tl;dr: Talk & Tinker Meetup 6-9 pm on 12/26 @ River Valley Co-op, big news coming in January, Repair Tip re: leaky batteries
Hi all!
Our next Talk & Tinker Meetup is Tuesday 12/26 from 6-9 pm in the Easthampton River Valley Co-op community room. Did you start a new project or get a new piece of tech you’re trying to figure out? Bring it along! Want to show off something you made, share an idea you have, or just hang out and see what others are working on? This is the place! If you haven’t been out to a Talk & Tinker meetup before, it’s a casual get together where you can work on a small project, tinker with some fun gadgets, or just chat. There’s always some small hand tools (specialty screwdrivers for dealing with weird screws, soldering irons, etc) and basic test equipment like a multimeter & variable power supply. If you have something in particular you’re looking for, please email us and we’ll see what we can do. You’re welcome to bring most anything that you can safely transport to and work on in a shared public space, but feel free to ask if you have an questions.
As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we’re hard at work sorting out the details needed to take MakeFixHack to the next level and I’ll be sharing more details of our exciting plans and goals in the next few weeks. If you want to get involved in these next steps, please let me know, as there are lots of ways to help out!
This seems to be prime season for dealing with (household alkaline) battery operated stuff, from new toys and gadgets to old lights and decorations. It’s always recommended to take batteries out of things before putting them away for long periods, and to promptly replace dead batteries, but we all know that doesn’t always happen and they get crusty and leak, so here’s my tip for dealing with that. Protect your work surface with some newspaper or a paper bag (makes for easy cleanup) and remove the batteries, if possible at an angle so any loose crust falls onto the paper, rather than inside your device. Scrape out as much remaining crust as you can with a toothpick or (carefully) a small flat-blade screwdriver. Get a small bowl with some white vinegar in it (cider vinegar works in a pinch too), a paper towel, some q-tips, and maybe an old toothbrush. Dip the q-tip/brush in the vinegar and apply it to any crusty areas in the battery compartment (again angled so any drips/debris fall out) and you should see it start to bubble a bit. Occasionally wipe off the area with the paper towel to prevent too much liquid from getting inside and to check your progress. Continue until all the affected areas look clean, and dry thoroughly. Toss any collected battery crust into the vinegar and watch it bubble away. Test your device with fresh batteries and hopefully it’s working fine again. If not, inspect your device to see if any contacts have rusted through or the corrosion has traveled up the wires, and bring it to a Talk and Tinker meetup to dig deeper into the repair.
Hope to see you at a meetup soon, Be well and keep making things!
Bill C.
MakeFixHack is a growing community of makers, tinkerers, hackers, crafters, and other like-minded people, sharing knowledge and working to create a community workshop/hackerspace here in Easthampton. MakeFixHack is an open and welcoming community and strives to be a safe space for all.
Be safe and keep making things!
- Bill C.
Where to find us:
MakeFixHack is a growing community of makers, tinkerers, hackers, crafters, and other like-minded people, sharing knowledge and working to create a community workshop/hackerspace here in Easthampton. MakeFixHack is an open and welcoming community and strives to be a safe space for all.