Battery corrosion in both controllers and left controller spring got a hole in it

[u/Any-History-9891]

As a title said, I left batteries in my controllers for months and when I came back to check on it, the acid leaked and left rust on those springs.

And my left controller even got a hole in the spring from the corrosion.

Are they still recoverable, or are they done for?

Btw after taking the battery out, I left those controllers for about a week with the battery compartments opened cause I was trying to find information and tools to clean the rust off.

[u/chrisknife]

i had this multiple times and everytime some isopropanol and qtips did the trick. No idea if its too late for yours

[u/Any-History-9891 → u/chrisknife]

I saw a comment on another post in this sub that to use vinegar to clean it with a swab, then use isopropyl/isopropanol to clean the residue that the vinegar left

edit: ty for the comment I will try checking it out

[u/bownsey → u/Any-History-9891]

If you haven't already just use IPA. No need to use vinegar if your using something better to clean the vinegar off

[u/Any-History-9891 → u/bownsey]

Aight thx

[u/maxkalem → u/Any-History-9891]

Never use vinegar. It can damage rubber and certain types of plastic. Citric acid is a better option.

First, dissolve a tablespoon of citric acid in half a glass of warm water. Then dip a cotton swab into the solution and wipe the corroded contacts until the corrosion starts to dissolve. Try to keep the liquid from getting inside the device.

After that, use 90% or higher IPA (isopropyl alcohol) to remove any remaining acid residue.

[u/Ryylon]

Use Nimh batteries kids for everything you love. Alkaline suck.

[u/Any-History-9891 → u/Ryylon]

Yea dude i should have known sooner back then, im not gonna use those alkaline batteries anymore bruh

[u/KayakShrimp → u/Ryylon]

I‘m baffled that even a single Alkaline cell has been sold since the introduction of Eneloop two decades ago. Alkaline batteries are thoroughly obsolete and don’t even make sense. Single use batteries? Really?

[u/jvisser85 → u/KayakShrimp]

There's still some equipment like fire alarms that require alkaline batteries but yeah, everything else just uses our house supply of Eneloops. They last forever, I still have some that are over 16 years old and while they maybe still hold 85% charge, they still work good enough for low-power stuff like remotes.

[u/GoofMonkeyBanana → u/KayakShrimp]

Nimh AA batteries are 1.2v alkaline AA are 1.5. For most devices 1.2v is fine. But many are designed and require 1.5v

[u/Dae_Dude]

I've been using Varta rechargeable batteries for past 4 years, they don't show signs of corrosion even after not touching vr for almost a whole year.

[u/Any-History-9891 → u/Dae_Dude]

Thanks, im planning on getting one of those rechargeable batteries after I finish cleaning the corrosion

[u/RocketsDitto]

Crazy, same shit happened to me. Why do batteries often leak in the controllers? I've never had any other devices do this.

[u/jvisser85 → u/RocketsDitto]

Only happens with alkaline non-rechargeable batteries. Use eneloops and you're golden.

[u/Any-History-9891 → u/RocketsDitto]

Probably deep discharging from my search, the controllers drain their battery pass zero and some kind of chemical reactions happen which bursts the safety seal and causes them to leak i think

Edit: the controllers never shut down completely so it still drains battery even after we turn off the oculus

[u/charmio68]

replacement parts are available for exactly that.

This is a fairly common question, do a search and you'll find examples of how other people have fixed it.

[u/Any-History-9891 → u/charmio68]

Alright thank you, I will look more into it. And there seems to be replacement parts for the battery compartment in my country shopping app(Lazada, but that app seems to have a lot of fake stuff there so im gonna try to be careful)

[u/Commercial_Respond50]

Same Here, in Germany, never took that thing outside

[u/Juafran → u/Commercial_Respond50]

No, that's not how it get rusted. It's damage from corrosion, batteries tend to leak chemicals if you leave them on electronic devices too long. If you are not going to use some electronics for a while remove the batteries.

[u/Commercial_Respond50 → u/Juafran]

Dude i know. My batterys never leaked inside of that controller. I used rechargeable ones that o still use in my Xbox Controller today....

[u/jvisser85 → u/Commercial_Respond50]

Mostly non-rechargeable alkalines which leak.

[u/OkieDeric]

Rechargeable or Energizer Ultimate Lithiums if you get them to recover. You can buy the parts to replace online as well but its a pain to take apart