Odd battery smell coming from Music Star

Since yesterday, the battery that is inside my MS smells bad. Mom got me new batteries for me today, and it is still happening. Why? Also, they don't seem to be leaking. Last night, I cleaned the contacts with a q-tip and alcohol. Any ideas of what's happening?

The Alcohol could still be effecting the inside? Maybe you need to clean it out some more. More Q-Tip cleaning, with nothing on it. If anything, blow on the q-tip so its warm... If that makes since. Then rub it off carefully. Hope the Alcohol comes off... because that can cause issues on the shell too. Otherwise, Its a good question....

Oh, thanks for replying. I'm at school now, so as I get home, I'll try that out!

Maybe try leave the battery compartment open and let it "air out"? It'll let the left over alcohol dry and any smells air out. Never really had a "battery smell" with my tamas so I'm kinda shooting in the dark.

Same here. It doesn't look like it's leaking, yet it exhales this strange odor. I'm starting to get concerned. It started way before I cleaned it.

Are you the original owner? Have you opened it further? Perhaps there is something else in there...

Letting it air out seems to be a good idea as well. I would also remove the battery while it airs out.

Yes, I'm the original owner and no, I have never opened it past the battery part. It's now airing out.

EDIT: I forgot to add, I got it in 2010 and it never happened before.

Wow..that never happened to me before..but I suggest let it air out about a day, with no battery in, and if it still smells wierd, then try to open past the battery part and see if anything is in it...

How strong is the smell?

I can't really describe it, sometimes it's strong, but sometimes it's not.

You might be able to get the alcohol smell out a bit better if you have a fan towards it. Although, I don't recommend having it pointed in your general direction, might give you a headache.

Maybe if you have some laying around... Or sticking around for the matter... Get some sticky tack. Enough to be able to grab onto. Then place it into the battery spot carefully and try to absorb the alcohol smell that way. (place it where you put alcohol) It might pick up the smell of the alcohol but might leave its own glue-like smell. If it does, that stuff eventually airs out on its own. If it does get stuck at all, you can easily rub off the sticky-tack with a toothpick or a q-tip without the cotton swab on it. Just be aware, its better to take your time and not rush because the more sticky tack gets messed with, the more it comes apart.

The sticky tack idea has not been tested by me and is currently just an idea that you might be able to try.

It's dried out, but what smells bad is the battery. Both the new one and the old one. I'm thinking the reason was staying in a pouch in a hot day. I'll try out the fan idea!

EDIT: You know there's a clear thing under the contacts? Underneath this thing, there is something that looks like a humid-ish thing. It isn't really dry, but that's rather concerning.

AggyK2 said:

It's dried out, but what smells bad is the battery. Both the new one and the old one. I'm thinking the reason was staying in a pouch in a hot day. I'll try out the fan idea!

EDIT: You know there's a clear thing under the contacts? Underneath this thing, there is something that looks like a humid-ish thing. It isn't really dry, but that's rather concerning.

Click to expand...

The contacta? Like where the circuit board is? Or what contacts? But if it is a substance that you are able to scrape off, try to scrape it off. BUT if it is in a vital area in which a Tamagotchi needs to function properly, DO NOT attempt it.

tamagotchialice said:

The contacta? Like where the circuit board is? Or what contacts? But if it is a substance that you are able to scrape off, try to scrape it off. BUT if it is in a vital area in which a Tamagotchi needs to function properly, DO NOT attempt it.

Click to expand...

It's under the plastic thing under the battery contacts in the circuit board, and it would be impossible to be scraped off, as it is under that. Also, I'm pretty sure the battrey hasn't leaked in any way.

What brand are you using? Are they new batteries out of package? Sometimes tamas a picky about the batteries they use.

Dollar store ones work well in some, others dislike them and the battery drains out.

New or old, I ask because there is a chance someone might have spilled something on the battery and forgot to toss it. Many times, if something gets on them, the battery works funny and then dies. If it begins at all...

If it was in a moist basement or storage area for things like car care or bottles of adult drinks... I would consider not using it.

You could try and let it air out, see what that does. If you think its the battery, buy/use a new one (out of package)

Get brand name batteries, the cheap off brands tend to be low quality and have higher chances of things going rather bad with them. Brand name like duracell or energizer.

If it is still smelling you might want to completely open the toy and use a dry q-tip to wipe out any dust you find, or just blow some air in there to clear it up. It could be that there is dust settled on the circuit board where it warms up and it is burning it off or something.

The brand I was using when it started was Kulei, and they are good-quality batteries. Now I'm using Hongwei, and they seem to be good too.

I'll try to not be afraid of opening it up and messing up with it. Nobody spilled anything in it and all I remember when it started was that it was in a pouch in a hot day.

EDIT: It somewhat feels hard to pull the case apart. I'll keep trying, though!

EDIT2: I opened it and cleaned the inside. I couldn't open it to the screen part. 2 screws were stuck. I also noticed the smell becomes a bit stronger during daytime. I'll keep it drying out for a few days, and let's see the results.

EDIT3: I forgot to add, there was some white stuff near a bit of glue. I cleaned that and I hope it's fixed.

White stuff? Like dried toothpaste? (look wise) stuff on the circut board like that could mean battery acid or something else on it.

I would recommend some regular brand batteries. Such as Energizer or Duracell...

It was more like whitish dust. It's clean now. Also, here in the city I live, there are only cheap-off battery brands. If there were regular brands, they'd be hard to find.

The problem might be that the pressure on the battery is too high?

The slightly bent-up metal thingy that the battery pushes down when inserted might be bent up too high maybe? Try pushing it down a tiny bit.

I've actually had similar problems with several tamas when I was younger, and left them with the battery inside for a longer time; no leaking, just a funny smell.

I think that it has been the pressure though...