Neutralising battery acid?

[davegsm82]

Hi everyone, I have just added a Bush VTR330 to my collection which came with a rather nice Ever ready PP9 blue dry battery.

The VTR330 is working fine and sounds fantastic but is currently chained to my bench supply as the battery is long since dead.

I've opened up the battery and would like to stick a 6x AA battery holder inside to make it look authentic, however there is some corrosion inside the metal case and a couple of 'bubbles' of rusty battery acid corrosion coming through the casing.

Can the acid be neutralised? there is still some left on the case inside, it looks wet so i'm guessing its still active.

Any advice appreciated.

Dave.

[jay_oldstuff]

I've used baking soda in the past to neutralise battery acid,

Jay

[John M0GLN]

Or 'washing soda' ( Sodium Carbonate )

John

[wireful3]

It may not actually be acid if it is a PP9. It might in fact be alkali in which case vinegar is better.

[richrussell]

Car batteries often have bicarbonate of soda powder loose in the box when they're sent by post, in case of spillage. I've got a jam jar full of the stuff from several batteries I've had over the years.

[davegsm82]

When I dismantled the battery it was made up of a stack of flat oblong shaped cells sealed with wax, looked like a standard Zinc-Carbon arrangement, so I presume the emission form it is going to be Acidic.

The Zinc on the top cell (that you could see) has corroded away and turned into that horrid white fluffy substance which usually indicates its long dead.

Dave.

[John M0GLN]

I have to admit that after reading the title 'Neutralising battery acid?' I missed the PP9 ref' and just assumed we were talking about Sulphuric Acid solutions, a Zinc Carbon battery contains Zinc Chloride and Ammonium Chloride, both slightly acidic, the former being used a soldering flux, so any of the mild alkali's already mentioned should do to neutralise it.

John

[michael cumming]

I have had this with those metal clad batterys, Was it hard to open??. When i do these i unpick the folded metal that holds the plastic bottom of the battery in place. i then push down on the top and the insides come out easy, A holder using 6 AAs will fit perfectly inside the case, after you have cleaned the stains of you can use a dremmel tool to sand it down from the inside if the rust is only mild, take care not to spoil the cover as its lithographed on to metal an scratches easy, i have just done a PP7 on a Murphy radio i baught, that was metal clad, i used a pp3 inside that, i must admit the card batterys are easy to do but with the metal ones those edges can be sharp so take care.

[davegsm82]

Originally Posted by michael cumming

I have had this with those metal clad batterys, Was it hard to open??. When i do these i unpick the folded metal that holds the plastic bottom of the battery in place. i then push down on the top and the insides come out easy, A holder using 6 AAs will fit perfectly inside the case, after you have cleaned the stains of you can use a dremmel tool to sand it down from the inside if the rust is only mild, take care not to spoil the cover as its lithographed on to metal an scratches easy, i have just done a PP7 on a Murphy radio i baught, that was metal clad, i used a pp3 inside that, i must admit the card batterys are easy to do but with the metal ones those edges can be sharp so take care.

It is indeed a metal clad one, i've pretty much done exactly as you've described to get into it, not needed to cut anything, just unfold.

I'd like to make some sort of removable bottom plate for the battery, so I can replace the AA's when the inevitable happens without resorting to dismantling the whole thing again.

Dave.