40.0 Remote for Hopper 3, suddenly very erratic and non responsive

I use the baking soda to neutralize the acid that leaks out of most batteries when they fail. Then just make sure
the contact is clean and dry. Shiny is also nice to see if the connector isn't too corroded.
I have a lot of X10 stuff in my house and a lot of remotes for that system. Seems that the one battery end that gets corroded inside a remote is always the hardest one to get to.
How much baking soda to water ratio do you use? Do you basically make it a thick paste or is it still mostly powder but seems to have slight moisture? This one talks about the various cleaning methods for contacts but still no mention of carbonated soft drinks or baking soda. Vinegar (white or apple cider) followed by baking soda will probably work too. Seems like ammonia is probably what gets rid of the tarnishing.

Contact Cleaning: The Right Stuff

Here is a link to how to make contacts look new with vinegar and baking soda.

How to Perfectly Clean Wires in Minutes!!!
 
How much baking soda to water ratio do you use?
I just use a small pill bottle and put in a dash or two of baking soda with water. Mix it up, looks cloudy and then with a q-tip, rub the contact until the acid corrosion appears to be gone.
This has branched into a few different directions, I'm only concerned about removing the leakage of battery acid onto the contacts.

Since this has strayed a bit, I will add another stray.
My beloved Texas Instruments pocket calculators button batter leaked acid onto the foil connection and removing the battery also removed the foil. Thought all was lost but then remembered that I had a small, itty-bittie plunger of thermal past used for mounting coolers to PC processors has 15 percent silver in it. Smeared this in the area of where the battery sits and extended the smear over to the copper trace. This connection worked and I now have the calculator working again. (I wonder how long this will last?)
 
I just use a small pill bottle and put in a dash or two of baking soda with water. Mix it up, looks cloudy and then with a q-tip, rub the contact until the acid corrosion appears to be gone.
This has branched into a few different directions, I'm only concerned about removing the leakage of battery acid onto the contacts.

Since this has strayed a bit, I will add another stray.
My beloved Texas Instruments pocket calculators button batter leaked acid onto the foil connection and removing the battery also removed the foil. Thought all was lost but then remembered that I had a small, itty-bittie plunger of thermal past used for mounting coolers to PC processors has 15 percent silver in it. Smeared this in the area of where the battery sits and extended the smear over to the copper trace. This connection worked and I now have the calculator working again. (I wonder how long this will last?)

When you said bottle originally, I thought you had like atleast 16 ounces... Yeah, removing the battery leakage is definitely important, I usually just use rubbing alcohol for that since there were times I was trying out those chargers for alkaline batteries and it didn't end up good. I think the thermal paste should last long, atleast 6 years as I actually put some Arctic Silver 5 on a Motorola Cordless Flip Phone for the landline when the flip gotten loose and the thermal grease at the conductive joints made the flip tight again so it doesn't open on it's own