How To Repair A Corroded And Damaged PCB & Connectors

[@Foobar_The_Fat_Penguin]

To add another chemical to try: Liquid toilet cleaner. I use the cheap one from Aldi. It contains formic acid, which is not only acidic, but also a reducing agent (i.e. it can undo oxidization, to some degree). And it already has a gooey consistence. It's supposed to stick to the underside of the rim in your toilet but I found it actually doesn't care and also sticks to electronics. I have not done extensive tests with it but it worked well in the few occasions where I used it. You don't have to mess around with paper towels and it doesn't as easily spill into areas where you don't want it.

[@patzik1910]

Used this on some arcade pcb’s and indeed it works good, BUT you don’t want to leave this on for too long!

[@nigelfewster]

Wow the channel has really taken off, 100k soon! Keep up the very informative vids, learn something every time I watch.

[@dang48]

Very informative as always. I was thinking that instead of using a small bottle to pour the vinegar on to the towel in the slots, it may be easier to use a small eye dropper. Those can be purchased pretty cheaply and are quite easy to use.

[@marauderofdeath6401]

Always learn a lot from these videos and the comments on them! Thanks for the great video!

[@petewmids]

Another cleaning option is tomato ketchup. It has vinegar in it, and being viscous you can squirt it on the board and it will stay there until you wash it off. It is good in bathrooms too - I used it recently to get the limescale off the flexible metal hose to my shower head (I disconnected the hose first! 🤣).

[@arthurmann578]

Another nice video, Richard! I always wondered about using Coke myself. I once heard that the employees at Coke themselves actually used it to clean the truck engines with. Too bad it can't be used to clean the gunk out of our arteries when we drink it! 🤔😁 Hope you get over that cold real soon. Feel better! 👍👍

[@grahambambrook313]

White vinegar for me, every time. It is great for cleaning corroded contacts in torches or other equipment that had the batteries left in.

[@fluxjunkie6645]

vinegar is used to neutralize the alkali from the capacitors electrolyte it is also used to neutralize the alkali from leaked alkaline batteries.i think it potassium hydroxide that is used as the alkali electrolyte

[@JosephMolloy]

I use Distilled White Vinegar (Acetic Acid) with an old credit / store card and a spectacle lens cleaning cloth to clean out the slots. it is available in a 5 litre catering size for €8. Our old friend Isopropyl Alcohol also does the trick but it is very expensive.

[@Johadart]

Can’t wait for the 2nd video, Dicky, great explanation bud, keep up the good work. 🤙🏼🇦🇺 Joe from Australia

[@davidv1289]

Interesting results - great teaching video as always. The Defpom does some circuit board liquid damage cleanup using solder flux and hot air, might be worth a try here. Regards, David

[@Infiniti25]

Definitely works, I did that on a MacBook Pro with extensive (most of the board minor to moderate liquid damage/corrosion and reflowing components and ICs after an initial scrape with a cotton bud and IPA.

[@CTCTraining1]

My experience was that kitchen roll quality can be variable and thin fabric left less residue. Old plastic cards helped ease into slots. As I brew I have citric acid crystals sitting about ... dilute well and/or don’t leave it on for very long. 😀👍. Ps Steve from TronixFix recommends BW100 although I’ve not found a stockiest round these parts.

[@dinf8940]

4-10% acetic acid (kitchen supplies white vinegar) is easily accessible and perfectly suitable for the task, tho any mild, polar acid should do. just rinse with plenty of water after

[@romancharak3675]

Also Richard, Branchus Creations reviewed a large ultrasonic cleaner, suitable for motherboards.

[@ShroomJGV]

For future reference try evapo-rust it literally works miracles and doesn't degrade metal like any acid would

[@dev639]

Rust? Deoxit! Might I suggest a video on choosing replacement mosfets? I have a Asus CUV-4X that I'd like to revive for my Win98se gaming needs and one of the mosfets bit the dust.

[@orion310591RS]

18:50 I think you can use some ID card or RFID card. I used lemon acid, to repair multimeter that had battery leakage damage.

[@keithatrochdale]

Great, useful video. Could you do one on the use of a variac (sp) please?

