Hello and Happy New year /diy/
How should I correctly remove this corrosion from my cordless drills terminals and battery? I've tried scraping it off with a knife in the past but the blue-green stuff eventually comes back and causes contact problems.
I don't really know anything about chemistry but is there some kind of baking soda solution I can try? The battery's are nickel–cadmium (NiCd) if that helps.
Thanks!
Another gore close up.
>>923157
A light film of silicone dielectric grease will help prevent this corrosion.
Just scrape the bulk of the funk off, and give it a light coat.
>>923163
Thanks anon, I will be sure to pick some up next time I venture into the hardware store.
Are there any chemical ways to remove the stuff that is already on there or at least soften it up ready for scraping? As it's quite hard and tough at the surface level.
>>923167
Try vinegar or windex, not both at the same time. Hit it with some brasso when it's mostly clean.
>>923175
Thanks, I'm going to give the vinegar a try tomorrow and will have a rummage around for the brasso.
Any idea what the green/blue stuff actually is? It only seems to form on the negative terminal.
>>923182
just use a strip of sandpaper on a stick
>>923163
But dielectric grease is an insulator and could cause other issues in it's own right...
OP here, just got done cleaning them and so far so good.
I used lemon juice+baking soda to make the green stuff dissolve and scrubbed the terminals with an old tooth brush. After cleaning with a paper towel I brushed the terminals off with brasso metal polish and again wiped it to a shiny finish with a paper towel.
I've tested them in the drill and charger and so far it appears to have worked with no more intermittent contact like there was before causing the drill to sputter on and off unless the battery was held in the right position.
The only thing I'm concerned about is that the brasso seems to have stripped away at the silver-chrome plating revealing the bare conductor underneath (probably copper). Will this cause the green stuff to come back even worse and should I maybe tin the exposed copper with solder?
I guess what >>923163 said about silicone dielectric grease is to help prevent this? If so I'll pick some up from the store.
Thanks again for the help /diy/.
>>923439
Nonsense. The contacts work on a metal to metal spring fit.
Dielectric grease is a very commonly used item in electrical connections where humidity or the potential for corrosion exists.
>>923483
And ignition systems, and many industrial connectors, etc.
With batteries, the terminals are large enough you can use just about any sort of grease.
>>923483
>It's some kind of oxide, probably copper oxide, and it happens when the battery starts to die but is kept plugged into the circuit
Sounds plausible, they are several years old and the molded carry case box they are stored in requires you to keep the battery's installed in two of the tools (the kit has other power tools too).
There is probably a small quiescent current always being drawn too as the tools have active control modules inside with soft power switches.
>>923519
yes.
sandpaper or small file
apply something after to prevent future corrosion
corrosion likes to spread like an infection soon coating all your tools==clean afterwards
>>923512
It's also silicone based, and insulative.
It's called dielectric grease due to It's resistance to breakdown and not conducting at very high voltages.
A dielectric in it's own definition is an insulator.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease#Dielectric_grease
