Allie is four months and one week old. She plays with toys now. She pulls things towards herself. She chews and feels and explores.
Wanting to get a reprieve from holding her all day long, I decided to find some of Grace's old baby toys. She had a saucer, a walker, a jumperoo, and some assorted noisy toys at this age.
I knew that Allie would love them.
I hoped that Allie would love them enough for me to get some work done around the house and play with my firstborn and her dollhouse.
Maybe even exercise.
Or blog!
I don't ask for much.
My simple requests in mind, I crawled into our dank, dark basement crawlspace this morning, hoping not to meet anything with six or eight legs.
Twenty minutes later, I crawled back out with the toys, having successfully avoided all things creepy and crawly. Among the toys I found was Grace's Sing-Along Stage.
Assuming that my handy husband had removed the batteries before he stored it away, I grabbed some fresh AAs and a screwdriver and sat the baby in the Bumbo seat.
My handy husband had not, as it turns out, removed the batteries.
Three years in the dank, dark basement crawlspace, and the batteries had leaked their acid out into the battery compartment of the Sing-Along Stage.
"Rats!" I grumbled, causing Grace to come over to see what I was doing.
I cleaned out the battery compartment, making sure to get all of the acid and grime.
Unfortunately, as I cleaned, the springs that were supposed to hold the batteries in disintegrated and fell out.
"Now what am I going to do?" I said out loud.
You can play with me! Grace offered.
Not so helpful.
Anyway, this toy was awesome. It sang and played music and Grace would sit (and later stand) in front of it and dance and sing and watch herself in the mirror and I loved every minute.
I would not allow a little battery acid to stand between Allie and the awesomeness of the Sing Along Stage.
I put the batteries into the compartment even though the springs weren't there to hold them in. I hoped that, if I replaced the back panel, the batteries would not fall out and the toy would work.
Sometimes, I am more hopeful than smart.
I was wrong.
I contemplated, gnashing my teeth.
Then I had a brainstorm. What if the music failed to play because the circuit wasn't closed? Maybe those springs had a dual purpose!
If that was the case, I just needed something metal to wedge in there.
I was about to dissect some pens for their springs when I thought about aluminum foil. I grabbed the roll from the kitchen, tore off two little pieces, and rolled them into little balls.
After stuffing the little balls into the compartment where the springs had been, I replaced the batteries and the back panel.
And the toy started singing.
I was so proud of myself that I posted this on Twitter:
And then Grace took the toy from Allie and sat in front of the stage for an hour, singing and dancing and looking at herself in the mirror.
(I was too excited to look up the spelling ahead of time. It's actually MacGyver.)
Natasha says
Would you have guess when you posted this like 6 years ago that people would STILL be using it as though it was new information?? LOL - just fixed a keyboard for my son, and I felt like a rockstar. 🙂
Tara Ziegmont says
You are a rockstar! 🙂
Blog posts are funny like that. Something I wrote a month ago will go nowhere, but something like this lasts forever.
Pinky says
This was so helpful. Thank you for sharing. I was about to toss this toy but was able to salvage it. 🙂
Elaine says
Hello - does this handy fix work if the springs have corroded - but not fallen out? Can/should I clean compartment out as best as I can & either wrap the springs with foil or just stuff small foil balls in with the springs or something else? Pls help! I have several great expensive toys - and other items that this has happened to. (We live in a very humid climate....) Thank you!
Tara Ziegmont says
If the springs are still there, the toy should work without foil. If it doesn't, the problem is likely coming from somewhere else. If you can't find anything, you might try to knock them out and put foil in, but I'm not sure that will work.
Jacks says
There was a 4-1/2 year age gap between my daughter and son, and I just brought up her baby swing to use for him. It had cost an arm-and-a-leg so I'd cleaned it and stored it carefully in a large plastic bag except Doh! forgot to take out the batteries!! (can't blame the hubby on this one ) Was super bummed, Googled “battery acid toy won't work” and your post was the first one that came up! 5 min later the swing works…and Mommy breathes a HUGE sigh of relief!
DaJon says
Holy conoly! Violet works again!!!!!!!! Thank you!
sabine says
Thank you so much. I just got this battery operated book that teaches numbers. It was the last copy in the bookstore. I bought it anyway hoping that a change of batteries was all it needed. Anyway I've been battling with it since yesterday and was at my wits ends when I came across your blog. Thank you so much. My toddler is having so much fun with the book as I write. I was thinking of how I regretfully threw away a very lovely sing along lullaby set when I couldn't get it to work for my younger daughter.
