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CJ
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2005 - 11:14 pm: | 
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Hi All,
I picked up a Vivitar 530 flash for cheap. When I took it home, I realized that somebody had glued the battery cover shut. After pounding on it for a bit with a rubber mallet, the cover finally budged: It was stuck because the four alkalines inside had leaked.
So now I've got a mess at the bottom of the battery cavity that looks like sea salt, coating one of the bottom contacts. It does not look pretty.
Can anybody suggest a way to remove this junk? Ideally, I'd like to immerse the whole thing in a vinegar/water mixture, but that'll probably mess up the circuits.
What about contact cleaner, or naptha? Can anybody suggest a remedy for this, or am I left to surgically remove the crud with a q-tip dipped in vinegar:water?
PS: The 530 doesn't have a battery cage like the 283, unfortunately. |
Max Tickner
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 08, 2005 - 05:19 am: |
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Best remedy is still cotton buds liberally dipped in plain vinegar . And of course patience. Trust me. I know from experince. |
Tony Duell
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 08, 2005 - 07:09 am: |
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I use a strong-ish solution of citric acid in water. It smells more pleasant than vinegar, and is just as good at cleaning up alkaline battery gunge (FWIW NiCds have an alkaline electrolyte too, so it's good for cleaning up when they leak too).
I bought the citric acid from a local pharmacy. I can't remember what they told me it was normally used for -- home-making beer, maybe. I don't think it's particularly hazardous. |
WernerJB
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 08, 2005 - 11:30 am: |
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Hi, CJ, Max Tickner's entry says it all. He exactly describes what I did with one of the flash units that sometimes are surplus items on ebay camera auctions, his method works, the flash is as good as new again. Make sure that nothing of the substance you describe remains or, what is worse, finds its way into other parts of the flash. |
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