohol to displace the water.

If severe, and the alternative is landfill - I have been known to run an entire chassis through the dishwasher (one without an exposed Calrod), or use a bit of lye-based oven cleaner on a cotton swab - again rinse carefully when done. Needs must when the devil rides.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <0dfe8268-2fca-4597-9f0d-f2a98fd74c77@googlegroups.com>,
pfjw@aol.com says...

But there is still a little of that battery corrosion still in there. In
all the years I've worked on electronics, I have never found a perfect
way to clean up leaked batteries. Is there some sort of spray or a
chemical that will dissolve or deactivate that crap?

Of course it has to be safe for the circuit board and components too. I
use the 91% isopropyl alcohol, so it evaporates quickly and leaves
little water residue behind. (Then leave it dry well before use).

My sovereign cleaning method for this is to use a very strong concentration of baking soda mixed into distilled water. About a tablespoon of soda into a teaspoon of water to make a paste. This will neutralize any corrosives from the batteries - but the material is highly conductive in its own right. So, after application with a
small toothbrush or spiral brush, rinse again as yo have with distilled water, then alcohol to displace the water.

If severe, and the alternative is landfill - I have been known to run an entire chassis through the dishwasher (one without an exposed Calrod), or use a bit of lye-based oven cleaner on a cotton swab - again rinse carefully when done. Needs must when the devil rides.

As most of the batteries used in portable devices are some type of
alkaline the baking soda is the opposit of what should be used. White
vinegar is what you should be using to neutralize it.

I am not sure what the very old carbon zinc batteries used, it may have
been a from of acid. I know the car batteries use acid and the baking
soda is good for that. Just not good for the newer smaller AA,C,D type
batteries.

 

[John-Del]

On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 7:51:25 AM UTC-5, pf...@aol.com wrote:

If severe, and the alternative is landfill - I have been known to run an entire chassis through the dishwasher (one without an exposed Calrod)

Back when projection TVs were plagued with coolant leaks, I used to soak the entire circuit board in an ammonia and soap solution. But *first*, everything that can trap water must be removed. Back then, that meant SMPS transformer, HOT and flyback XFRs, inductors,etc. A lot of work but it fixed stubborn symptoms and no call backs.

In a transistor radio, this means removing the IF transformers, audio transformer, and even removing the gang tuner is a good idea.

 

On Sunday, 11 February 2018 10:53:57 UTC, olds...@tubes.com wrote:

I got an old AM-FM pocket transistor radio which looked good and clean
till I opened the battery compartment. Very corroded carbon zinc
batteries were in it. After removing them, I cleaned off as much of the
corrosion as possible by scraping with a plastic stick, and scrubbing
with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. That got rid of most of it, and I was
surprised to find the battery clips are not badly damaged, but I had to
use a fingernail file (sandpaper strip) on the ends of the springs.

Better yet, the radio works perfectly.

But there is still a little of that battery corrosion still in there. In
all the years I've worked on electronics, I have never found a perfect
way to clean up leaked batteries. Is there some sort of spray or a
chemical that will dissolve or deactivate that crap?

Of course it has to be safe for the circuit board and components too. I
use the 91% isopropyl alcohol, so it evaporates quickly and leaves
little water residue behind. (Then leave it dry well before use).

I did one yesterday, got what I could off some bent flat strip with a screwdriver, got the remainder off with a grinder. A dishwasher is more often the suitable treatment, but as has been said there are some parts definitely not dishwashable. Speakers, unpotted relays, variable caps, paper caps, transformers, some other stuff.


NT

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 04:52:51 -0600, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:

But there is still a little of that battery corrosion still in there. In
all the years I've worked on electronics, I have never found a perfect
way to clean up leaked batteries. Is there some sort of spray or a
chemical that will dissolve or deactivate that crap?

I use 409 spray cleaner, a plastic scraper, and a paint brush. For
alkaline cells, scrape off as much of the white powder as possible.
Clean what you can with the small paint brush. Then attack with the
409 spray. It will evaporate dry in about an hour. If you have an
air compressor, you can blow out the excess liquid and it will dry
quicker.

It's been so long since I've seen any equipment that uses a carbon
zinc cell, that I don't recall how it's cleaned. Probably some
alkaline cleaner.

The most common problem I see are corroded battery springs and
contacts. Once the plating is gone, it's difficult to keep them from
corroding again. Grease helps, but makes a mess. So, I replace them
with similar or identical spring contacts purchased on eBay and other
online vendors:
<https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=battery+spring+contact>


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Reinhard Zwirner]

Ralph Mowery schrieb:

[...]

