Cleaning battery corrosion on printed circuit board
 

I have battery leakage from a couple of AA batteries that has corroded
about an inch square of surface on a printed circuit board, with the
corrosion also on the little "trails" that lead from one component to
another.

Any hints on removing the corrosion without damaging the board? I was
thinking of trying alcohol. I also have something from Radio Shack
called "Electronic Cleaner."

Thanks for any ideas.

Bob
k5qwg

A slushy paste of baking soda and water left on the corrosion for a few
hours neutralizes the goop that the battery squirted onto the board. Rinse
with distilled water and then any good contact cleaner brushed over the
area.

Jim


"Bob Miller" wrote in message
...
I have battery leakage from a couple of AA batteries that has corroded
about an inch square of surface on a printed circuit board, with the
corrosion also on the little "trails" that lead from one component to
another.

Any hints on removing the corrosion without damaging the board? I was
thinking of trying alcohol. I also have something from Radio Shack
called "Electronic Cleaner."

Thanks for any ideas.

Bob
k5qwg

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 09:04:17 -0800, "RST Engineering"
wrote:

A slushy paste of baking soda and water left on the corrosion for a few
hours neutralizes the goop that the battery squirted onto the board. Rinse
with distilled water and then any good contact cleaner brushed over the
area.

Jim

Thanks, I tried the Radio Shack Electronic Cleaner and that seemed to
do the trick. The device is working now.

Bob
k5qwg


"Bob Miller" wrote in message
.. .
I have battery leakage from a couple of AA batteries that has corroded
about an inch square of surface on a printed circuit board, with the
corrosion also on the little "trails" that lead from one component to
another.

Any hints on removing the corrosion without damaging the board? I was
thinking of trying alcohol. I also have something from Radio Shack
called "Electronic Cleaner."

Thanks for any ideas.

Bob
k5qwg

In article ,
RST Engineering wrote:

I have battery leakage from a couple of AA batteries that has corroded
about an inch square of surface on a printed circuit board, with the
corrosion also on the little "trails" that lead from one component to
another.

A slushy paste of baking soda and water left on the corrosion for a few
hours neutralizes the goop that the battery squirted onto the board. Rinse
with distilled water and then any good contact cleaner brushed over the
area.

The baking-soda slurry idea is a good one if the batteries are the old
carbon/zinc type which use an acidic electrolyte (corrosive as all get
out, unfortunately).

Alkaline batteries have an electrolyte which is (tada!) alkaline, and
using baking soda (also alkaline) won't help. Fortunately this
electrolyte is rather less corrosive to metal than the acid from an
old "heavy duty" battery, and it can usually be just washed off. I'd
suggest warm water with perhaps a small amount of a mild surfactant
(Simple Green or something like that), then the distilled-water rinse,
shake dry, and perhaps use the contact-cleaner trick as a final
cleaning to remove any oils present.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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