Can corroded battery socket be repaired?

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We’ve had a few of these in storage. Opened them up and found severe corrosion. Can they be repaired economically or are they a write off?

I’ve attached one image of a hood one, and one of a corroded one.
 

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my experience is you can clean/scrape/sand the corrosion off and get stuff working again but it's often not as reliable as before.

I've heard some suggest vinigar for neutralising alkaline battery goo, haven't tried it myself though, if you do use it make sure you rinse it off thoughouly afterwards.
 
my experience is you can clean/scrape/sand the corrosion off and get stuff working again but it's often not as reliable as before.
I agree with all that.
I've heard some suggest vinigar for neutralising alkaline battery goo, haven't tried it myself though, if you do use it make sure you rinse it off thoughouly afterwards.
I suppose that makes chemical sense, but I think that keeping the vinegar away from where it shouldn't be (and where it could do more harm than good) could be a serious challenge. Some of the 'de-rusting gels' might be a better bet, since they are at least not 'liquid'.

Having said that, I've rarely failed with the 'mechanical' methods mentioned above - but, as said, the end-product is not necessarily very reliable.

Kind Regards, John
 
I've had exactly this issue over the last sereal days with a battery holder on a torch; 3x AAA in a caddy which fits in the torch. For some reason all 3 -ve springs are rusty so cleaned them with a cut down nails emery board, filled with AAAs popped it in the torch and worked OK, short while later it didn't. Cleaned the +ve contactsand same thing happened ... and so it went on. cleaned the contacts in the torch and what they mated with on the caddy.

Eventually I realised that as the battery was fitted the next turn on the spring was taking over on the batteries. Seems to be working for now but i'll be looking for a replacement to keep Mrs Sunray happy when it will inevitablystop working.
 
Eventually I realised that as the battery was fitted the next turn on the spring was taking over on the batteries.
Yes, I think that's common, but attempting to clean anything other than the very end of the conical springs (as commonly used for the -ve end of the battery) can be a distinct challenge, particularly if its at the end of a narrow dark hole!

Kind Regards, John
 
I've often been tempted to try that, but have always been put off my the practicalities. As I've just written, the springs are quite often at the end of a long, dark, narrow hole and, even when they're not, they are often welded on (or riveted in an inaccessible place) and/or are of a bespoke design.

If I come across the case in which it looks as if replacing the spring may be a practical proposition, I may well give it a try!

Kind Regards, John
 
IMO, abrasion and chemicals may make it corrode quicker in future.

I've recently tried cleaning off with an electric toothbrush, then sponging away the dust.
 
IMO, abrasion and chemicals may make it corrode quicker in future.
If it started life with some sort of coating/plating (and maybe even if it didn't), that's probably true, but by the time it's rusted, any such protection will be long-gone, anyway.
I've recently tried cleaning off with an electric toothbrush, then sponging away the dust.
Fair enough, but that's just a fairly gentle form of 'abrasion', isn't it? Mind you, given how much scraping/sanding/grinding/whatever that is often needed, I suspect that a toothbrush would often be far too 'gentle' to achieve very much!

Kind Regards, John
 
I took this into a gadget repair shop and they couldn’t fix it, so I might have to try myself. If I just pop off the old corroded could and attach a new one that should work? I guess I’ll need to find a specific type of spring and plate? (These are D battery compartments.)
 
ok my thoughts yes clean the springs for a good contact
but iff perhaps 4 or 5mm room for the spring then perhaps a full replacement spring or even half a spring just screwed round the spring thats there to intertwine giving several points off contact giving a clean overall connection but off course it wont work if no space
other options tin foil in balls a layer tucked into the spring to give a clean area to pick up electrical contact away from the face but be careful off bridging both + and - on the battery
even brass 'phosphor bronze 'electrical steel wire strands to twist/push fold into the spiral to pass contact to the surface
 

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