As most of the batteries used in portable devices are some type of
alkaline the baking soda is the opposit of what should be used. White
vinegar is what you should be using to neutralize it.

Full ack!

Regards

Reinhard

 

[Look165]

Since this layer is alcaline, the best to use an acid ; vinegar for
instance.

oldschool@tubes.com a Êcrit :

I got an old AM-FM pocket transistor radio which looked good and clean
till I opened the battery compartment. Very corroded carbon zinc
batteries were in it. After removing them, I cleaned off as much of the
corrosion as possible by scraping with a plastic stick, and scrubbing
with q-tips and rubbing alcohol. That got rid of most of it, and I was
surprised to find the battery clips are not badly damaged, but I had to
use a fingernail file (sandpaper strip) on the ends of the springs.

Better yet, the radio works perfectly.

But there is still a little of that battery corrosion still in there. In
all the years I've worked on electronics, I have never found a perfect
way to clean up leaked batteries. Is there some sort of spray or a
chemical that will dissolve or deactivate that crap?

Of course it has to be safe for the circuit board and components too. I
use the 91% isopropyl alcohol, so it evaporates quickly and leaves
little water residue behind. (Then leave it dry well before use).

 

[pfjw@aol.com]

On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 10:23:41 AM UTC-5, Ralph Mowery wrote:

As most of the batteries used in portable devices are some type of
alkaline the baking soda is the opposit of what should be used. White
vinegar is what you should be using to neutralize it.

I am not sure what the very old carbon zinc batteries used, it may have
been a from of acid. I know the car batteries use acid and the baking
soda is good for that. Just not good for the newer smaller AA,C,D type
batteries.

LeClanche cells are acid-based (Ammonium CLoride) with an acidic pH (depending on the age of the cell) from about 6 (nearly dead) to about 4.6 (fresh). Hence the pointer to baking soda.

Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) is about pH 8.4 when dissolved in water. Household vinegar is pH 2.4, and will tear copper apart.

The neutralizing agent wants to be slow and mild. Vinegar (acetic acid) is pretty strong.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 20:35:56 +0100, Look165 <look165@numericable.fr>
wrote:

Since this layer is alcaline, the best to use an acid ; vinegar for
instance.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_battery#Leaks>
Yep. The white stuff from an alkaline cell is potassium carbonate and
has a pH of about 11 in water:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_carbonate>
Vinegar works, but citric acid (lemon juice) smells better. If the
cleaner produces gas bubbles, it's working. However, I don't think it
matters much. I use 409 household cleaner which has a pH of 9 to 11.5
depending on concentration:
<http://www.gjfood.com/pdf/msds/79_820040.pdf>
It produces some bubbles, does a good job of cleaning, and smells ok.

The white stuff that leaks out of carbon zinc battery is the zinc
chloride electrolyte:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc%E2%80%93carbon_battery#Durability>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_chloride>
Zinc chloride in water is very acidic with a pH of 2.0 to 3.0
depending on concentration. It's very soluble in water so any water
based alkaline cleaner, such as houshold ammonia, should work.



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:35:43 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

The white stuff that leaks out of carbon zinc battery is the zinc
chloride electrolyte:

Oops. Zinc chloride is the crud that leaks out of the battery. The
electrolyte is ammonium chloride.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 04:51:20 -0800 (PST), "pfjw@aol.com" <pfjw@aol.com>
wrote:

>a very strong concentration of baking soda mixed into distilled water.

This makes sense, but I have to ask why regular tap water wont work V/S
distilled water? I know that adding water to a car battery should be
distilled, (so it dont have any minerals), but in this case, it would
seem that any clean water would work.

But maybe I am missing something. Yet, I do try to eliminate unnecessary
expenses, and distilled water adds to the cost, not to mention an extra
trip to a store, since it's not something I keep on hand.

 

[Jeroen Belleman]

On 11/02/18 23:38, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:35:43 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:

The white stuff that leaks out of carbon zinc battery is the zinc
chloride electrolyte:

Oops. Zinc chloride is the crud that leaks out of the battery. The
electrolyte is ammonium chloride.

Zinc chloride actually attracts so much water that it dissolves in it,
as I found out when I tried to crystallize the stuff.

Jeroen Belleman

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:31:54 +0100, Jeroen Belleman
<jeroen@nospam.please> wrote:

On 11/02/18 23:38, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:35:43 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:

The white stuff that leaks out of carbon zinc battery is the zinc
chloride electrolyte:

Oops. Zinc chloride is the crud that leaks out of the battery. The
electrolyte is ammonium chloride.

