Alkaleak aftermath cleaning

Discovered a AA alkie beginning to leak in my Acebeam H40 (grumble...). Cell wasn't that old (grumble...). Light still worked, even though the cell had begun to leak (grumble...).

So I remove the cell & place the light aside waiting for the next time the wife sliced a lemon for cooking/beverage. It wasn't 'till two weeks or so later I got my hands on a lemon slice. Returned to the light & discovered that the corrosion hadn't stopped with removal of the cell; it had continued to grow, likely causing deeper pitting than what I'd have seen if I'd started cleaning the same day I discovered the cell leaking.

After an hour or so of applying lemon juice to the inner tube & taulcap, scraping and small dremel wire wheel I was down to reasonably clean bare aluminum. Light still works.

Questions:

1) After neutralizing the corrosion with lemon juice, is it necessary to neutralize the acidic lemon juice on the aluminum aside from diluting by rinsing with water? If so, with what?

2). We all know that oil retards rust formation on ferrous metals. I applied some silicone grease to the areas I scraped & wire wheeled. Will doing so stop any residual corrosion particles I might have missed in the nooks & crannies of the tube?

3). What is it about being sealed in an airtight tube that seems to encourage or accelerate an alkaleak to begin leaking? Does it outgas some bad breath of sorts that then feeds on itself, resulting in external leaking?

Grumble...

slmjim

Deoxit. Deoxit makes 2 types, one for cleaning, one for protection. Both are magic. The brush bottles are what I favor. If you have to protect contacts on a boat that you are putting in salt water, the stuff is near essential.

If you do a search on BLF and you’ll find a lo0t of Deoxit noted as the best, and also CRC 2-26 (which I have not used) The CRC product looks particularly inexpensive at $3.10 for a 5 oz can at Home Depot. https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-2-26-5-oz-Multi-Purpose-Lubricant-02004/100398344

you could have used Vinegar instead of waiting for a lemon :wink:

and yes, Alu is an amphoteric metal and will react with both acids and bases, so it`s a good idea to wash it all off with de-ionised water afterwards.

Agree with vinegar. Have used it frequently for just that. Need to try out the Deoxit stuff.

Mum always runs down craplights that use those 3×AAA carriers, and the springs always are getting etched away, and worse. I just brush away as much ook as possible, soak ’em in AcOH, brush some more, resoak, then finally when as clean as seems possible, rinse thoroughly under running water quite a long time, then air-dry.

I also had some nice lights get ruined by hateful little alkaleaks, and pretty much do the same. And yeah, even taking a wire-brush (slightly-larger-diameter pipe-cleaner in a drill), you can’t grind away enough surface metal to clean it out.

Sir have you considered letting our Lord and Savior the Low Self Discharge Nickel Metal Hydride battery into your life?

If I may read to you from the Book of Eneloop an alkaline battery lives but one life and then it perishes. The lowest of them sometimes die a horrific death before they are even born, spewing forth the white corruption from their coppery tops while they are still wrapped in transparent swaddling. Some are taken by the devil later in life. These are batteries which you let into the heart of hearts of your most precious electronics only to see your trust betrayed by cells of corrosive hate. The battery which murders its host is truly the most despicable.

The alkaline battery holds you firmly in its grip. You must pilgrimage to the market and pay tithes. Provide quarter to a phalanx of spares. Be ever diligent to the risk of the vile corruption. As they quickly fade you are attacked by doubts. “Is it already dying? Can I squeeze a little more from this cell?” And then when it has given its life of service you must provide a proper funerary ceremony at one of the local churches of disposal.

But our savior NiMH releases us from this cycle of toil and death! It welcomes you with the promise of eternal rebirth and recharge. Let the higher power into your life. Never will you have to constantly tithe. Never will you have to dress the dead in their body bags. The threat from the ooze of corrosion will recede like a bad dream.

Where I once kept no less than 40 spare alkalines I need now only have 4 extra rechargeables. Once I was obligated to carry a full gallon of the dead on the ides of every month. Now all of my dead from the past decade have yet to fill a single cup. Fighting the corrosive corruption was a constant battle of attrition that frequently resulted in the loss of the electrical servants in my household. After letting the disciple Eneloop into their hearts there has not been a single casualty among them.

I am a farmer of the sun. Collecting the light and funneling a spirit of charge into these batteries. I am not beholden to resupply and my boondocks are longer thanks to it. What precious little space I have is not occupied by an army of spares. The few coins to my name stay in my pocket instead of being paid to the alkaline merchants.

Let the Eneloop into your life. Be recharged and be reborn!

Let the light of NiMH save you! :stuck_out_tongue:

…or maybe Li-Ion, heh

and they also work a lot better than alkaleaks :wink:

Amen brother.

I use vinegar and them baking soda to take care of that.

When that’s happened to me, after cleaning the areas that had the corrosion, I coat everything with WD-40 applied with a cotton swab. Has worked for me.

I too like Eneloops and have several that are over 10 years old and are still going strong. However and I know it’s rare, I have had two AAA Eneloops leak on me in the past.

Just got these yesterday from Amazon. Living on the subtropical gulf coast makes it real hard to keep battery terminals clean. Haven’t used the corrosion-gone cleaner yet, but the brushes work great to assist Deoxit in cleaning terminals.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

So, I see it's vinegar instead of citric acid for cleaning alkaleak detritus. OK, I'll have to go back & do that. It was sorta fun though, to watch the leftover cell grunge sizzle & fry when the lemon juice hit it.

I do have a healthy assortment of NiMH cells I use in most lights. I had intended to drain this particular alkie cell with an extended use session before discarding. The light ran fine for hours at my chosen brilliance level and then, tired & just wanting the day to be over, I removed the light & put it in the toolbox. Less than a month later I remembered & that's when I saw the leakage. Cell is dated 2023. (Grumble...)

Alkaleaks just sorta seem to find me; included with gadgets, as gifts & mysterious foundlings generally. I hate to discard a usable cell especially if new but, in the future I'll have to demote alkies to single-use-only duty.

I've successfully drained many alkies in my much loved & mysteriously departed Thorfire TG06S EDC vampire light. I used it often & never had a problem with nearly kaput cells leaking.

The silicone grease I have is Chemplex 710, 90% of a large tube left over from a previous life as photocopier/printer Tech. Probably more than I'll use in my lifetime:

https://www.fuchs.com/us/en/product/product/127627-chemplex-710/

Still, it seems that when an alkie is placed in a sealed environment like a flashlight tube, some reaction begins that results in it crapping in it's home. Maybe they're innately claustrophobic & $#|T the bed when confined. (Grumble...)

slmjim

Bravo! Have you considered submitting that as advertising copy?

slmjim