Does anyone know of a process for cleaning heavily corroded transistor radio battery terminals? Is there some chemical process that works?

Thank you
Ron

I just clean mechanically. A fine brass bristle brush and/or some ScotchBrite abrasive pad.

Rich

The wire wheel accessory for a Dremel rotary tool may help if there's room to work. But be careful that the wire wheel doesn't grab the edge of the contact and bend it all up. You'd think there would be some chemistry you could use to at least get rid of all that green corrosion, especially when it spreads to circuit board traces and such. But I suppose the chemistry needed would all depend upon whether the leakage came from a carbon-zinc or alkaline battery.

As Rich said, it's mostly a mechanical thing, lots of elbow grease, getting into tight spots with an abrasive that won't fit, etc. There are sanding cords available through Rockler ( http://www.rockler.com ) that might help out in some tight spots.

Dean

Thanks Rich & Dean. I was hoping for an easy way to clean corroded terminals. I will stick with the use of elbo grease

Ron

I've used a paste made of baking soda & water. Does a good job of neutralizing/removing the usual battery crud; implication being there must be an acid component to some of the crud.

Good points: Paste gets it into, around, behind parts, and on the crud. It stays in place. It's little effort going on.

Bad points: Somtimes needs multiple applications. Doesn't always remove everything. Needs to be rinsed off afterwards.

Rinsing, without getting everything wet is a problem. It helps to postion/tilt the radio so water runs out, and use something like an eye dropper to control the water application. Separating the cruded part, if possible, works. Sometimes a damp cloth is the answer.

Try a gritty typewriter type eraser for final clean-up on the metal parts. It can be shaped to get into corners, etc. Any remaining brownish surface stain on the plastic should come off with your favorite plastic polish.

Greg

Thanks Greg. I will give your tips a try in the future.

ROn

Some baking soda in warm water applied w/ a Q tip end a little rubbing with a pencil eraser does great.

>> Is there some chemical process that works?

Good news: Yes, there is a chemical that works.

Bad news: I don't know what it is, and it's probably no longer sold. It's called "Dynabrite Copper Brightener 75" by Dynachem Corp. It predates MSDS info, or at least this particular jug was bought 25-30 years ago, but it sure works. Takes everything off down to bare copper. There's a formulation for lead and solder too.

Thanks Alan
I found the Dynachem company is still around (South Africa) and the product is still available. I have not been able to determine yet if I will be able to get it here in the US.

Ron

Battery corrosion - Household ammonia (likely already on hand) cut to 50/50 w/ water, again likely on hand, - good ole' H2O, is just about perfect for this purpose.

For removing the white-coloured residue left by alkaline batteries, lemon juice, a mild acid, works extremely well—it is quick and thorough. It should be rinsed off afterward.

If your cleaning a battery holder and not the battery, just submerge the holder in CLR cleaner and let it work.

Cut it away and sub in copper landings and new alkaline batteries.

Agree with Philip..... for ALKALINE battery spew - you need an acid (lemon juice or white vinegar) to neutralize the base.... baking soda or ammonia in solution may dilute it - but won't neutralize it effectively....

I've used a fiberglass brush in places where there isn't much clearance, although it's a slow process. You can also get brass refills:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/SABU10191

Chuck

You can try white vinegar. My results vary; sometimes it a takes off all the corrosion, sometimes it leaves some that has to be wire brushed off.

I use the GC soldering tool which is a brush on one end. Also handy is the pen type rust removal tool sold at any auto supply.

I've used vinegar with great success. You can see/hear it sizzling away the corrosion. As Johnnysan stated above, sometimes it cleans everything up nicely, other times you still have some cleaning or scraping to do. Tom

Aside from electronics cleaning, I use hot vinegar to clean out shower heads and the kitchen sink sprayer. Heat it up in the microwave to boiling and pour it into another glass container with the parts to be cleaned. It works better and faster than C-L-R and is a whale of a lot cheaper when you buy the gallon-size generic white vinegar.

When the drip coffee maker gets slow, run vinegar through it (cold). Add a filter in the basket to keep the lumps out and after it cools, reuse the vinegar for a second wave of pot cleaning. Use it in your clothing steam iron to clean it when necessary. Youi ought to be using distilled water in it anyway rather than calcium-laden well water.

Vinegar, wait until it dries and does the job, then a dry toothbrush. Also and maybe foremost, baking soda to neutralize the damaging effects of the corrosion. I used to clean old car battery posts with just pasty baking soda and then just rinse.
Vin