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Ralph Mowery Ralph Mowery is offline
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Default Removing battery corrosion

In article ,
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.