[@davidfurniss6980]

There is no mention that this is to make the board look pretty only, not to fix the board which is scrap if damaged to this extent due to water. Corrosion on a connector will mean the plating has dissolved and base metal is now corroding so cleaning it will not put the plating back on, just slow or stop further corrosion but introduce unreliability due to missing plating and oxidisation and could actually promote damage of the mating COTS device due to metal mismatch. Additionally, using something corrosive that will eat the corrosion would only work if it didn’t also eat copper as a PCB is hydroscopic and will soak liquids like a sponge. You don’t want to apply corrosives like Cola that could get soaked into a PCB to eat away at the internal traces as you cannot neutralise and stop this action.

[@Dutch_off_grid_homesteading]

Heya, not seen much corrosion here in the part I'm live bbut still a nice video. with cola you can even losen up rust so it should work for other corrousion

[@chrishartley1210]

I'm guessing that when Julie said "white vinegar" she was referring to distilled vinegar which is usually pure diluted acetic acid. It doesn't matter which type of Coca-cola you use, they all contain the active ingredient phosphoric acid and the diet or zero versions are less likely to leave sticky sugar deposits. Even the cheapest colas and other soft drinks with a sharp taste will often contain phosphoric acid and it is required to be declared so just look on the label although that's no guarantee of the strength.

[@ukaszSkowerski]

Could You show your washing and drying technique? I always thought that water doesn't mix with electronic devices...

[@RealDixonPeter]

Distilled water, dry in oven 6 hours @ 100c

[@RetroUpgrade]

Great video as always , the active ingredient in cola is phosphoric acid and it is a good de-ruster used to fix chrome and other metal parts on cars, but it does make a chemical reaction with steal and iron and makes a black rust prof barrier so depends n the metal used on if it is useful or not , dont think it makes a chemical bond with tin/copper dough so should work :P just my 2 cents 😁

[@ShroomJGV]

I use a product called evapo-rust if I'm correct, it's pH neutral but it also forms that black barrier. It was never patented so the chemical formulas anyone's guess😅

[@DigitalConfusion]

At 5:10 You say white is the positive end. But isn't the silk screen usually printed so the white side corresponds with the stripe on the capacitor? And that is the negative side. As I thought about it.. I am wrong ^^. So have just edited comment. Good video.

[@alimate1025]

Great stuff 👍 keep up the good work sir

[@mrkemister]

I always use distilled vineagar then clean/ scrub with isopropanol after to not leave acid on pcb

[@frankbaron1608]

for a bottle i would have used one of those with a neele on that you use for liquid flux

[@stefanocosta3969]

Vinegar has pH about 3, while Coca Cola is about 4 (which mean less acid, so less aggressive/remove less corrosion). In general I prefer vinegar, especially because less deposit are left upon drying, but they are the cheaper acid you can readily find.

[@CliveChamberlain946]

Surprised indeed!👍I thought vinegar would have made it worse. IMHO for viewers, the wide distribution of a bar-type LED light wand *might* be miles better than the narrow nauseating beam of a moving flashlight casting shadows.🤗

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Actually my torch aslso has the bar type LED, I'll try it

[@terryschabert7929]

I never heard of a phase related to a computer. Just what do you mean by this term. Is it a parallel power rail, of a different voltage altogether?

[@romancharak3675]

FYI. Branchus Creations, in Australia, built a large laundry sink Ultrasonic Cleaner, because he refurbishes Motherboards. This link is to his playlist on the subject. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3WyZJ-uhZmDhZI

[@woodstover]

Test across terminals 1 & 3 for the M Tester for coils µH

[@pmcrisp]

great stuff

[@A7mag3ddon]

Oh no, id never ever ever use coke !! Especially the sugar one. Best thing to use is white vinegar and a medium or hard toothbrush. If you have some seriously oxidised pins then you could use a product called Deoxit.

[@jayhook-zm1pw]

how big of a hammer did they hit that with?

[@Dutch-linux]

Deoxit and your done no fuzz fast and easy

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I'm not sure that is readily available

[@2009numan]

won't all the grounds be common throughout the board ?

