HELP! How to Clean Corrision from Battery Leak?

[guyharrisonphoto]

I had a battery leak in my YS-D1 strobe. There is corrsion on the bottom of the battery compartment. I have cleaned out a lot of it but there are nooks and crannies that are hard to reach with any cloth. Is there a product I can put in there to clean/dissolve the corrosion?

I cleaned it enought to put new batteries in, and the unit turned on, so hopefully no permanent damage.

Thanks

 

[mac.calder]

Cotton buds and isopropyl alcohol. Then afterwards wet another cotton bud with some WD40 and wipe around the inside as well.

 

[scubasprout]

You can also use a pencil eraser.

 

[randini]

Electrical contact cleaner. It's isopropyl alcohol in a WD-40 like can. You should be able to find it in larger hardware stores, hobby electronics shops (like radio shack) or auto part stores.

 

[bvanant]

There are several types of corrosion that you will see in your strobe (if the batteries were in it) after a flood. First use clean DI or distilled water to get out the biggest chunks. Then a bit of vinegar or acetic acid at 5-10% if you have it from an old darkroom. Pour in a bit (like 5 ml) swish it around then rinse with water again. That will get out most of the battery junk which is by far a bigger mess than the contacts being corroded. Then isopropyl (91%) on a whole bunch of swabs (I use clean room foam swabs, Q-tips can leave fibers) and do that until you get tired of doing it (you will never get all the crud out, go as far as your level of OCD can stand). I am not sure why you would want to put WD40 on your contacts, It is not conductive (read the MSDS) but it burns quite well and will collect dust over time. A final rinse with 5 ml of IPA then let it dry out for a day or so then you should be good to go.
Bill

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Thank you bvanant!

I took your advice.; The vinegar cleaned out all the corrosion from the leaked battery, and the alcohol took the corrosion off of the contacts, although the contacts still have a black tint, there is nothing on them as far as corrosion. I put new batteries in and the unit powered up, with the aiming light working and the orange light on. No WD-40, I would not have done that anyway.

Will look forward to checking it out on my next dive.