$^#*&$ leaky battery in Arc AAA...

Just wouldn't work yesterday so i opened it up, and lo and behold, the -ve end of the batt (Energizer) was leaking. Looking into the body of my beloved Arc AAA, there was a blackish blotch at the bottom of the once shiny and beautiful chem-koted (spelling?) blob. Its seems to have spread from the blob to one side of the base...

The head's fine, tried running a wire to a new battery and head directly, it lit up fine... I tried the pencil eraser trick in the tube, but still didn't light up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I don't think I have baking soda at home too (supposed to be baking soda + water and shake, right?), so I think I'm gonna try the steel wool trick next.

Will the steel wool scrub off the coating as well? Any other suggestions as to how I can get rid of that gunk? Thanks in advance...

Try a Q-tip with ammonia on it.

Umm... would a Q-tip be a cotton bud thingy by any chance? As for ammonia, any suggestions where I might find some? Do you reckon the pharmacy might sell it? Only source of ammonia I know of right now is probably not gonna work in this case... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Stanley,

Q-tip = cotton bud thingy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

Thanks Kemuel... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I umm... knew that! Was just testing you, thats all! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

I think After-bite contains amonia

Windex Glass cleaner used to have ammonia, other household cleaners too.

Don't they sell bottles of ammonia at the supermarket anymore? If I recall it was very cheap.

Well, unfortunately over here some stuff are not sold as openly or rather there is a lack of demand for things like for e.g. ammonia. I don't recall seeing ammonia on any shelves anywhere at all... I'll check out some hardware stores and see. Will check on Windex and see if its still got any ammonia in it though... Thanks you guys! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You know..the Arc DIY guide says that you can get a bit of steel wool or scotchbrite and then spin it around with a pen or pencil to scrub off the black stuff.
I'm sure if you don't scrub like a madman, you should easily be able to take off the black w/o taking off the gold.

FYI. scotchbrite is those nylon scouring pads (usually green) that you use to wash dishes with. typical pad being about 10cm x 15cm by 3-5mm thick.

Thanks for that suggestion also, Mr Mimizu. Those generric brand names sure throw me off sometimes... I'll try not to scrub like a madman, as you suggested! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif