Cleaning corroded sockets

Hello,

I got a GBA SP 101 in working condition but in pretty bad shape. It got water damage as you can see from the humidity stickers; the hinges are hard to move, the L/R springs are broken due to corrosion but more importantly the two sockets are corroded.
I started to clean the top of it with white vinegar and the verdigris dissolved, then rinse it with 70% alcohol; now the socket has this weird orange/brown colour.
Is it the correct solution to remove it? I was planning to desolder and leave them inside a vinegar bowl for a few hours and clean the surface corrosion on the motherboard, but I don't know if it's not too aggressive.

Thanks

 

i removed a WIImote connector in the base of the Controller and dumped it in a bowl of Vinegar and Lemon Juice for about an hour. I then used Deoxit Red ( dissolves corrosion ) and Gold formula. I reassembled and tested and the WII Nunchuck works great now. You may want to get the bottled version or spray of Deoxit depending on your needs , for your GBA i would recommend the spray.

 

Holy crap, it looks like the statue of liberty

 

i should have also mentioned after you have used Vinegar + Lemon Juice and also Deoxit Red flush it out with Contact Cleaner. If you don't have that high purity IPA , i like to use a can of Compressed Air to help dry the insides of the connector too. Also on the legs of the connector a Fiberglass Pen will help remove the corrosion on them.

 

Thanks for your answer

I'm not sure I'll be able to find Deoxit where I live, but I do have plenty of contact cleaner, and flux remover if it can be useful.
Is it too risky to use vinegar on the connectors' legs and the motherboard, using a cotton buds? You can see a tiny bit of corrosion on the square next to the socket, I'm planning to remove it too.

 

hi Dreamkey , If you can get Deoxit that would be great but it's not essential. I'm not sure if Flux Remover will help in this situation , i've seen Youtube videos of people using Vinegar on corroded parts on boards before so it is safe as long as you clean up with IPA or Contact Cleaner afterwards. On the legs after removing the corrosion you may need to reflow or add a little fresh solder. I would recommend you use half and half Vinegar and Lemon Juice too.

sorry for the late reply , my sister is having problems with her boyfriend atm so much so they have split and the engagement is off.

 

I wouldn't bother, really. It looks pretty bad. If you're able to desolder it, just get sockets from a junk SP - ypu should be able to pick up a scratched or even broken SP cheaper than DeoxIT, which is very expensive. And you'll be able to swap the hinges and springs, too.

Of course, you can get sockets on eBay on their own. And hinges.

 

Or you could take the 101 screen and transplant it into an original GBA.

 

@s8n: no worries, I'm not in a hurry.
I was asking about the vinegar because I used it to clean a really corroded Pokémon Pinball cartridge and now half of the traces are cut, but I wasn't sure if it was coming from the corrosion itself or the vinegar.

@retro: in fact I just found a 001 "for parts" for 10€, because it couldn't charge or power on; turns out the fuse F2 was blown.

So I will swap the hinges and sockets but still clean them to test how it will turn out, and I will try some WD-40 on the hinges. This way I will have a working 001 for my collection
Also the springs are included in the replacement shell I bought for my 101.

 

yep corrosion will do that , when removed you can see the damage it has caused cut traces etc........

 

Alright, I finished the little restoration and I'm pretty happy

Removing the sockets from the 001 was easy, but it was really difficult from the 101! I even bent a tiny bit the board:

Also a pad was ripped off, but I scrubbed the trace to solder on it:


Then I removed the corrosion; thanks @s8n for telling me about the lemon, I really hate how the white vinegar smells. After two to three hours, then cleaning with water, alcohol then contact cleaner (for reference, the ones from the 001 on the left):



The 101 with shiny sockets:

The 001 with not-so-shiny sockets:

Then the hinges:

I don't know how it was possible to get rust there... The WD-40 helped quite a bit to clean and make them easier to turn.

In the end I'm glad I found the 001, I took a lot of things: sockets, hinges, exterior screws and the one under the screen cable, and even the screen glass.
As you can see, the one coming with the replacement shell has brighter letters (to much IMHO), and the "SP" looks off, so I installed it on the 001 (on the left).

Funny things, the 101 uses Phillips screws for the screen while triwings screws for the 001.
The shell is thinner than an original, also I had to remove leftover plastic remains under the A button because I couldn't press it, but it's definitely better than the original shell:


Thanks everyone for your help!

 

Thanks for the update! Damn, the socket was BAD!

Is everything the same on the two models other than the electronics? The hinges etc. are the same? And are the cases the same internally, hole-wise and such?

 

wow just wow , excellent outcome Dreamkey. I love your persistence on these GBA's it was totally worth it and they turned out beautiful.

have fun playing them you did a really great job resurrecting them

 

@s8n: thank you Now I'll start Minish Cap, I nearly finished it years ago. Then Zelda 1 & 2 from the Classic Series, Zelda DX and Oracle of Seasons/Ages. I also found a repro of Shantae, so I'll play it for many hours!

@retro: I'm pretty sure you can swap everything between a 001 and 101: screws, hinges, speaker, buttons... There is also a mod to use a 101 screen with a 001 motherboard.
But you can't really mix an original shell with a cheap one, I remember watching a video where the guy wanted to keep the original buttons with the replacement shell, and it was difficult to press them because of the slight differences and adjustments between them.

 

:') this is beautiful *sniff*
But seriously good job on those repairs. I love seeing this stuff.