Acid to clean Alkaline battery leakage

[rstor]

I've read online the recommendation to use distilled white vinegar to clean alkaline battery leakage residue (potassium carbonate).

In one comment in a forum someone mentioned the "benefit of being a volatile organic acid which means it evaporates without leaving a trace, in other words once the vinegar has dried out, the acid is gone."

I would like to confirm if this is correct? If the battery leakage (potassium carbonate) contaminates not only the battery terminals but also a circuit and you clean it with distilled white vinegar, can the acid cause corrosion to components / copper traces if left as is afterwards or would further cleaning be needed (e.g. IPA) ?

Also, would the byproduct of using white vinegar on potassium carbonate be water and salt (I read about this being the case when using baking soda to clean a car battery terminal)?
If this is correct I believe further cleaning with something like IPA would be recommended, correct?

Thank you

 

[Compositepro]

Vimegar is a good acid to use. Potassium acetate will be one reaction product so cleaning with isopropyl alcohol is a good idea.

 

[bimr]

Vinegar is a commercial product, a dilute (4-5%) aqueous solution of acetic acid and water, so it is 95-96% water. The water will evaporate first making the vinegar solution stronger. The vinegar will evaporate second leaving behind the potassium acetate salt.

The potassium acetate dissolves in water so IPA is recommended.