could alkaline battery leak onto circuit board cause problems ?

[robb]

hi,

I think i have found the residue of alkaline battery leakage onto a
malfunctioning circuit board ?
could this cause problems ? what is best way to clean a circuit board ?

denatured alchohol ?

thanks for any advice,
rob

 

[Alasdair]

hi,

I think i have found the residue of alkaline battery leakage onto a
malfunctioning circuit board ?
could this cause problems ? what is best way to clean a circuit board ?

denatured alchohol ?

thanks for any advice,
rob

If the battery is a Duracell, they will replace the entire unit or pay
the price of a new one. That happened to me with a £100 radio.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Yes. The best way to clean it up is with household ammonia on a cotton swab.
You should then use alcohol for a final "flush".

 

[robb]

If the battery is a Duracell, they will replace the entire unit or pay
the price of a new one. That happened to me with a £100 radio.

oh how i wish,

no these were panasonic and probably 10 years old

thanks for info, good to know,
rob

 

[robb]

Yes. The best way to clean it up is with household ammonia on a cotton swab.
You should then use alcohol for a final "flush".

denatured alcohol or is isoprophyl (91%) ok sustitute ?

thanks for the helpful reply,
rob

 

[William Sommerwerck]

denatured alcohol or is isopropyl (91%) ok sustitute?

Either should work, but I've always used isopropyl, and have never had
problems.

 

[Arfa Daily]

denatured alcohol or is isoprophyl (91%) ok sustitute ?

thanks for the helpful reply,
rob

Proper electronics grade isopropyl alcohol, is 99.7%

Arfa

 

[Jim Yanik]

hi,

I think i have found the residue of alkaline battery leakage onto a
malfunctioning circuit board ?
could this cause problems ?

Yes,electrolytes and their salts ARE conductive.

what is best way to clean a circuit board ?

denatured alchohol ?

thanks for any advice,
rob

for an -alkaline- leak,you need to use a weak acid,like white
vinegar;inexpensive and readily available.
then rinse with distilled water,dry thoroughly.That's where your alcohol
wil help get rid of moisture.

 

[Jim Yanik]

Yes. The best way to clean it up is with household ammonia on a cotton
swab. You should then use alcohol for a final "flush".

neutralize alkaline with an acid;cheap household white vinegar is effective
and widely available.

Ammonia is nasty compared to vinegar.

 

[John Popelish]

neutralize alkaline with an acid;cheap household white vinegar is effective
and widely available.

Ammonia is nasty compared to vinegar.

Nasty or not it is also not acid, but alkaline.

 

[Jim Yanik]

Nasty or not it is also not acid, but alkaline.

I wasn't sure about that.
I'd rather breathe vinegar fumes than ammonia fumes.
Vinegar is probably safer to use,too.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Yes. The best way to clean it up is with household ammonia on

Neutralize alkaline with an acid;cheap household white vinegar is
effective and widely available. Ammonia is nasty compared to vinegar.

I've been using household ammonia for years, and have never had problems.

Household ammonia is alkaline, and dissolves (alkaline) battery leaks quite
nicely.

 

[robb]

I was about to ask if using an alkaline would help dissolve or remove
alkaline better than say using an acid which would have a reaction and is
there any possibility of damage to board with reaction taking place there
even though it is a neutralizing reaction ?

the leak seems to have spread up under some ICs as well would flushing be
sufficient ? as i cann ot get swab under well maybe i just get a thin strip
of paper and feed under the ends

thanks for the help and suggestions ,
rob

 

[John Popelish]

I was about to ask if using an alkaline would help dissolve or remove
alkaline better than say using an acid which would have a reaction and is
there any possibility of damage to board with reaction taking place there
even though it is a neutralizing reaction ?

the leak seems to have spread up under some ICs as well would flushing be
sufficient ? as i cann ot get swab under well maybe i just get a thin strip
of paper and feed under the ends

Water is probably all you need to remove conductive (ionic)
contamination. Use a blast of hot water through a small
piece of tubing, if you can manage that, to jet the water
under components. Finish with a distilled water rinse and
remove most of the water with a jet of compressed air, if
you have that, and a thorough dry in a warm place before
turning power back on. I wouldn't force anything other than
water or air under parts.