Cas says
Wow! thank you so much. I just googled for exactly the same help and was brought to this page! So have now revived an old toy that was my eldest grandson, so my younger grandson can now play with it.
Rachel says
Omgosh thank you so much!! worked perfectly! I bought a really nice clock from Goodwill and I didn't even bother to check the battery compartment. So when I got home I noticed it was corroded and hoped I could find some way to fix it.This was so simple and worked perfectly. Thanks again! My grandpa will love this clock! 🙂
Judy says
Your site was the 1st to pop up after I googled this issue. The foil ball worked! Our very expensive animatronic dinosaur is working again. So glad I came across this super simple solution!
Thanks!
Connie Rizzo-Turpin says
Question??? I tried this and it worked! Toy is running at top speed, but will only turn off if I remove foil. It's a little bit of a hassle. Battery compartments are screwed down, covered up and you need a map to get to them. Any advice? Did I do something wrong?
Tara Ziegmont says
That's strange. I have never had that happen. I wonder if your switch is corroded too.
Donna Merle says
Hi, I have many battery operated candles and lights and they too have screws in the battery covers but I am 78 and have arthritis in my thumbs and wrists so taking out screws and putting them back in is no longer in my resume. 😉 The first time the screws are removed is the last time and replaced with the wide post office tape that is pulled tight to help connect everything. Just don't cover the switch like I have done and just leave a corner of the tape loose for next time. Good luck!!!
Theresa says
Thank you! You saved a $70 crib mobile!!!
cathy says
Thanks, saved my battery operated eliptical. Now no excuses to work out.
Marie says
Thank you so much for this tip, it worked!
Susie says
So excited to find this post - and even more excited when it worked! Thank you for sharing your Macgyver moment!
Caroline says
It worked to get my clock going. So helpful. Whenever I had to change time with daylight savings I could never get it going again. Thanks for getting rid of one more frustration
Kash says
Amazing! So happy I found this! The Mio pup I picked up from the OP shop is like new! Worked a treat!!!
Aly says
Omg !! Thank u so much ! I was looking at my baby dolls and noticed that my first ever doll,my baby annabell wasn't working.we tried so many methods and was even going to bring her to the doll hospital!! We tried your method and it working instintly
I'm So delighted 🙂 ! Ur a genius 🙂
Lindsey says
Omg Just tried this on a toy that we thought was garbage- my 5 month old loves his musical/light up/vibrating bouncy chair but its sooo rusted in the battery compartment and I figured it was done.
Then I googled and found this! Thank youuuu!!!!
JB says
It worked! I am thrilled thank you so much, you really are a genius.
Mary Beth says
Thank you!!! Worked for me when I was about to toss an awesome toy! Awesome!
MamaToTwoMinions says
Wow. Thank you. Iam currently going through toys that need batteries and a couple have them have had this happened. I was going to throw them away but then I thought 'can I save them?', looked through the net and found this. Brilliant. This shall be my project today.
Andrea Luraghi says
You just totally saved my sons favorite toy! Kudos!
EMC says
I can't believe it. I just fixed three toys using a little bit of baking soda and water to clean the rust away, and then I used your trick with aluminum foil. Thank you for your suggestion.
Rich says
Got an ace walking spiderman robot for £2 quid from charity shop for my little boy, got home & springs bust 🙁 this worked a treat 🙂 thanks
Michele says
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Part of my daughter's friends Wii console wasn't working. Batteries were loose and would fall out. Your trick helped keep batteries in and connected. Works like a charm.
A says
OMG thank you soo much for this great idea! I was just about to throw away a toy..and thought hey, let me google and see if i can find how to clean it..and ur page was the first one i came across..i told my kids to bring some aluminum foil and they had this puzzled look on this face, like how is that gona help..but it did! thank you soo much..they are playing with the toy now 🙂
Siouxsie says
Just retrieved toy out of recycling bin and now working loud n clear! Thank you!
Bev says
I have a beautiful flameless candle sconce went yo decorate for Christmas and the battery acid had ruined it. I cut out springs from cheap flashlights but they wouldn't work. I paid a lot for the set . I googled and this worked immediately and was easy to mold for the right fit.
Charlotte Yap says
Thank you for sharing. I was able to fix my son's toy because of your post.
Amanda MacGregor says
Hi Tara,
Thank you SO much for this post! With your instructions I was able to salvage a very expensive Thomas Kinkade illuminating Christmas statue...its little fireplace is twinkling brightly now thanks to your method. And I must say, this solution feels like much-belated, (but much-welcome) birthday present...you see, my birthday falls on May 10...and you posted this on May 10, 2011!!
Merry Christmas to you and your family and thanks again every so much!
Amanda