How to remove leaked "juice" from flashlight battery

[Paintedcow]

I have a cheap flashlight, so it's no big deal if it dies, but the batteries leaked a very little amount inside of it. These were STANDARD batteries, (not alkaline). There is no corrosion inside the flashlight (yet) and it works fine with some new batteries. But I know that "juice" will cause corrosion if it's not removed. The batteries are AA, so there is no room to get any sort of rag in there, nor do I have a tiny brush.

Besides flushing it out with plain water, and maybe some dish soap, what else can I use? Will baking soda deactivate it? OR, will putting in some solvent, like gasoline, paint thinner, or rubbing alcohol remove it? (Poured inside and swished around)? [used safely and outdoors of course].

If this was a costly flashlight, I'd be more concerned, but I'd still like to clean it out if I can, and hopefully this will help someone else in the future.

[Stormin Mormon]

If it were my light, I'd remove the two ends if possible. Wash it out with hot water. Leave the parts disassembled over night. To dry.

And then put a bit of grease on any threads, when reassembling.

You could also DAGS, see what works for others.

I'd not use any solvents, they might damage the plastic.

Of course, AA flashlights aren't all that expensive. Usually.

[Danny D.]

Stormin Mormon wrote, on Mon, 21 Dec 2015 18:51:00 -0500:

As others suggested, I'd wash/dissolve the white ammonium and zinc chloride salts away using plain water and then I'd just let it air dry.

To (somewhat) prevent leakage in the future ... it's a good idea to keep the relative capacities the same.

Practically, the only way to do that is to ensure the *date* of the batteries and the *type* are as exactly matched as you can make it.

Someone else can explain *why* that's critical. It has some thing to do with battery-voltage reversal somehow, but I'll let others explain it better than I can.

[Unquestionably Confused]

The zinc-oxide paste in a non-alkaline battery is acidic.

Mix up a bit of baking soda to a paste like consistency and spread it on the corrosion it will foam up, neutralize and remove the corrosion.

[Dave C]

Many (most?) battery manufacturers will provide a replacement, when their batteries damage an item - due to a battery leak. I have received $ replacement value, for 5+ year old batteries.

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