I have a camera question for you photographers **UPDATE**

[Trailrider1951]

Last edited Mon Aug 29, 2022, 09:01 PM - Edit history (1)

A friend of mine died a few years ago and left me a nice digital camera, among other things. The camera is a Sony Cybershot DSC-H5. Unfortunately, one of the AA batteries went bad and left some corrosion in and around the battery compartment. I googled the problem, and the advice was to 1. clean out the area with white vinegar and a q-tip, 2. scrub it with baking soda, to neutralize the acid in the vinegar, 3. wipe with a damp lint-free cloth, and 4. let dry completely before inserting new batteries. Does this sound like good advice to you? I have no experience cleaning battery corrosion from electronic gear, only on car batteries. Thanks for your input!

[LakeArenal]

1. Pretty much what they use for car battery connections.

Make sure all soda residue is gone.

[Shipwack]

2. Photographer/ Electronics Technician here...

This is sound advice, and should work as long as the corrosion isn’t widespread.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. If it was an alkaline cell, you have nothing to worry about.

Just brush out the white crud with a teeny paint brush.

If it was a zinc-chloride cell, you're in trouble.

[Trailrider1951]

4. Thanks! I think it was an alkaline battery

It was a regular Duracell AA. By the way, Duracell batteries seem to have a problem with going bad if left in equipment. This is about the third time I've encountered this, previous times in flashlights. I've now switched to Eveready batteries. Also, removing gross debris with a small dry paintbrush is a great idea! I think I'll do that before the chemical treatment.

[Trailrider1951]

5. Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm going to proceed with the googled advice. I guess I'll know in a few days when it's dry if I've cleaned it or ruined it.

[SeattleVet]

6. After cleaning and neutralizing, I'd use a corrosion inhibitor.

Clean the terminals and affected area, then I would put a little DeoxIT on the terminals to stop any further corrosion and keep good contact. DeoxIT is a product from Caig Labs that works very well...I've been using it for several years when restoring some vintage test equipment. They have a spray version, but I usually use the higher-strength one that comes in a little bottle with a brush (just checked the bottle - it's DeoxIT D100L).

[Trailrider1951]

7. UPDATE: Success!!! Camera now works fine

First I brushed most of the battery deposits out of the battery compartment with a small bristle paintbrush. This removed 90% of what was in there. I then hit the remaining deposits with straight white vinegar on a small sable paintbrush and let it soak for a few minutes. I followed this with the baking soda and the debris was entirely cleaned off. I used the sable brush with distilled water to remove any remaining baking soda, and dried the inside of the compartment with a lint-free cloth. I left the camera up on the shelf with the compartment open for over a week to insure that it was completely dry. Tonight I inserted fresh batteries and the camera is working! Thanks, everyone for your suggestions!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. How wonderful that your efforts paid off, my dear Trailrider1951!

I know that I am looking forward to seeing what your photos from this camera look like.