Battery leaked in Line 6 Relay transmitter which is now intermittent

[Osiris]

I've had a battery leak in the transmitter of my Line 6 G55 wireless system.
The battery was a Duracell Pro-cell AA alkaline jobby, so supposedly a decent battery, not some cheap and cheerful thing.

Since then, the transmitter doesn't always power up, it does more often than not, but around 1 times in 3 it won't.
This can usually be resolved by taking the batteries out and reinserting them. When it does power up, it's stable and doesn't cut out, it seems quite happy.

When you look inside the transmitter, you can see that one of the metal tabs that the battery makes contact with at the bottom of the battery cavity has some corrosion on it. My guess is that this corrosion is what's causing the issue.
There was also some dried salt like deposits which I have cleaned away with a dry cotton bud.

Anyone have any ideas as to if it is possible to somehow clean up the corrosion (it's in the bottom of a very snug AA battery sized cavity, so there's very little room to maneuver)?

If it can't be cleaned up, does anyone have any idea if this is likely to be expensive if I was to get it repaired (although I appreciate that there's no telling if there is any further damage that can't be seen inside the unit)?

The cost of a new unit transmitter - [url="http://www.dv247.com/microphones/line-6-tbp12-channel-wireless-transmitter--83632?gclid=CKac3oWwvcsCFYMK0wodIlUOJA"]model number TBP 12[/url] - is around £120. Am I just better of cutting my losses and buying a new transmitter?

[Norris]

Sounds like the contacts are corroded, which doesn't bode well for gigging reliability. If you can wield a soldering iron, replacement connectors can be had from Maplins (or similar) for a few beer tokens

[Osiris]

Thanks, Norris, I'll have a look online and see if I can find some suitable look replacement contacts. I'm not sure my soldering skills are up to something as fiddly as replacing them through, I don't mind replacing pots and pickups but tend to steer clear on anything with a PCB inside.

Looking online, it seems that the accepted wisdom is that corroded contacts can be cleaned using either vinegar or lemon juice gently applied with a cotton bud. As the unit is already temperamental I'm tempted to try this first particularly as the corrosion doesn't seem to be too severe, at least when compared to some online images. I can't see that this will make anything worse than it already is.

Fingers crossed that this will solve the problem. Failing that I'll look at getting the contacts replaced. Worst case scenario is buying a new transmitter.

[tauzero]

I don't think you'll find replacement contacts other than from Line 6. Looking at my own transmitter, this looks like them: [url="http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/285420-Line-6-30-51-0473"]http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/285420-Line-6-30-51-0473[/url]

You can get spare parts from Line 6 in the UK, see [url="http://www.mia.org.uk/supplier/195/line-6-uk-ltd"]http://www.mia.org.uk/supplier/195/line-6-uk-ltd[/url]

Be warned, however, they are totally useless - took several goes before I finally managed to get a battery door from them. I think they mean well but are utterly incompetent.

[Norris]

Blimey that's certainly not a standard replacement. It looks more like a part of the Millennium Falcon

[Osiris]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1457913391' post='3003047']
I don't think you'll find replacement contacts other than from Line 6. Looking at my own transmitter, this looks like them: [url="http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/285420-Line-6-30-51-0473"]http://www.fullcompa...ne-6-30-51-0473[/url]

You can get spare parts from Line 6 in the UK, see [url="http://www.mia.org.uk/supplier/195/line-6-uk-ltd"]http://www.mia.org.u...5/line-6-uk-ltd[/url]

Be warned, however, they are totally useless - took several goes before I finally managed to get a battery door from them. I think they mean well but are utterly incompetent.
[/quote]

Cheers, I'll drop them a line to see about sourcing some spare contacts - although from what you've said, I might come to regret it if it takes forever!

[Osiris]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1457941399' post='3003090']
Blimey that's certainly not a standard replacement. It looks more like a part of the Millennium Falcon
[/quote]

Is the Hyperdrive f****d again???

[Ghost_Bass]

Another thing you can try (if you're comfortable with the soldering iron) is to use a very fine sandpaper to the place where you have the corrosion and then tin it with solder - a fine layer of solder will protect it against future corrosion and promote a good contact.

