I take everything apart and clean all the pieces with vinegar and then
rinse with water. You may have to do some un-soldering of the wires to
the contacts. Then I use a blow dryer to dry everything. Just make sure
you don't make the parts warmer than you can touch with your hands.
After all the parts feel dry, let them sit for 24 hours to air dry
completely. Now put everything back together, and re-solder the wires
back to the contacts as necessary.

If you cannot take everything apart, you can try to clean the battery
contacts in their positions. This will be more difficult to do a proper
job.

--

JANA
_____


wrote in message
...
I have a handheld video game that takes 4 alkaline size C batteries,
and I had left it in a corner 5 years ago and forgotten about it. I
finally looked at it today and there must have been a battery leak,
because there is a substance that looks like a white powder all around
the battery compartment. The game had been placed in a plastic bag,
and part of the bag around the battery compartment was dissolved. In
addition, the game was inside the plastic bag, which was inside a
paper bag. I noticed a large dried liquid stain inside the paper bag.

So what is the white powder-like substance? Is it toxic? How should
I attempt to clean the game?

Also, what was the liquid that leaked out? If it stained the paper
bag, then it probably got onto the carpet too. Should I try to clean
the area of the carpet that the paper bag was sitting on, or should I
not worry about that?