And here is some seriously sad news:
You might remember THIS item:
![Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread 998024-0](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=81471.0;attach=998025;image)
The wondrous little signal tracer, which made it finally to me thanks to <Worsthorse>, has arrived my desk...
and the the battery fungus got in before me.
![Scared :scared:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/scared.gif)
I wondered all the time how and where the battery is. It turned out that you have to release the two tiny screws and pull out the back cap. That I saw a loose wire there right when opening it did not come as a surprise, because every battery change is going to put strain onto the AWG30 wires going to the phones jack on the rear cap.
BTW, it is smaller than I thought. The metal part is 110mm long and the hollow profile has outside dimensions slightly under 20mm.
Inside I can see a cell holder for a single AAA battery. And I could see how much damage a single AAA cell can do. It is definitely too colourful in there.
![WTF? :wtf:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/wtf2.gif)
Very bright blue deposits on the interior walls. And crystal growth on the rear end of the PCB.
And here I stopped. I have to figure out how to access the interior. Those fiends have used tiny rivets to hold the front cap in place, and there is nothing to get a grip on them. Maybe I can remove the deformed heads with a riffler file and then push the remainder inside through the plastic cap retaining ears. Not before I have done that can I even assess the extent of the damage.
And single battery operation probably means Ge transistors. And with no documentation, I can only hope that I can still make out most components. If not, as announced, it will have to be a rebuild. But to use all those accessories (gain), get output to the dynamic earphone and have some battery life, something other than one AAA might be in order. Maybe I could place 2 or 3 button cells opposite the pot/switch towards the rear, if I find little holders with a metallic cap for them. That would make that tearing of the wires unneccessary. But that would mean having a PCB, and getting someone to layout it for me, and soon it will become forbidding in terms or time AND cost.
But given my workload, this is far away. Today I hate my fogging karma. It could have been almost as pristine on the inside as on the exterior, ONCE rewarding me for caring about my tools and gear.
ORCFUCKBLOODSHITMURDERFROG!