[ARC5] Batteries That Do Not Corrode

[Peter Gottlieb]

If you can get to the contacts and completely clean them it is possible to sand, buff and use cool-amp silver plating to get them going again. That is rub-on silver plating solution. There are others out there as well. 

What is corroded depends on chemistry. For example aluminum is corroded much more aggressively by alkaline vs acid leakage. Although Nicad leakage is potassium hydroxide and does major damage to just about everything. 

I try to determine whether acid or base via pH paper then look to neutralize via baking soda or acetic acid then a good DI rinse then complete drying. 

Getting too old to keep fixing battery leakage damage though. 

Peter

> On Jun 11, 2018, at 10:03 AM, Bill Cromwell <wrcromwell at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have found that the chemistry can eat the plating off from the underlying metal. Going to the trouble of removing the contacts, 'cleaning' them, and then putting them back is futile. If that plating is gone or perforated the remaining material will oxidize and fail very soon. I have sometimes replaced the contacts with good contacts harvested from other sources. I had some luck fabricating new contacts and they lasted a little longer than just cleaning the contacts with the plating stripped away. More attention to plating might have made the homebrewed contacts last a little longer. I have not done any plating since my early 20s and not very much of it in my lifetime to date. Some of the chemistry can be lethal! I don't know what LPS-1 is.
> 
> Wire brushing and sanding are both abrasive and will remove some of the aforementioned plating. Usually if it is so bad that plating is gone some of the adjacent active circuitry is also ruined. Repairing that kind of thing requires determination and patience. But it *can* be done.
> 
> I have found goo from leaky batteries that did not corrode or ruin anything! That was a pleasant surprise. I just washed it off and returned the gear to service. I think it was alkaline cells that leaked in that instance. Maybe the ones without mercury.
> 
> I have not had all that many battery failures over the years. Lucky me:)
> 
> Good luck with your project.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Bill  KU8H
> 
>> On 06/11/2018 09:03 AM, Robert  Eleazer wrote:
>> Okay, here is a related question.
>> 
>> If corrosion occurs, what is the best way to clean it up?  I think that
>> wire brushing/sandpaper followed by some LPS-1 seems to be the only
>> hope.  Of course it is often very hard to get to the contacts with a
>> wire brush
>> 
>> Wayne
>> WB5WSV
>> 
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