Music Equipment Maintenance Question

[William Murderface]

Quick question. I am getting some guitar pedals and an acoustic/electric guitar with a built-in tuner, but they've sat for years and batteries weren't taken out first. How does one clean up after corroded 9-volts? I've heard that using baking soda and then scrubbing out the battery areas with a toothbrush works, but I'm curious who has any success with cleaning up those things?

Thanks.

 

[McMitch]

What kind of batteries were left in the pedals? That’s going to determine if the corrosion is alkaline or acidic. Use the opposite type of cleaner to neutralize the corrosion, and you’ll probably have to pop them open to check to see if the corrosion has traveled down the wiring.

Scrape whatever you can off first into a trash can or whatever, being careful not to let the crystals fall into the device/instrument. Whatever’s left can be tackled with a toothbrush/cleaner combo.

 

[QuatoLives]

The corrosion is caused by the alkaline battery, so you need an acid like vinegar to neutralize it.

 

[William Murderface]

What kind of batteries were left in the pedals? That’s going to determine if the corrosion is alkaline or acidic. Use the opposite type of cleaner to neutralize the corrosion, and you’ll probably have to pop them open to check to see if the corrosion has traveled down the wiring.

Scrape whatever you can off first into a trash can or whatever, being careful not to let the crystals fall into the device/instrument. Whatever’s left can be tackled with a toothbrush/cleaner combo.

9 Volts in the pedals (BOSS tuner, BOSS Overdrive, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Wah), and in the guitar (Fender Stratacoustic) are the only thing I know for sure. I think the rest of the pedals are also 9 volts.

 

[McMitch]

9 Volts in the pedals (BOSS tuner, BOSS Overdrive, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Wah), and in the guitar (Fender Stratacoustic) are the only thing I know for sure. I think the rest of the pedals are also 9 volts.

If you don’t know whether the batteries were alkaline or not, safest bet would be to just use a damp toothbrush and elbow grease.

 

[William Murderface]

Wouldn't it say on the battery case? Like if the battery was an Energizer or Ever Ready or something?

 

[McMitch]

Wouldn't it say on the battery case? Like if the battery was an Energizer or Ever Ready or something?

No, because the equipment only cares about the electrical output of the battery, not how the energy is stored. The problem is, if the batteries that were left in used an acidic electrolyte like carbon batteries do, then the corrosion itself would be acidic and require a basic solution (i.e. baking soda) to neutralize, whereas the opposite is true if they were alkaline batteries. At best, using the wrong side of neutral will do nothing but there’s a chance it could make things worse. Generally, it’s a bad idea to attempt chemical reactions when you are blind to what half the reaction actually is.

 

[William Murderface]

I meant the battery itself. Shouldn't the battery itself say on it if it's alkaline or acidic based?

 

[McMitch]

I meant the battery itself. Shouldn't the battery itself say on it if it's alkaline or acidic based?

It should, yes.

Also, I just realized your windfall is basically half my own setup. Good find.

 

[Croco]

If it's a corrosive car battery then you can pour Pepsi-cola on it and scrub? Maybe that would work for the guitar?

 

[monk]

Depending on the amount of damage, you might get away with just cleaning with vinegar or baking soda (use vinegar directly from the bottle, make up a solution of baking soda in water), try both on the dead battery or clip to see which works best. Use a Q-tip, scrub until there's no more crystalline stuff. Next use a cotton ball with baking soda solution to neutralize the vinegar, you want it to stop fizzing. Next use 99% isopropyl alcohol to pull out the water and dry the parts. Use copious amounts of alcohol, so that the thing is soaked, then blow all the alcohol out with compressed air. If alcohol got into any pots (potentiometers), they need to be relubricated with silicone oil spray.

If the damage to the battery clip (the wire and thing that clips onto the battery) is severe the clip needs to be replaced.
If the damage extends to the electronics, sometimes it needs to be repaired by unsoldering parts, cleaning up and repairing the circuit board and replacing the damaged parts. You can find countless videos of how to repair battery leakage on circuit boards.

You can take apart a 9V that hasn't leaked yet and make a clip from it that's better (much more robust) than the clips you can buy and have to pay money for.. Just take out the clip with pliers, solder wires onto it and glue it with hot glue.

I've had to scroll through what's probably a hundred identical videos to find the oldest one from a White guy because electronics Youtube has been absolutely shitted and pajeeted on by brown retards, there's what seem like hundreds of videos and shorts of brown hands doing basic stuff with shitty filler music and spelling mistakes, why does youtube need a hundred identical videos of brown hands making 9v battery clips or some other similar shit. Imagine the amount of storage and bandwidth these subhumans are wasting, this is why we can't have nice things.

 

[William Murderface]

Depending on the amount of damage, you might get away with just cleaning with vinegar or baking soda (use vinegar directly from the bottle, make up a solution of baking soda in water), try both on the dead battery or clip to see which works best. Use a Q-tip, scrub until there's no more crystalline stuff. Next use a cotton ball with baking soda solution to neutralize the vinegar, you want it to stop fizzing. Next use 99% isopropyl alcohol to pull out the water and dry the parts. Use copious amounts of alcohol, so that the thing is soaked, then blow all the alcohol out with compressed air. If alcohol got into any pots (potentiometers), they need to be relubricated with silicone oil spray.

If the damage to the battery clip (the wire and thing that clips onto the battery) is severe the clip needs to be replaced.
If the damage extends to the electronics, sometimes it needs to be repaired by unsoldering parts, cleaning up and repairing the circuit board and replacing the damaged parts. You can find countless videos of how to repair battery leakage on circuit boards.

You can take apart a 9V that hasn't leaked yet and make a clip from it that's better (much more robust) than the clips you can buy and have to pay money for.. Just take out the clip with pliers, solder wires onto it and glue it with hot glue.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=XlyTBnXjmsU
I've had to scroll through what's probably a hundred identical videos to find the oldest one from a White guy because electronics Youtube has been absolutely shitted and pajeeted on by brown retards, there's what seem like hundreds of videos and shorts of brown hands doing basic stuff with shitty filler music and spelling mistakes, why does youtube need a hundred identical videos of brown hands making 9v battery clips or some other similar shit. Imagine the amount of storage and bandwidth these subhumans are wasting, this is why we can't have nice things.

Cool find. Thanks for the info.

 

[Pee Cola]

If the damage extends to the electronics, sometimes it needs to be repaired by unsoldering parts, cleaning up and repairing the circuit board and replacing the damaged parts. You can find countless videos of how to repair battery leakage on circuit boards.

I'm glad you went this far into things, as hopefully it'll encourage OP to repair any of the gear that doesn't work after cleaning the terminals and installing a new battery. Guitar pedals aren't complicated, so cleaning the circuit board and replacing damaged components should be easy enough for anyone who has ever held a soldering iron for longer than 2 minutes during their lifetime.

Congrats on the haul, OP!