 

[msg]

Water is probably all you need to remove conductive (ionic)
contamination. Use a blast of hot water through a small piece of
tubing, if you can manage that, to jet the water under components.

I have used small pressure washers (with very small nozzle openings) for
this task; even a consumer dental pressure washer may be helpful here.

Regards,

Michael

 

[G]

Water is probably all you need to remove conductive (ionic)
contamination. Use a blast of hot water through a small
piece of tubing, if you can manage that, to jet the water
under components. Finish with a distilled water rinse and
remove most of the water with a jet of compressed air, if
you have that, and a thorough dry in a warm place before
turning power back on. I wouldn't force anything other than
water or air under parts.

I would just use air after the fluid has a chance to flow under the
components. I use a Weller hot air gun. I set the temp so the air is slighty
warm, because air and alcohol can form water. This process has to be repeated
many times, at times.

greg

 

[Lord Garth]

I would just use air after the fluid has a chance to flow under the
components. I use a Weller hot air gun. I set the temp so the air is slighty
warm, because air and alcohol can form water. This process has to be repeated
many times, at times.

Methyl alcohol can be used to chase the distilled water, then blow it dry.

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

I was about to ask if using an alkaline would help dissolve or remove
alkaline better than say using an acid which would have a reaction and is
there any possibility of damage to board with reaction taking place there
even though it is a neutralizing reaction ?

Using an acid wil create conductive salts that may be difficult to
remove.

the leak seems to have spread up under some ICs as well would flushing be
sufficient ? as i cann ot get swab under well maybe i just get a thin strip
of paper and feed under the ends

thanks for the help and suggestions ,
rob

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[[email protected]]

If the battery is a Duracell, they will replace the entire unit or pay
the price of a new one. That happened to me with a £100 radio.

I once had a geiger counter - obtained at a Civil Defense Surplus Sale
for US$20 - that was destroyed by Eveready batteries. And lest you ask
why, my wife collects Fiesta Ware and its clones, some colors are
radioactive so we keep a gieger counter to put those in the "do not
eat from" set.

Anyway, based on the guarantee, I sent it off to Eveready. About four
weeks later, along came a check (and I remember it well) for $329.51
representing the "inflation-adjusted original price of the damaged
unit", together with a brief little note suggesting that I not leave
the batteries in the unit when not in use, especially as they were
over five years old.

Needless to say, from that point forward, nothing but Eveready is used
in our household.

I did replace the counter with a USN surplus unit, far nicer and more
sensitive than the one lost. $50 from a similar sale. I splurdged.
That was 15 years ago and it still serves on rare occasion.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I once had a geiger counter - obtained at a Civil Defense Surplus Sale

for US$20 - that was destroyed by Eveready batteries. And lest you
ask why, my wife collects Fiesta Ware and its clones, some colors
are radioactive so we keep a gieger counter to put those in the "do
not eat from" set.

Anyway, based on the guarantee, I sent it off to Eveready. About four
weeks later, along came a check (and I remember it well) for $329.51
representing the "inflation-adjusted original price of the damaged
unit", together with a brief little note suggesting that I not leave
the batteries in the unit when not in use, especially as they were
over five years old.

Needless to say, from that point forward, nothing but Eveready is
used in our household.

My experience has been that Duracells are far more likely to leak than
Energizers. (Other people have had exactly the opposite experience.)

Several years ago, the Duracell AAs in my digital dictating machine
(provided with the unit) oozed and damaged the cover door. Duracell promptly
paid the $16 it cost to replace the door.

The manufactured in 1969 Polaroid 360 I bought a few years back had Eveready
alkaline batteries in it that still worked. They've worked since I bought
it, and only recently started to fade. Amazing. This is a quirk, of course,
the luck of the draw. I doubt Duracell or Eveready knows how to make
batteries of this consistent quality.