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Flashlight battery question

Posted by DavidLD (A) on March 8, 2015 at 14:07:47

I have a mantel clock I made from an Emperor kit around 1980. It is solid walnut and came with precut pieces that I assembled much like a model plane assembly. I then finished it with tung oil. I also have an Emperor kit grandfathers clock in walnut I assembled from a larger kit in the late 1970s but that is a story for another day.

My recollection is that they sold these mantel clock kits in two versions, one with a real german brass mechanical chiming movement, and the same clock but with just a battery movement. The battery movement version was inexpensive, IIRC $50 for the entire kit, but the mechanical movement version was $150 and had to be wound weekly with a key. Anyhow, being a poor professor, I ordered and ended up with the battery-powered version.

The clock stopped and I presumed it needed a new battery, but it's a pain to get on and off the mantel, as I always come close to dropping it. Anyhow I was changing clock time yesterday and decided I needed to get the mantel clock running again.

The movement is fairly big for a battery-powered movement, and uses a "C" not "AA" cell. Anyhow I got it down, looked inside and sure enough both terminals of the battery were corroded with a white gook. What is that stuff anyway, that forms on dead alkaline batteries? I fought that getting my old VOM working too. It's a good insulator and is tough to clean. I was thinking maybe copper chloride but it;s white not blue. Anyhow I cleaned up both terminals and put in a fresh battery and thought the movement would start right up again, but no luck at all. So I took the movement out and discovered it wasnt locked up as the balance wheeel would go back and forth when I shook the movement, but it wouldn't run under its own power.

I always believe that in diagnosing problems it's important to check the simplest, dumbest thing first, and the movement sure seemed like it wasn't getting current from the new battery. I tried a different battery, but that did nothing either. I guess I was going to me shopping for a new movement. But, let's not give up quite yet. This thing seems to come apart in two pieces if I unlatch a couple clips. OK I've got it apart. Have I made trash? No it goes right back together ok. Let me take it apart one more time...Ahhh I see how current gets from the battery spring clips to the movement. There are two MORE spring clips each about an inch long that press against two points on the circuit board for the movement. And look...one of those spring clips has the same type of goofy white corrosion, completely invisible unless the movement was taken apart. How could that happen? I'll bet the goop on that spring clip connection to the movement board is insulating the clip rather than permitting current to flow. I need to clean off the clip that presses against the terminals on the movement board. So I cleaned off the goop and decided this was a place for a Q-tip soaked in WD-40. The terminal appears to be plated copper and it was corroded down to the copper. I cleaned off more stuff with the WD-40 soaked Q-tip, and reassembled the movement. I put the new battery in and the movement took right off. It's been running for 24 hours and has kept perfect time so far. But the mystery for me is how the white insulating goop could form in a completely separate spot over an inch away from either of the battery terminals, at a contact point on an otherwise clean piece of metal? Any theories? Lesson learned! Replace the battery right after the clock stops. Don't wait a year (or two).

Edits: 03/08/15 03/08/15

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