I have a beautiful clock but unfortunately I left a dead battery in too long and it leaked, the clock no longer works. Is there any way to clean it so a new battery could make it work again?
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Depending what happened to the electronics, and if you can see the contacts, you might be able to try several things to rejuvenate the clock. If you can see the contact points, you can try a little emory paper to shine the corrosion off of the contacts. If there is a lot of caked alkaline material there you could moisten a q-tip in vinegar and try dissolving the residue (without soaking the clock). Worse case, you can also go on line and look for quartz clock movements and often replace them for not too much $$.
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Something nice about solid-state electronics – it can tolerate a wash occasionally! Take as much of the water sensitive components/superstructure off the clock as you can. To treat the corroded battery contacts you need to make up a solution of bicarbonate of soda/sodium bicarbonate (a white powder from the pharmacy – it neutralises acids and acid residue; also good for insect stings as a paste on the affected area and drink as a solution for acid indigestion – cheaper the seltzer and is the same stuff) and warm water and scrub the verdigris off of the contacts with something like a tooth brush (break the head to fit in the space you need to access) or use a cotton swab soaked in the solution. Don’t worry about the solution falling into the works. When you are sure you have it as clean as you can, rinse the thing under the shower and use the spray setting to sluice out the detritus. Shake and wipe as dry as you can and leave the clock in a warm area to dry for a couple of days. Obtain some petroleum jelly (it’s marketed here as Vaseline) and coat the metal parts in the battery compartment with a light layer of jelly. Re-assemble and re-fit batteries and you should be okay to go! The shower trick also works for coffee in computer keyboards, portable radios dropped in the bath, cell phones down the loo etc. Be brave – what have you got to lose?