Any experience with battery corrosion

[Whatsername]

So I recently have been looking at getting film for my Yashica Mat 124G but have been going through testing things out and wanted to check the battery compartment. I noticed it was very hard to open and started to worry that there might be a battery in it. Apparently at some point my dad did use it and left the battery in and it exploded pretty good. I'm in the process now of taking it out but I don't know what to clean the corrosion with and I'm worried that the prolonged leaking may have damaged other things. Has anyone had an experience like this with a similar camera? Can a leaking battery cause other damages? Should I take somewhere to have it at least looked at or just try to use it and see what happens? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Rickbb]

Brush/scrape it out as best as you can. Remember that is battery acid, and so, is corrosive, wear gloves and keep all the debris contained to dispose of. After you get all the gunk out you can then inspect for any intrusion into other parts of the camera.

Most camera makers are good about keeping the battery compartment separated from the rest of the insides and unless the stuff is runny/liquid I doubt it's done much damage. Other than make a mess.

If it doesn't look like it migrated elsewhere you can use a small piece of fine sandpaper, emory cloth or a scotch brite pad to polish up the terminals/battery contacts and it should be good as new.

 

[Derrel]

It might take up to 90 minutes to clean out the corrosion and polish up the contacts. go slowly, and pay attention to what you are doing. I have a feeling that the corrosion can likely be eliminated and the old girl brought back to life.

Before you begin make sure you have the correct battery or an equivalent ready to test your progress at cleaning out the corroded battery compartment. I am not at my computer right now and I do not recall what battery the 124G uses.

 

[cgw]

The Yashica’s battery only powered the so-so meter. Old PX-625 batteries could leak and corrode so much that they literally welded themselves into battery compartments. I’ve operated unsuccessfully on several where it was unclear where the battery ended and the camera began. Biggest issues with old ‘Mats are shutter timing accuracy, light leaks and occasional lens fogging. Budget for an affordable hand-held incident meter. They’re likeable 6x6 cameras.