Exploded NiCd Batteries

You've sprayed the area with Lye (potassium or sodium hydroxide). I'm not sure how quickly or effectively atmospheric CO2 + H2O-> carbonic acid will neutralize it. If you have any expensive electronics in the area that might have gotten some of the fumes inside, you might want to clean them internally.

Jon

Spend less than $20 and get a NiCd charger, which won't have this problem.

Steve

snipped-for-privacy@sympatico.ca wrote:

Very highly contaminated by cadmium, which isn't a whole lot of goodness.

The electrolyte is a strong base, sodium or potassium hydroxide. That can be neutralized with a weak acid like white vinegar.

There is likely to be cadmium contamination as well. I don't know if there is a good way to clean that up or test for residue. ISTR that Cadmium accumulates in the body like lead, and also like lead readily volotolizes despite its high molecular weight so that long-term low-level exposure can be a hazard.

Safe home disposal of a cadmium contaminated solution probably could be done by mixing the liquid with cement and then dumping it in the trash after it has set. However you might want to convert it back to the hydroxide before mixing.

Folks in the sci.chemistry.foo newsgroups might have some good advice for you.

You didn't have soldered together as part of a battery pack did you? IIRC, there is a spot where the case is thinner to act like a blowout panel in order to avoid explosions.

Wes S

When I worked on military radio systems someone left a manpack battery (lots of NiCds) on charge on a ordinary bench power supply, resulting in an explosion. Luckily, no-one was in the vicinity.

Leon

Suggest you do a search for the OSHA sheets for cadmium. It's not nice to have around (carcinogen). The corrosion products can be very finely divided and easily inhaled/ingested, so removing it is important.