White powder on battery terminals?

[ltiu]

Only the second time I notice this. With alkalines, I notice a white powder, almost fibrous filaments form on the terminal(s). I notice it once in an alarm clock, the power formed on both the terminals of the AA alkaline battery and the contacts of the alarm clock. The once more, I noticed this in a partially used AAA alkaline battery lying on a table for over a month. Simply wiping with a dry paper towel removes the powder. The battery is not leaking, as far as I know. What could this powder be?

 

[TorchBoy]

I would have said it sounds like you've had a leak at some stage, not necessarily with the battery you're using now, but if you're seeing it with more than one cell... Got any bad pollution sources nearby?

 

[VidPro]

i would like to know this for sure also, some kind of electrolisis,or electrically altered oxidation?
Eclectic fungi i have seen it now on 3 battery types, Ni-cds , alkaline and ni-mhy, on the ni-cds it looks more granular.
and of course everyone has seen the stuff on car batteries.
there are reports of it on lithium cells too.

 

[koala]

I get this too, with my very old rechargeables. I don't know if it has anything do with [SIZE=-1]dendrites but I am pretty sure it's some sort of crystallization and it looks very much alike to my car battery terminals attacked by acid corrosion. [/SIZE]

 

[LuxLuthor]

Yeah, I have seen this on old NiCads, car lead acid, and alkalines most commonly. Looks like a white crystalline fluffy deposit.

 

[TorchBoy]

Apparently the answer is to wash the batteries in Coke.

http://www.2carpros.com/topics/battery.htm

Question: ... I have two questions: 1) For the last two years I have found increasing deposits of white powder around my battery terminal. What could be causing this? ...

Answer: Remove the battery cables and clean the battery. Get yourself a carbonated soft drink, no do not drink it, and pour it on the battery to neutralize the white powdery substance. Rinse the battery with water, clean the battery terminals, and reconnect.