[@2009numan]

the damaged coil would read the same as the length of copper on the winding is the same length as the others

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Errm actually no it wouldn't. To qualify that, the DC resistance would read the same yeah, but inductance definitely not. And it didn't on the ESR meter, which is the only one of the three methods I used that gave a realistic reading.. There is a lot more to inductors than just the length of the copper wire. The number of turns and the properties of core they are wound around also are important factors

[@2009numan]

can those copper coil inductors not be trplaced with modern inductors ?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

if the inductance is the same then I don't see why they would not work, but I'm not an expert on inductors

[@frogz]

these stupid dell p4 boards... wow, that heatsink mount design brings me back, i had boards with epoxy on them!

[@frankbaron1608]

i would try cotton buds rather than kitchen roll. kitchen roll is too thick

[@esbenarndt5703]

I enjoyed the video, but in real life, would you repair a motherboard in that condition?

[@akierum]

On youtube anyone can repair things for content

[@uksuperrascal]

Smells like a real CHIP shop

[@2009numan]

why didn't you just use deoxit

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I don't think it is a readily available product you can buy in shops. I could be wrong. I googled 'where to buy Deoxit near me' and the closest was over 1000 miles away 🤔

[@GregM]

That is darn expensinve here in Canada. Its $50 CDN for a 5oz can. Could try CRC Electronic Cleaner that probably has to be ordered on line there.

[@englishrupe01]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair Yep, it's a US product, so maybe not available there. Great stuff, though, but pretty steep price.

[@davidhollfelder9940]

Hmm .. plz, no sugar/corn syrup sweetened cola on electronics. The sugar film has a gift that keeps on giving (nasty).

[@retrocomputinggrotto]

I thought this was going to be a video showing you how to repair a corroded laptop (i.e. a tried and trusted method you'd been doing for years) but sadly it's the first time you've used things so I cant trust any of it on my corroded laptops as who knows what the long term damage it may cause :(

[@khawalataghla5885]

الحمد الهال لله الله الله الحمدو الله

[@bigfoottoo2841]

Throw it away.😊

[@frankbaron1608]

a phd i once new didn't have an lc tester s he put the unvalued inductor in series with a known value capacitor he then sent a signal sweep thoguh it and watched for a response.on his oscilloscope of a dip off or a peak in. he made a note of where it peaked and used maths to calculate the value of the inductor. bloody phds hehehehehehe

[@lordjohnpp]

Well the best option here is WD40 - it's famous rust remover and also can be used as contact cleaner. Just spray wait a while and rinse with alcohol.

[@dinf8940]

absolutely not. its sub par at oxidation removal and requires very trough cleaning with (iow. waste of) solvents, otherwise the residue it leaves will eventually (or immediately if exposed to soldering temps) polymerize leaving sticky gunk that is virtually insoluble in anything. keep wd40 and other 'water displacement formulas' far, far away from electronics

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

As that is readily available just about everywhere I'll give it a go part 2

[@khawalataghla5885]

الحمد الله والشكرا الله الله يالرحيمن بالرحميتو يالله يالله يالله

[@tonysheerness2427]

I would tackle the most difficult first. As if you can not fix that you have wasted your time on the easy stuff.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Yes Tony but since when was teaching this stuff a waste of time, there are a number of things to learn from this PCB. One could also argue that if I didn't determine whether the broken/missing parts can be identified then I could waste a lot of time on the difficult stuff when I should have checked the 'easy' stuff was simple to fix first.

[@tonysheerness2427]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair Yes a great practise board, however unless you get it working, you will not know if you have learnt anything.

[@tonysheerness2427]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair Just soldering or unsoldering just for the sake it does not prove anything. There is another channel My Mate Vince who buys returned electronic gadgets and sees how many he can repair. With your electronic knowledge you would be good at this and have something at the end, instead of a dead board with all the effort you put into it.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@tonysheerness2427 My intention is to see if I can repair this, but I don't see how I can guarantee that. Of course I know My Mate Vince and I've seem some of his videos, I don't know if he tackles things like this motherboard though. I think The part where I show how to work out the missing capacitor values and also the inductor values is worthwhile education in it's own right, whether I can fix it or not 😉 Anyone else like to comment? I enjoy constructive criticism and discussion

[@englishrupe01]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair I 100% agree with you Rich. I think the whole point of this project is to learn various repair & replacement problems and NOT whether you can just get this board running again....isn't it? It presents a good variety of issues where we can learn. I didn't think this was at all a "My Mate Vince" type video/project. Thanks for showing it, Rich.