A picture of the damaged area would be great for us to know the extent of the corrosion.

[tauzero]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1457941399' post='3003090'] Blimey that's certainly not a standard replacement. It looks more like a part of the Millennium Falcon [/quote]

I don't think there's such a thing as a standard replacement for contacts for an AA battery anyway. Are you thinking of PP3s?

[Osiris]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' timestamp='1457976359' post='3003578']
Another thing you can try (if you're comfortable with the soldering iron) is to use a very fine sandpaper to the place where you have the corrosion and then tin it with solder - a fine layer of solder will protect it against future corrosion and promote a good contact.

A picture of the damaged area would be great for us to know the extent of the corrosion.
[/quote]

That sounds like a great idea. Only problem is that the corroded connector is at the bottom of the battery cavity so it's very tight in there. Taking the case apart may well open it up to allow better access, but I'm reluctant to dismantle it in case I can't put it back together afterwards (I hate doing fiddly little jobs!).

I'll try and get some pictures later. The corrosion isn't too bad, although the affected connector is clearly tarnished compared to its still shiny neighbour.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Osiris

[Norris]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1457987100' post='3003735']
I don't think there's such a thing as a standard replacement for contacts for an AA battery anyway. Are you thinking of PP3s?
[/quote]

Yes I was

[Osiris]

[font=Calibri][size=2][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Quick update on my progress with this;[/font][/size][/size][/font]

[font=Calibri][size=2][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I bought a bottle of white vinegar for a whopping 39p from the local supermarket. Using a cotton bud dipped (as opposed to soaked) in the white vinegar, I cleaned the corroded contact as best I could given the confines of the space I was working in. Then, I dried off any excess vinegar with a dry cotton bud. Next, I cleaned away any potential acidic residue from the vinegar using a cotton bud dipped in tap water (I'm sure deionised water would have been preferable but I didn't have any to hand). Dried this off again with a dry cotton bud. To make sure everything was completely dry, I blasted it with warm (not hot) air from Mrs Oriris's (I'm not allowed to call her Isis anymore) hairdryer for a couple of minutes.[/font][/size][/size][/font]

[font=Calibri][size=2][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I did this 3 times, allowing 24 hours between each session. And the result, well, it looks as though pretty much all of the corrosion has now gone. The contact is much cleaner, there is still a very slight discolouration, but it looks way better than it did a couple of days ago.[/font][/size][/size][/font]

[font=Calibri][size=2][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]As for reliability, when I first noticed the issue, the transmitter would fire up around 2 times out of 3 and on the third time it would not switch on.[/font][/size][/size][/font]
[font=Calibri][size=2][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Last night I switched the unit on and off 12 to 15 times, randomly reinserting the batteries just to be sure, and it fired up each and every time [/font][/size][/size][/font]

[font=Calibri][size=2][size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Fingers crossed that this has solved the issue. Needless to say that from now on I won't be leaving batteries in the transmitter when it's not being used. [/font][/size][/size][/font]

Edited March 16, 2016 by Osiris

[Fast Cars]

I was able to fix it with vinegar. (Not really a clean one either, standard Norwegian Idun vinegar made for making food.)

 

After maybe two years without use and leaving the batteries in, one of the batteries had leaked solidly onto the metal contact below in my TBP12 transmitter in my G50 system. Swapped the batteries, absolutely no response in the unit. The metal contact was full of that white stuff, so it was pretty clear the battery was probably not making contact at all with all that white stuff covering the metal bar.

 

Dipped a cotton swap (q-tips) in the aforementioned vinegar and gave it a good run for a few minutes down there till all of that white stuff was off. It did leave a vinegar residue and smell down there, so I used a solid amount of compressed air to disperse what was left. Was unsure of what blowing it further into the unit would do, but I hoped it would at least disperse it into smaller particles.

 

Since it was still smelling ever so slightly and I suspected some drops were left further into the unit, I let it dry for a few hours. Powered it on and have been using it for a few hours now without any issue.

 

I think maybe I would rather recommend using isopropyl alcohol for safety, but I just wanted to report that in my case even that risky method worked really well. Will edit my post if further down the line and closer to concert in one month it at some point fails! But I'm guessing it survived my raw vinegar treatment really well.