How do I clean battery contacts on a Nikon flash

[illstudio]

Hello-
How do I remove blue residue from battery contacts?
I have an older Nikon Speedlight Sb24 I'd like to use. No batteries were stored inside it. However--
After opening it I noticed a moderate amount of blue residue on one set of AA contacts and almost a blackish "rust" on the other set.
Any ideas how to clean/fix this properly?
Steve

 

[c0ps]

ummm, replace the batteries?

 

[illstudio]

ummm, replace the batteries?

Huh? I mean the contacts that are part of the Speedlight...:meh:

 

[Samanax]

You can clean the contacts with a pencil eraser (the one on the pencil, not MagicRub).

 

[c0ps]

ummm, replace the batteries?

Oh im sorry lol, I feel stupid now hahaha. us vinegar or lemon on a q-tip. works nicely.

 

[benhasajeep]

A baking soda water mix. Baking soda neutralizes the acids. Can make it fairly thick since you don't want a wattery mess running all over the flash or any battery compartment for that matter. Make a nice consistant thin paste of baking soda and water. Apply it to the terminals, and let it sit for several minutes. Then clean off with clean towels, and rinse well with wet q-tips or what ever. Let it dry before putting in new batteries.

 

[CW Jones]

When I had this issue with an older flash for my film camera I simply used some relativity fine sand paper and it took it off no problem. Flash has worked flawlessly since!

 

[Dwig]

...
How do I remove blue residue from battery contacts?
...

Use a weak acid to disolve the crystaized residue left when an alkaline battery leaks. My preference is white distilled vinegar. Photographic stop bath, for those still doing wet processing of film, also works well. Use a very small amount on a cotton swab and dab at it carefully making sure to hold the flash's battery compartment in such a way as to cause everything that is loosened to fall down and out of the flash.

Do not use anything abrasive, even a pencil eraser, until you've cleaned the contact as well as possible with the vinegar. The contacts have a thin plating to prevent or resist corrosion. Over using an abrasive can damage this plating and cause you to have constant contact problems for the rest of the life of the flash.

Since you're seeing blue and not just white you're likely to have problems. The top layer of the contacts generally doesn't react with the leakage from the battery and the battery's leakage is generally white when it crystalizes. Blue or blue green indicates that some of the base metal, generally copper or a copper alloy, has been exposed and has reacted with the leakage. This can indicate that the plating has been damages and problems may persist. You may need the light abrasive of a pencil or pen (my preference) eraser to remove the surface oxidation after removing the crystalized leakage.