I've been wondering ... people always suggest baking soda, but isn't an alkaline battery's love juice, well ... alkaline, not acid? Hence, no need for an acid neutralizer like baking soda?
yes, to clean up alkaline, they say just use lots and lots of water flushing.
a vinagar or vinegar and water 50-50% mix , will "nutralise" the base, but i have seen vinegar also oxidise stuff that wasnt bad off before :-(.
I would ask the battery manufacture first (guilty party), as sometimes they want to SEE if they are at fault for sure (mail to them) , before they "repair or replace" what thier battery damaged.
getting the switch messed up, if its not a simple slide to connect switch ($2 light) might be a lot harder to fix for a long term, by doing a manuel cleanup. a wet switch can make a partial connect, and put you right back into depleated leaking cells again :-(
after water cleanups, we use 97-99% alcohol, to "replace" the water, because it dries faster, after dried, using sand paper, emery board, wire brush,or pencil eraser, will clean contacts, a lite silicon spray to put a thin film of silicon on the parts so they dont oxidise after cleaning, a tiny thin film of silicon on things , also makes them clean up easier in general.
