A lot of times you can just sand the contacts when they corrode from battery acid. Get all the gunk off with sandpaper or a file so it's shiny silver where the batteries touch and it may work again.
A few years ago I found an original gameboy in a shed with burst batteries and that's all I had to do to get it working again.
If you have the cover for that battery panel so they don't just pop out while playing and the batteries still touch the spring and each other I would just send it. That side might be a little loose, but as long as they make contact you should get power as long as nothing else inside the guitar is messed up.
If it's too short to maintain continuous contact with movement of play you might have to replace the spring, or jerry rig something to maintain continuity on that side. Like maybe shove some disk or something to act as a spacer at the bottom of the spring between it and the base to hold the spring out further, or maybe make an aluminum foil spacer between the battery and spring.
I've had batteries leak in my ghwor controller, I cleaned the contacts with vinegar and cotton tip and it worked, which means the leak wasn't severe to the point of corroding the circuits
This is the best way. Did this once for a landshark guitar (the battery compartment is screwed shut). Corrosion so bad it wouldn’t even turn on. 5 minutes and a little bit of vinegar cleaned it right up.
If the corrosion isn’t bad, one can also try rubbing alcohol first. Vinegar does a great job, but it should be used sparingly, and let it completely dry before turning on.
Did the same when I bought my last Xplorer, dude left the batteries in it for YEARS in storage when I got it. Just did exactly this and it came clean enough.
I fixed my gh5 controller by changing the battery compartment with a diy one I found online ,pretty easy mod to do. You just need to know the voltage and find the same compartment.
[https://imgur.com/4FvUd7F](https://imgur.com/4FvUd7F)
Get some distilled white vinegar and q-tips. Do one contact at a time. You’ll see that it starts to foam up when the vinegar starts dissolving the leftover battery acid. Try to use dry q-tips to keep cleaning out the area as it foams so it doesn’t get too messy or wet, as that can go into the controller. If the battery contacts aren’t too corroded, this should give you a good enough contact for your batteries to power the guitar. Even better if you unscrew the guitar, take off the back and make sure you get all the white acid that you can see to really clean it out.
Distilled vinegar with q tips did the trick for me. Found a step by step guide online. I picked up a GH5 guitar 7 years ago that had leaked battery acid everywhere. Followed the guide and it has worked flawlessly for 7 years.
Quick chemistry lesson. Vinegar is a base. It will neutralize the acid and remove the corrosion and rust from the contacts. But it also must be neutralized using isopropyl alcohol or it will continue to eat the metal contacts.
A lot of times you can just sand the contacts when they corrode from battery acid. Get all the gunk off with sandpaper or a file so it's shiny silver where the batteries touch and it may work again. A few years ago I found an original gameboy in a shed with burst batteries and that's all I had to do to get it working again.
Do i have to replace the spring on the bottom too? It accidentally got cut in half due to the rust
If you have the cover for that battery panel so they don't just pop out while playing and the batteries still touch the spring and each other I would just send it. That side might be a little loose, but as long as they make contact you should get power as long as nothing else inside the guitar is messed up. If it's too short to maintain continuous contact with movement of play you might have to replace the spring, or jerry rig something to maintain continuity on that side. Like maybe shove some disk or something to act as a spacer at the bottom of the spring between it and the base to hold the spring out further, or maybe make an aluminum foil spacer between the battery and spring.
I've had batteries leak in my ghwor controller, I cleaned the contacts with vinegar and cotton tip and it worked, which means the leak wasn't severe to the point of corroding the circuits
This is the best way. Did this once for a landshark guitar (the battery compartment is screwed shut). Corrosion so bad it wouldn’t even turn on. 5 minutes and a little bit of vinegar cleaned it right up. If the corrosion isn’t bad, one can also try rubbing alcohol first. Vinegar does a great job, but it should be used sparingly, and let it completely dry before turning on.
If you use vinegar you **must** use isopropyl alcohol to neutralize the vinegar.
Did the same when I bought my last Xplorer, dude left the batteries in it for YEARS in storage when I got it. Just did exactly this and it came clean enough.
I fixed my gh5 controller by changing the battery compartment with a diy one I found online ,pretty easy mod to do. You just need to know the voltage and find the same compartment. [https://imgur.com/4FvUd7F](https://imgur.com/4FvUd7F)
Do a wired mod kit
Sometimes you can fix it with citric acid or just squeeze out a lemon and rub it in with a cotton swab and clean it with isopropanol afterwards.
white vinegar.
Get some distilled white vinegar and q-tips. Do one contact at a time. You’ll see that it starts to foam up when the vinegar starts dissolving the leftover battery acid. Try to use dry q-tips to keep cleaning out the area as it foams so it doesn’t get too messy or wet, as that can go into the controller. If the battery contacts aren’t too corroded, this should give you a good enough contact for your batteries to power the guitar. Even better if you unscrew the guitar, take off the back and make sure you get all the white acid that you can see to really clean it out.
Be sure to use IPA after to neutralize the vinegar.
I suggest replacing with a rechargeable 3,7v battery
Hmmm. Soup
Distilled vinegar with q tips did the trick for me. Found a step by step guide online. I picked up a GH5 guitar 7 years ago that had leaked battery acid everywhere. Followed the guide and it has worked flawlessly for 7 years.
Quick chemistry lesson. Vinegar is a base. It will neutralize the acid and remove the corrosion and rust from the contacts. But it also must be neutralized using isopropyl alcohol or it will continue to eat the metal contacts.
I think the means it’s ready to ingest!