Mark Kaufer wrote in message news:8txdb.3861$hp5.1197@fed1read04...
I ... left some really old batteries in it and they leaked
inside of it.

What kind of cells? If they were zinc-chloride, aka "heavy duty"
cells, the electrolyte can eat up the etched circuits on printed
circuit boards. If they were alkaline cells, the electrolyte really
does no damage at all. The electrolyte in zinc-chloride cells is
acidic. So is the electrolyte that is used in lead-acid batteries,
which is sulphuric acid. The electrolyte used in alkaline cells is
alkaline. It feels slippery, like a weak lye solution.

I repaired my sister-in-law's analog Sharp SW radio, which had damaged
by leakage from zinc-chloride cells. I had to wire in some jumber
cables to replace the corroded traces. On the other hand, I've seen
lots of radios with leaking alkaline cells. I wiped off the
electrolyte with a cloth moistened with soap and water or a toothbrush
to reach the parts that could use some scrubbing, and the radios were
good to go. Sometimes I use a little baking soda too, but that's just
to give the radio that extra fresh smell.

I had to scrub the alkaline D cell leakage from my DX-392 several months ago.

I guess I should leave out the D cells. I don't use it portable but, instead,
use a regulated power supply I built for it.

I know when the AA's go bad, because they are there to retain the memory.

I have about 50 things in my house that use batteries and half of them use
alkalines. I need to monitor them better. It's certainly less trouble than
scrubbing. Too, alkaline leakage will destroy the cad plating on contacts.

Bill, K5BY

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 21:17:42 -0500, WShoots1 wrote
(in message ):

I had to scrub the alkaline D cell leakage from my DX-392 several months ago.

I guess I should leave out the D cells. I don't use it portable but, instead,
use a regulated power supply I built for it.

I know when the AA's go bad, because they are there to retain the memory.

I have about 50 things in my house that use batteries and half of them use
alkalines. I need to monitor them better. It's certainly less trouble than
scrubbing. Too, alkaline leakage will destroy the cad plating on contacts.

Bill, K5BY

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The way I'm getting 'round this problem is to use an itsy-bitsy database.

On my Mac, ir's called "Nag" and one can set it for any kind of reminder and
on most kinds of schedules and repeating as one wants and it can be set to
the second (although that's too much even for me grin.

I schedule a "check" at nine months after installation and replace at twelve
months for alkaline. And - also - program CO2 and smoke detectors that have
Lithium batts to be checked every six months fo the next ten years.

I also note whether the batt is alkaline, Ni-Cad, metal or lithium. Ni-Cad
and metal get replaced every three months.

[The main place - mebbe the only place - I use alkalines is 9-volt batts as
the rechargeable ones just ain't worth the trouble so I do keep 9-v's on hand
(and watch the expiration date).]




Gray Shockley
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DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio w/RS Loop
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
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Vicksburg, MS US