how to remove alkaline battery residue

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Between the combination of the hotest day in many years and really bad batch
of alkaline batteries, I have several devices with a crystaline residue from
the batteries leaking.

Besides brushing with a succession of stiffer brushes, is there some chemical
that can safely remove it? It's all on metal contacts in plastic, but some are
surrounded by anodized aluminium.

Thanks in advance,

Geoff.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Besides brushing with a succession of stiffer brushes,

is there some chemical that can safely remove it? It's
all on metal contacts in plastic, but some are surrounded
by anodized aluminium.

Ordinary household ammonia on a Q-tip with dissolve it. I usually follow
that with an isopropyl alcohol flush.

Possible problem... Aluminum can be attacked by ammonia and other alkaline
solvents. So, be careful.

 

[Adrian Tuddenham]

Ordinary household ammonia on a Q-tip with dissolve it. I usually follow
that with an isopropyl alcohol flush.

Possible problem... Aluminum can be attacked by ammonia and other alkaline
solvents. So, be careful.

Plain tap water with a nylon scouring pad seems to work. Alcohol can
then be used to remove the water.

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Ordinary household ammonia on a Q-tip with dissolve it. I usually follow
that with an isopropyl alcohol flush.

Possible problem... Aluminum can be attacked by ammonia and other alkaline
solvents. So, be careful.

Thanks, anything else? Ammonia is restricted here. :-(

Geoff.

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Plain tap water with a nylon scouring pad seems to work. Alcohol can
then be used to remove the water.

Thanks, I'll try that.

Geoff.

 

[ian field]

Thanks, anything else? Ammonia is restricted here. :-(

Isn't acid the opposite of alkaline.......

Such as ordinary acetic acid (vinegar) found in any kitchen.

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

As long as you don't make any ammonium nitrate fertilizer and diesel
fuel bombs. Be glad that it's restricted because the "ammoniated'
cleaner will streak the anti-reflective coating on some LCD displays.
It's almost impossible to find glass cleaner in the US that does NOt
have ammonia in the formulation.

It was restricted because there was a spate of people mixing chlorine bleach
and ammonia to clean their toilet. This is a country of immigrants, and
no one could figure out how to write the warning in enough languages that
it would be safe.

Luckily the glass cleaner here is made with vinegar.

The electrolyte in alkaline batteries is KOH (potassium hydroxide)
which is NOT very soluable in liquid ammonia. What does the cleaning
in most spray cleaners is n-PropoxyPropanol, which is a form of
alcohol. Looks like 409 spray cleaner has ammonia in the form of
ammonium chloride:
<http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/products/msds/409products/formula409antibacallpurposecleaner807.pdf>

Ok, there are some cleaners like that, and maybe one of those.

I use 409, Fantastik, or similar cleaner. If it foams when it hits
the KOH, it's working.
<http://www.ehow.com/how_2341688_clean-battery-leakage.html>
<http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Battery-Leaks/Spills>

Great, thanks to you and everyone else for the info and the links.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Ordinary household ammonia on a Q-tip with dissolve it.

Please note that I said "household ammonia". Not ammonia, not ammonium
nitrate fertilizer, not any other form of ammonia. Okay?

Although acids neutralize bases, I don't like the idea of using acids inside
electronic equipment. Acids are more-likely to attack metals than bases.

I've been doing this on and off for years, and never had the least trouble.
Household ammonia, followed by some neutral liquid to wash away anything
that might be left.

 

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

Teaching them to read Hewbrew would be too expensive? Instead you
get a nation of dirty toilets. I would think that sacrificing a few
immigrants so that the rest could have clean toilets would be a
suitable exchange. I guess international safety symbols won't work
when mixing to non-toxic products. Maybe a toilet with a nuclear
mushroom cloud coming out of the bowl might work.

Teaching them Hebrew is a national industry for the last 15 years the cost
of abosrbing new immigrants has exceeded the defense budget. Schools of
Hebrew are called "ulpan". There are ulpan for free, subsidized uplan, private
ulpan, people giving uplan lessons in their home, an Ulpan High School, and
the "Wall Street Institute" an ulpan which teaches English to Hebrew speakers,
plus Berlitz and other international schools of language.

