Topic: Green contacts

[intpseeker]

I was putting freshly charged batteries in my 660 yesterday and noticed the beginning of a little film of green on the contacts. This box is always in the pelican or the protective sleeve, so it was a little surprising, but what would you suggest to restore/protect the metal?

[dgodwin]

I've used a pencil eraser in the past to clean battery contacts in old SLR cameras when I used to work at a camera store.  I imagine it would work on the contacts of the 660.  As for protection, I don't have any suggestions. 

[jerryfreak]

by far the best protection is to eliminate the corrosive environment! perhaps store them with some dessicant to keep the moisture in check

[dgodwin]

by far the best protection is to eliminate the corrosive environment! perhaps store them with some dessicant to keep the moisture in check

If you don't have some silica gel packets in your pelican or sleeve, that might help...

[Chilly Brioschi]

DeOxit (formerly Cramolin) is supposed to fix this issue, however I have seen it cause the very same problem (green contacts) that it was supposed to prevent. This was on plated brass HV contacts running at about 5kvAC.

I have been using Stabilant22 for the last few years, and it seems to do the trick.
I agree 100% on getting the water and dampness out. And that goes double for any salty air.

Stabilant22 is expensive as hell. Read that $60 for 10ml, or what shakes out to be $22,710 per gallon, but you will hardly use the 10ml in over a few years, unless you have 100s of contacts to treat. It use is only one drop or wipe per contact only once in its lifetime.

Here's Posthorn Audio's page on it:
http://www.posthorn.com/Stab_1.html

[jerryfreak]

i see that jerry from posthorn recommends stabilnt on his site. i have a  feeling he woulnt endorse it if it wasnt legit

DeOxit (formerly Cramolin) is supposed to fix this issue, however I have seen it cause the very same problem (green contacts) that it was supposed to prevent. This was on plated brass HV contacts running at about 5kvAC.

I have been using Stabilant22 for the last few years, and it seems to do the trick.
I agree 100% on getting the water and dampness out. And that goes double for any salty air.

Stabilant22 is expensive as hell. Read that $60 for 10ml, or what shakes out to be $22,710 per gallon, but you will hardly use the 10ml in over a few years, unless you have 100s of contacts to treat. It use is only one drop or wipe per contact only once in its lifetime.

Here's Posthorn Audio's page on it:
http://www.posthorn.com/Stab_1.html

[intpseeker]

+T's around. Thanks for the info. I have some desiccants that I'll use and I'll look into the stabilant 22. With the cost of the equipment, sixty bucks seems like a good investment.

I take the rechargeables out immediately, and was thinking of leaving the little pouches in the battery compartment when not in use.  Anyone see any problems with that?

I do live right by the ocean and never considered the salt air.

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I've used a pencil eraser in the past to clean battery contacts in old SLR cameras when I used to work at a camera store.

So did I, on both counts. It works great.. Fixed countless customer cameras and devices that way.

One gotcha with that method is that erasers can remove metal coatings. Sometimes you have no choice but to really go at it.. And if you leave corrosion behind, it will likely continue to grow.  The white erasers on old ballpoint pens are the most abrassive and seem to work best for the worst cases.

But in cases where the contacts are fairly clean, I'd avoid going heavy with an eraser (esp a white pen eraser) because it tends to remove any top coating of nickle or brass or whatever.  With that coating gone, the contacts may be left very prone to future corrosion.