Super Magic Drive repair? (Leaked battery)

Hey all,

I recently bought a Super Magic Drive, It has the common battery leak issue. The issue is the board appears to have bubbled and become brittle, The battery fell off so no need to remove it, I haven't had the time to test it yet but it was sold as working.

Some of the traces also appear to be black now. And the bottom is black also.

Pictures:



I don't have any Isopropyl Alcohol to hand but I used a little hand gel cleaner (pretty much alcohol) think it's possible to clean this up properly though?

 

The electrolyte in a NiCd battery is sodium hydroxide, which is a rather strong base. My first step would be to try and neutralize it using a solution of a weak acid, like white vinegar. Then wash the board in deionized or distilled water to clean it, and let it dry completely. Note that if the battery was still attached to the board you should remove it before doing this.

Judging from the photos, none of the traces have actually been etched through, although I would be a bit concerned about the corrosion on the connector at the bottom of the board in your first photo.

 

Hi, thanks for the advise, The battery fell off and I binned it right away so that worry is out of the way. Will grab some white vinegar when I go to the shop next and see if I can find some distilled water thanks.

As for the connector that was my worry, And the bit with the green bubble like bit, It's raised and feels rather brittle.

Again, Thanks for the advise.

 

That bubbled bit is just a ground plane - not very nice from a cosmetic point of view, but unlikely to affect anything. The connector would be my primary concern, too. Have a look at the mating connector on the RAM board - if it's clean, then it suggests that not too much electrolyte got into the connector.

If it works, then I would tend to leave it as it is - Front Far East used reasonable quality PC boards, but unless you have the right equipment desoldering a 40 pin connector could be tricky- especially since the traces on the top of the board may have been subjected to chemical attack.

 

Ah, I see thanks was worried it might be something bad.. As for the connector it was slightly green when I pulled it off, Wasn't that bad cleaned that there and then.

And yeah that was my thinking, Not a fan of touching things if they work as normally they don't afterwards lol. Thanks again for the advise hopefully it works as I have a few carts coming that need dumping.