standard batteries into cordless phone

[tali122]

accidently put standard batteries into cordless phone instead of rechargeable ones
batteries leaked - is the phone completely messed up?
thx

[heathfield]

Scrape as much dry gunge as possible off the contacts, then use a solution of a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in 200 to 300 ml of water and a Q-tip to clean off the rest. Should be fine.

[joko]

as long as the contacts are not covered in rust or white stuff it should work

an emery board should remove any dried on bits

[tali122]

no rust or white bits - but alas, phone not working -could original recahrgebale batteries 650mah be totally dead? will 250mAh work or must i get new 650mAh batteries?

[rccatnap]

When you say standard batteries, are you talking about alkaline cells? They are nominally rated at 1.5 v each.
Nickel-Cadmiun & Nickel Metal hydride are 1.2 v each.
They are normally placed in series, so you just add the number of cells to get your voltage output.
e.g. 3 cells of alkaline will give 4.5 v and 3 re-chargeable will only give 3.6 v, though initially, after a full charge, the
3-cell pack will give over 4 v so your inserting standard cells should not be a problem.
Providing the corrosion hasn't developed into what they call 'black wire' corrosion, there should not be a problem.
If you can check the resistance of the negative wire from the cell connector to the PC board, it should read virtually nil. If the connector is soldered directly to the board, ignore the above.
The mA rating of the battery pack will give a certain amount of operating time. If you can get a higher capacity into the same physical space, go ahead. If you get a lower rating than you had in the first place, you'll be recharging more often. No point in that. As the others quite rightly pointed out, all the corrosion deposits should be removed. Good luck.