[@khawalataghla5885]

اوكي

[@khawalataghla5885]

انولي البرطبلات لاجيل الله اله الله الحمد الله واشكروا الله الله الله

[@khawalataghla5885]

احظير الله اله الله

[@khawalataghla5885]

وكي

[@khawalataghla5885]

انو

[@khawalataghla5885]

ايش

[@raindogred]

first😃

[@stalwartcomputers5182]

This is SO PAINFUL to watch

[@patzik1910]

Then don’t watch 😂

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Which bit was painful, learning how to identify missing capacitors, learning how to measure inductors with an ESR meter or experimenting with products you can find in any supermarket to see if they will remove corrosion from a PCB? But seriously if you have some constructive suggestions then tell us and I will try them on part 2 (as long at it involves some product I can actually go out and buy) 😉

[@stalwartcomputers5182]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair watching things like vinegar etc being used on PCBs during my years in the industry people have been told daft things on the net and believed they were the real fix like wet phones in rice,compressed air & water to clean speakers,toothpicks in charge ports etc as for chemical on things you have washing motherboards in dishwasher, using furniture polish on games consoles inside and out,toothpaste as thermal paste & so on. For corrosion use the fibreglass glass brush or corrosion Neutralization fluid nice & easy, If want to clean pci slots use a thin shim card/old bank card with foil tape folded over it neatly & tight a contact cleaner and that cleans the contact surface (aswell as fine wire brush or fibreglass brush can be used to get right inside) The component stuff was perfectly fine for learning but some stuff isn't good on the Internet especially watching someone poke wet paper towel with a component pry tool into the pin arrangement because people will destroy the thing or someone will have to pick towel out of there for 1hr because it's all jammed in the pins & shorting them out etc. (These things need to be thought about or atleast "don't do this at home" leave it for professionals if your not well versed in these type of things) Experiments are fun but Joe public take these things seriously & mess their expensive equipment up & it's just adding to all the daft shit already on social media. I apologise if its not the type of thing you want to hear but I don't actually want to say it either, there's enough tiktok crap adding to it already without professionalls making it worse. I really do like your channel & mostly all of your content is very interesting & informative for beginners onwards but that stuff always makes it's way to Joe public & it has people damaging things. (Teaching the right ways 1st or a more controlled version of this wouldn't be as bad). Many thanks.

[@ianhewitt1858]

@@stalwartcomputers5182 I bet you loved 'Myth Busters' and the stuff they got up to. Personally, I enjoyed this attempt at removing the corrosion. Jewellers have used mineral oil in ultra sonic baths for decades for removing corrosion, especially silver plated items. Please don't get me wrong, you are entitled to your opinion and you have pointed out the use of 'fiberglass glass brush and corrosion Neutralization' as alternatives. The 'corrosion neutralization' sounds like a professional product and I am interested if it just neutralises or if it removes the corrosion or converts it to another 'form' (a bit like the rust convertors) and if the surface is restored to being a good conductor. As for the Fiberglass brush, does this work as an abrasive to remove the corrosion? I it worth restoring a board like this - probably not. But there are times when boards need repairing that simply cannot be replaced. I have seen Richard repair some industrial boards where there are no longer manufactured or the machine needs to be up and running as soon as possible. In these cases, you need to have already 'honed' your technique on something that doesn't matter. Finally, as a side issue, I have been looking at electro plating earlier this year for something completely different and it occurred to me that if the surfaces become too corroded, re-plating them with silver could restore the conductivity. Just a thought.

[@englishrupe01]

@@ianhewitt1858 Don't forget there's also double-sided adhesive, solderable copper tape, too, if needed. I was looking at some for myself, yesterday.