The problem is how do make the point to someone before they learn Hebrew.

We don't have dirty toilets BTW, there are lots of other cleaners, including
"mai cham" (literally hot water), which is a dilute muratic acid solution.
The most common is "economica", which is a brand name that has become a
generic term for cholrine bleach with soap and optional lemon scent.

I was here for five years before I found out you can buy plain bleach with
no soap or lemon in it, and most immigants never learn that.

I like the mushroom cloud idea, but I'm not sure everyone would recognize it.
It's become a cultural icon in the west, but I'm not sure about rural China,
India, or Africa.

We also get most of our batteries from Singapore and mainlaind China, often
sold as well known "American" brands. The particularly bad ones were Office
Depot house brand, made in Hong Kong, but some were Duracell or Energizer
brand, made in various western European countries (or at least claimed to be).


Geoff.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

We don't have dirty toilets BTW, there are lots of other

cleaners, including "mai cham" (literally hot water), which
is a dilute muriatic acid solution.

I use Sno Bol, a hydrochloric acid solution. I cuts right through the
schmutz, something chlorine+determent products cannot do.

 

[ian field]

I use Sno Bol, a hydrochloric acid solution. I cuts right through the
schmutz, something chlorine+determent products cannot do.

A while back Harpic released an acid based bog cleaner that they claim to be
best on the market for shifting limescal, I've found if the limescale is
stained at all it takes an awfull lot of bog cleaner to shift it - whiten
the limescale with bleach first.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I use Sno Bol, a hydrochloric acid solution. I cuts right
When I say "schmutz", I mean hardened fecal schmutz.

A while back Harpic released an acid based bog cleaner
that they claim to be best on the market for shifting limescale,
I've found if the limescale is stained at all it takes an awful lot
of bog cleaner to shift it -- whiten the limescale with bleach first.

There's an American product called CLR (calcium-lime-rust) specifically for
such stuff.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

We don't have dirty toilets BTW, there are lots of other cleaners,

That will etch the surface of the porcelain, which will cause
particles of defecant to stick to the surface. It's much like using a
chemical sandpaper.

I don't think that's correct. I don't think most acids will attack
porcelain.

This is all I could find. It isn't clear what the relationship between
"porcelain enamel" and the porcelain used in bathroom fixtures is.

http://www.porcelainenamel.com/pei503.htm

 

[Adrian Tuddenham]

That will etch the surface of the porcelain, which will cause
particles of defecant to stick to the surface. It's much like using a
chemical sandpaper.


Lemon is a nasal desensitizer. Add lemon scent to anything and all
you small is lemon. That's why there are so many "lemon fresh"
products on the market. For an example, put a lemon under your nose,
while biting into an apple.

The by-product from air oxidation of lemon oil (d-Limonene oxide) is one
of the most allergenic chemical known. It forms in part-used bottles of
lemon-scented products and I have seen the horrible results of the
sensitisation it causes. (One of my work colleagues lost most of her
facial skin to it)

Even if you aren't allergic to it, other people may be, so please don't
use it.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Acids are what's used to etch porcelain bathtubs for "refinishing"

with epoxy paints. Even leaving chlorine bleach solution puddled
on the tub surface will etch it -- I found that out the hard way.

Which acid or acids? Decades before I saw "Breaking Bad", I knew that
hydrofluoric acid attacked glass and porcelain. But hydrochloric?

 

[ian field]

Which acid or acids? Decades before I saw "Breaking Bad", I knew that
hydrofluoric acid attacked glass and porcelain. But hydrochloric?

I recently discovered that caustic soda in an ultrasonic cleaner is capable
of etching the glaze off of spark plug insulators.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Acids are what's used to etch porcelain bathtubs for "refinishing"

I recently discovered that caustic soda in an ultrasonic cleaner
is capable of etching the glaze off spark plug insulators.

Okay, but we're talking about acids directly applied to porcelain.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I read that vomit can etch porcelain tile. That's HCl.

I saw mention on Google that phosphoric acid etches
porcelain.

Don't pour any Diet Coke in the sink!