Answers.Body: <p>In case anyone else has this issue - cleaning corrosion off of the connections solved the problem!</p>
  <p>To clean the contacts, I used white vinegar applied with a cotton-swab/cue-tip. I dried it off with a dry one, left it for about half an hour, and after that it worked perfectly. I watched <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWoBSthN3FM&amp;t=468s" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this video</a> to be sure there wasn't anything I needed to do that I was missing.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-06T16:12:02.940Z
Answers.Text: Yes, leaked batteries did this I presume. I think I've cleaned about half a dozen over the years. In the past, this battery box was very common, so easily and cheaply replaced if the contacts were too corroded, however with the power functions phased out recently, they are getting more expensive
Answers.UserDisplayName: Michael Verschaeve
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-06T21:41:06.740Z
Answers.Text: @MichaelVerschaeve Definitely looks like corrosion from old batteries. Power functions seems like a much simpler system which I why I went with it, plus powered up stuff seems a little overpriced to me, maybe I'm just not familiar with the kind of prices to expect :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: OliverRadini
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-06T21:45:26.303Z
Answers.Text: @Criggie Added now - thanks for the pointer
Answers.UserDisplayName: OliverRadini
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-04-06T12:00:42.323Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-04-06T21:45:11.047Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2021-04-06T21:45:11.047Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: OliverRadini
Body: <p>I bought a used 8881 PF AA battery box. It doesn't appear to work with anything. When I test it with a multimeter, I only get a voltage reading of ~0.5V.</p>
  <p>I tested each of the batteries, and they each come out ~1.6V (as I'd expect from an AA battery).</p>
  <p>It <em>may</em> be that I'm not using the multimeter as intended and that both the lights and the motor I'm using to test this are broken, but it seems more likely that there's a problem with the battery box.</p>
  <p>Any thoughts on what the problem might be?</p>
  
Tags: <power-functions><repair><battery>
Title: Battery Box 8881 not providing enough power
UserDisplayName: OliverRadini
ThreadText: # Battery Box 8881 not providing enough power
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2021-04-06)
  
  I bought a used 8881 PF AA battery box. It doesn't appear to work with anything. When I test it with a multimeter, I only get a voltage reading of ~0.5V.
  
  I tested each of the batteries, and they each come out ~1.6V (as I'd expect from an AA battery).
  
  It *may* be that I'm not using the multimeter as intended and that both the lights and the motor I'm using to test this are broken, but it seems more likely that there's a problem with the battery box.
  
  Any thoughts on what the problem might be?
  
  **Tags:** power-functions, repair, battery
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2021-04-06. Score: 5 | Accepted answer
  
  In case anyone else has this issue - cleaning corrosion off of the connections solved the problem!
  
  To clean the contacts, I used white vinegar applied with a cotton-swab/cue-tip. I dried it off with a dry one, left it for about half an hour, and after that it worked perfectly. I watched [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWoBSthN3FM&t=468s) to be sure there wasn't anything I needed to do that I was missing.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Yes, leaked batteries did this I presume. I think I've cleaned about half a dozen over the years. In the past, this battery box was very common, so easily and cheaply replaced if the contacts were too corroded, however with the power functions phased out recently, they are getting more expensive  
  > **username_0**: @MichaelVerschaeve Definitely looks like corrosion from old batteries. Power functions seems like a much simpler system which I why I went with it, plus powered up stuff seems a little overpriced to me, maybe I'm just not familiar with the kind of prices to expect :)  
  > **username_0**: @Criggie Added now - thanks for the pointer  
  
  ---
  
  