I have been using 510 equipment since last May, and sometimes juice gets into the threads at the battery connection. After awhile they turn dark - the juice gets cooked by the hot metal and turns into this black sludge. To maintain good electrical contact, every couple of weeks I'd clean the metal parts with isopropyl alcohol and bits of paper towel. This worked fine on the outside threads of atties and cartos, but it was hard to get the paper into the tiny grooves of the recessed battery threads, and it would catch and shred on those little air vent crenelations.
Eventually I thought of using Q-tips dipped in alcohol, followed by a dry Q-tip to wipe out any remaining sludge. That worked much better, but it's still a nuisance to clean things every week or so, and I was concerned about transferring this gunk onto the threads of the charger which are so much harder to get at. So I wanted to avoid the buildup in the first place by keeping things clean and dry. When I looked closely, I could see there was usually a dot of juice in that little dimple at the center of the battery connector. Juice is hard to detect on shiny metal surfaces, but if it was in that little dimple, I figured it had to be on the threads too, I just couldn't see it.
Now I keep a dry Q-tip by my chargers, and swab out the battery connection before I put it on the charger. The Q-tip's cotton absorbs juice pretty well, and usually I end up with thin black lines on the Q-tip even if I can't actually see any gunk on the battery threads before swabbing! It just takes a couple of seconds before recharging, and the atty/carto threads seem to stay clean by themselves if I simply keep the battery threads dry.
The result is, I seldom need rubbing alcohol anymore, and I don't worry about gunking up my chargers either. A little prevention goes a long way. I haven't seen this discussed on the forum, so I thought I'd share my method. Hope it helps someone else keep their equipment in peak condition - it works great for me!
Eventually I thought of using Q-tips dipped in alcohol, followed by a dry Q-tip to wipe out any remaining sludge. That worked much better, but it's still a nuisance to clean things every week or so, and I was concerned about transferring this gunk onto the threads of the charger which are so much harder to get at. So I wanted to avoid the buildup in the first place by keeping things clean and dry. When I looked closely, I could see there was usually a dot of juice in that little dimple at the center of the battery connector. Juice is hard to detect on shiny metal surfaces, but if it was in that little dimple, I figured it had to be on the threads too, I just couldn't see it.
Now I keep a dry Q-tip by my chargers, and swab out the battery connection before I put it on the charger. The Q-tip's cotton absorbs juice pretty well, and usually I end up with thin black lines on the Q-tip even if I can't actually see any gunk on the battery threads before swabbing! It just takes a couple of seconds before recharging, and the atty/carto threads seem to stay clean by themselves if I simply keep the battery threads dry.
The result is, I seldom need rubbing alcohol anymore, and I don't worry about gunking up my chargers either. A little prevention goes a long way. I haven't seen this discussed on the forum, so I thought I'd share my method. Hope it helps someone else keep their equipment in peak condition - it works great for me!