Zinc chloride actually attracts so much water that it dissolves in it,
as I found out when I tried to crystallize the stuff.

Jeroen Belleman

What were you trying to make? Soldering flux (usually a mix of zinc
chloride and hydrochloric acid)? Don't use it on electronics as it's
conductive.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeroen Belleman]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:31:54 +0100, Jeroen Belleman
jeroen@nospam.please> wrote:

On 11/02/18 23:38, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 14:35:43 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:

The white stuff that leaks out of carbon zinc battery is the zinc
chloride electrolyte:
Oops. Zinc chloride is the crud that leaks out of the battery. The
electrolyte is ammonium chloride.

Zinc chloride actually attracts so much water that it dissolves in it,
as I found out when I tried to crystallize the stuff.

Jeroen Belleman

What were you trying to make? Soldering flux (usually a mix of zinc
chloride and hydrochloric acid)? Don't use it on electronics as it's
conductive.

Nah! Just part of a high school chemistry course 45 years ago.

Jeroen Belleman

 

[Mike Coon]

In article <buj18dliqogl4bpp8ghke6v6b5psm86f6r@4ax.com>,
oldschool@tubes.com says...

But maybe I am missing something. Yet, I do try to eliminate
unnecessary
expenses, and distilled water adds to the cost, not to mention an extra
trip to a store, since it's not something I keep on hand.

What do you put in your steam iron? That's where most of my
distilled/de-ionised water goes...

Mike.

 

On Mon, 12 Feb 2018 08:38:22 -0000, Mike Coon <gravity@mjcoon.plus.com>
wrote:

In article <buj18dliqogl4bpp8ghke6v6b5psm86f6r@4ax.com>,
oldschool@tubes.com says...

But maybe I am missing something. Yet, I do try to eliminate
unnecessary
expenses, and distilled water adds to the cost, not to mention an extra
trip to a store, since it's not something I keep on hand.

What do you put in your steam iron? That's where most of my
distilled/de-ionised water goes...

Mike.

Steam iron? Do they still use those things?
I recall my mother using one in the 1950s and 60s....

Either way. blue jeans and flannels shirts dont need ironing...
That's about all of us rural folks wear, aside from our camo hunting
clothes.

I did once hear of a guy trying to iron his birthday suit, after
drinking a lot of shine.... Luckily his wife ironed his head with a cast
iron frying pan before he damaged too much of his birthday suit. and she
then sent him to bed.

 

>"Back when projection TVs were plagued with coolant leaks, I used to soak the entire circuit board in an ammonia and soap solution. But *first*, everything that can trap water must be removed. Back then, that meant SMPS transformer, HOT and flyback XFRs, inductors,etc. A lot of work but it fixed stubborn symptoms and no call backs. "

I had a different technique. I washed it in hot water, then alcohol, then acetone with a brush and then blew dried it on hot to evaporate everything. And then sprayed with spray solvent to make it cold. That squeezes the shit out of the board, which is quite porous. Repeated about 4 times. The last time left the acetone or alcohol on it, heated it up with the blow dryer and waited a while until you could not smell it anymore.

The worst part was when it corroded the copper traces. Can't solder to them, must get all the way to the point where it is no longer dark and add a jump[er.And also extra clean that area because there is more conductive shit in it. It is actually in the board and you can see bubbles when you heat it..

I remember old AA and AB GE chassis bubbling under the solder on the gripletts which impeded their soldering. And those were about 90 % of the problems with those sets.

 

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:41:13 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

What were you trying to make? Soldering flux (usually a mix of zinc
chloride and hydrochloric acid)? Don't use it on electronics as it's
conductive.

That's acid plumbing solder for copper pipes.

But you brought up a question. Electrical solder is rosin. What exactly
is roisn and how does it work for a flux? Is it the same thing used for
playing a violin, which as far as I know, is made from pine tree sap?

 

On Monday, 12 February 2018 10:41:52 UTC, olds...@tubes.com wrote:

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:41:13 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:


What were you trying to make? Soldering flux (usually a mix of zinc
chloride and hydrochloric acid)? Don't use it on electronics as it's
conductive.


That's acid plumbing solder for copper pipes.

But you brought up a question. Electrical solder is rosin. What exactly
is roisn and how does it work for a flux? Is it the same thing used for
playing a violin, which as far as I know, is made from pine tree sap?

that's what it is. Just take pine resin & heat to drive off the volatiles. You can get 25-50kg resin per tonne of wood pulp, but only from pine. Spruce gives less.


NT