dude, Im a pro photographer for a living. I had two old flash units, a metz and nikon on camera flash units. Both i gave up on years ago. I tried cleaning them with everything. Just for the heck of it i tried your method...Both units work like new. Thanks, brother !
Ehm, alkaline batteries have no acid like a car battery, but alkaline electrolyte (it's basic: pH above 7, 'cause acid is below 7). So to clean you must use an acid (vinegar is fine) and by mixing bicarbonate (basic) with vinegar (acid) you're neutralizing both resulting in a neutral solution. It still fizzled in contact with residues on the battery contacts 'cause the bicarbonate wasn't enough to neutralize the vinegar.
Thanks a million (or at least several dollars worth)! I discovered that both of my canon speedlites had battery leaks. One of them quite bad and I wasn’t even going to try to clean it but figured I had nothing to loose and I was going to clean the one with just a slight issue. So glad my husband found this video!!!
I've used this method many times w/ the Flash units but now on a F4E motordrive I forgot about, well it's clean on surfaces but it doesn't work the same so I wonder if what's gotten inside where I can't see. What is the risk of letting this seep in to where the acid went if it drains out & dries proper.? I'm not relay sure if it's in the grip end or below in motor-drive unit or both.. It happened to my D2H & SB-R1C1 kit with lithium CR-123'a's again, cleaned up but took some time for buttons & some dials to work. The corrosion ate off some finish on metal bits inside case. It was a bloody mess.
That seems like a really extreme case and hope it still works for you. I know if mine was a bit worse, it may have not functioned properly after the cleaning. I am glad mine stayed to just the exterior and didn't get below the contacts.
Awesome. Thanks for the information. Works great on my camera. Oh you do realize that you had the glove on the wrong hand right? 😁😜 Or just use both gloves.
I'm not sure about that, I would check out the channel called "tronicsfix" and search his videos for battery corroded or something. That guy fixes all sorts of game systems and seems like a great person.
I just opened up my 430 speedlight and… you guessed it. The contacts down inside cleaned up easy but the contacts on the door did not. The acid (vinegar) wouldn’t do it. I had to hit them with sandpaper to get down to shiny metal. Now my speedlight is back in action. I was fixing to throw it in the trash. I’ll never leave alkaline batteries in there again. Or in ANY device. I don’t know how many Maglites I’ve had to pitch, couldn’t even get them open with a vice and a wrench. But DON’T use baking soda, that just neutralizes your vinegar. The fizzing is the acid being neutralized! When you mix them you are just making water! You want straight acid. You could also use citric acid, oxalic acid or NickelSafe ice machine cleaner. All weak acids.
dude, Im a pro photographer for a living. I had two old flash units, a metz and nikon on camera flash units. Both i gave up on years ago. I tried cleaning them with everything. Just for the heck of it i tried your method...Both units work like new. Thanks, brother !
Awesome! I am glad it worked for you! I now make a point to remove the batteries in all my devices. I don't want this to happen again!
Ehm, alkaline batteries have no acid like a car battery, but alkaline electrolyte (it's basic: pH above 7, 'cause acid is below 7). So to clean you must use an acid (vinegar is fine) and by mixing bicarbonate (basic) with vinegar (acid) you're neutralizing both resulting in a neutral solution. It still fizzled in contact with residues on the battery contacts 'cause the bicarbonate wasn't enough to neutralize the vinegar.
Agree. Use vinegar for the alkaline batteries (like these). Baking Soda and water for lead based batteries (like car batteries).
Thanks a million (or at least several dollars worth)! I discovered that both of my canon speedlites had battery leaks. One of them quite bad and I wasn’t even going to try to clean it but figured I had nothing to loose and I was going to clean the one with just a slight issue. So glad my husband found this video!!!
Awesome! Glad it helped! I did this trick on other devices and not only the speedlight.
Matt did u goto law school 🤣 love the redundant safety disclaimers 😂👍🤠🇺🇸
Video well done and informative. Thank you!
Thank you! I will start posting more next month
Would this also work on battery corrosion in a flash unit?
I've used this method many times w/ the Flash units but now on a F4E motordrive I forgot about, well it's clean on surfaces but it doesn't work the same so I wonder if what's gotten inside where I can't see. What is the risk of letting this seep in to where the acid went if it drains out & dries proper.? I'm not relay sure if it's in the grip end or below in motor-drive unit or both.. It happened to my D2H & SB-R1C1 kit with lithium CR-123'a's again, cleaned up but took some time for buttons & some dials to work. The corrosion ate off some finish on metal bits inside case. It was a bloody mess.
That seems like a really extreme case and hope it still works for you. I know if mine was a bit worse, it may have not functioned properly after the cleaning. I am glad mine stayed to just the exterior and didn't get below the contacts.
how long you let those batteries in until they leaked?
Awesome. Thanks for the information. Works great on my camera. Oh you do realize that you had the glove on the wrong hand right? 😁😜 Or just use both gloves.
Great that it worked! Yes, I realized after I watched it that my glove was on the wrong hand 😆 🤣 😂
Nice. Now you can safely remove battery acid from your vibrators!
No matter what devices you use, this method should work.
Does the same method work on Nintendo Switch? There's battery acid in it
I'm not sure about that, I would check out the channel called "tronicsfix" and search his videos for battery corroded or something. That guy fixes all sorts of game systems and seems like a great person.
@@MyHobbiez I can't find a video like that on his channel
Ok, I just know he is good at repairing all types of game systems.
@@MyHobbiez I guess you could make a video on how to fix it
That's a good idea, but recently moved and haven't made a video in a year. I will get back into them soon.
I just opened up my 430 speedlight and… you guessed it. The contacts down inside cleaned up easy but the contacts on the door did not. The acid (vinegar) wouldn’t do it. I had to hit them with sandpaper to get down to shiny metal. Now my speedlight is back in action. I was fixing to throw it in the trash. I’ll never leave alkaline batteries in there again. Or in ANY device. I don’t know how many Maglites I’ve had to pitch, couldn’t even get them open with a vice and a wrench. But DON’T use baking soda, that just neutralizes your vinegar. The fizzing is the acid being neutralized! When you mix them you are just making water! You want straight acid. You could also use citric acid, oxalic acid or NickelSafe ice machine cleaner. All weak acids.
Thank you!
Safety first - double glove it next time. 🤣
😂 sometimes people need to take their own advice......good catch!
I don't have vinegar. I used lemon juice and qtip. It worked.
Mat vs Matt 😃
Yes, one is better to use for projects like this and one is just better😋
@@MyHobbiez 😃👍
Helpful, thanks