Batteries leaked in voice recorder. Not working anymore.

[yasar2002]

Hi All,

I have this Sony Digital Flash Voice Recorder (ICD-PX312). It requires 2 AAA batteries.

Since I forgot to remove the batteries for few months and didn't use the recorder, I noticed later that acid leaked from batteries into the recorder and even after cleaning the battery compartment and replacing the batteries, the recorder doesn't work.

How can I make it work? Any advise would help.

Thanks,

Yasar

[ataradov]

How can I make it work? Any advise would help.

Do you know anything about basic electronics repair? If yes, then disassemble it and see what is wrong. Maybe attach some pictures here. If not - get it to the repair shop.

[bitseeker]

Hi yasar,

Welcome to the forum. What did you use to clean the compartment and the battery contacts? Do you have a multimeter that you can use to do some tests?

Posting well-focused photos of the problem area is definitely helpful.

[electr_peter]

I have repaired music keyboards with leaked batteries. Main problem is not the ugly looks, but the rust battery leakage induces. You should open voice recorder and seen if anything is rusted/shorted and clean that up a bit. And do it quickly - the longer you wait, the more rust penetrates.

[Robomeds]

Basic white vinegar is great at cleaning/neutralizing the corrosion. 

[yasar2002]

Thank you all for response.

I used vinegar to clean the battery compartment. I don't have a multimeter.

Please refer to the attached screenshot. I am able to reach upto this point only. Unable to take the board out of its plastic case to clean from inside. I don't see any signs of rust...

Please advise.

[ataradov]

Please advise.

Make a better (higher resolution) picture. How are we supposed to see anything here?

And you will have to disassemble it further. It was assembled once, so it must go apart again.

[yasar2002]

ok will upload a high resolution image. thanks.

[bitseeker]

I used vinegar to clean the battery compartment.

Very good. Do the contacts that the batteries press against look like they did before the leak? The key here is that the contacts are able to conduct electricity. If they can't, the recorder won't get power.

I don't have a multimeter.

OK. That makes diagnosis difficult. Do you have anything that will light up in the presence of 2-3 volts of DC (e.g., LEDs, incandescent flashlight bulb), and some wire with alligator clips? They could be used to detect if power is getting from the batteries to the PCB, or where the power stops (i.e., the location of the fault).