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Jeff Liebermann Jeff Liebermann is offline
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Default Removing battery corrosion

On Sun, 11 Feb 2018 20:35:56 +0100, Look165
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.



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