How to clean a Point-and-Shoot camera after an alkaline battery leak

In the previous post about the purchased cameras, you can see that several of them had leaking batteries. I always thought alkaline batteries didn't leak, but that's not true. An alkaline battery does not leak during normal use. However, over time - this can happen. Do not store your equipment for long periods with batteries inside (of any type) to prevent damage from leakage.

I didn't expect to be able to clean the cameras. I thought it was a wild fantasy that they would work after cleaning. But all the cameras worked. After watching a few videos on YouTube and reading related posts, I got to cleaning. All I needed was:

Alkaline leakage can irritate the skin, so it's better to work with gloves. Also, do not inhale fumes while cleaning. Let's get to work. By the way, regular vinegar is used:

First, you need to get the batteries out of the camera. This can be quite difficult. For this, I used a screwdriver and pliers. Be careful — when pulling out the battery, you might accidentally rip off the contacts that may have stuck to it. So if the battery doesn't budge, and you can get under its edge (where it stuck), try to "soak" it with vinegar.

With a Q-tip soaked in vinegar, wipe all the problematic areas. The vinegar neutralizes the alkaline residues. You will see how these residues start to foam and fizz upon contact with the vinegar. Do not inhale fumes and avoid contact with skin.

This may take some time. Do not try to break off large chunks with a screwdriver or similar tool. Such an approach can damage the camera. I soaked with vinegar, scrubbed with a toothpick, wiped with a cloth, and repeated. I saw many questions online - how to clean the contacts inside? It's simple - the same way. But you need a flashlight to look inside. A Q-tip has enough length for this.

Here it's simple. Wipe off the vinegar residue with a dry cloth, then with a wet one, and dry the battery compartment with a hairdryer (on barely warm air). After that, I inserted the batteries and ... nothing. I replaced the batteries with new ones - and the camera turned on. I started cleaning with the Fujifilm Nexia 30 Auto. Here is the result (not perfect, but it works):

I also cleaned the Kodak Cameo and Fujifilm ClearShot

Cleaning the Fujifilm ClearShot seemed like a breeze:

As a result of the cleaning - all cameras worked. I was lucky that there was no damage inside the cameras and everything was handled with amateur cleaning using vinegar. And here is the mess at the end: