Can this board be saved?
Posted by Hungry_Charge2857@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 32 comments
I acquired a Diamond Monster 3D II and I see that some of the chips have corrosion on the pins. I already rubbed 91% isopropyl alcohol on the board to clean off all the dust. Something else I should try or do I just scrub harder? Can this board even be saved or is it time to take it to the e-recycler?
harshbarj2@reddit
Highly unlikely. Looks like there may be damage to the traces. You could try to repair those, but I doubt it's possible. They are just too small and close together.
Best I could suggest is clean the board and check for shorts. Then try it in a system and see if it works.
borgheses@reddit
maybe.. but it would need to go to one of those internet fixing video guys..
Ok_Recognition_1426@reddit
On occasion - people heat up the board to potentially renew the solder connections. I would not doing this unless nothing else works!!
JoJoGaminG1936@reddit
This one looks bad, really bad. Doubt it's worth the time.
rman-exe@reddit
It will be saved in the hereafter....
DeepDayze@reddit
Looks like water damage that would result in the corrosion.
jihiggs123@reddit
extremely unlikely it ca be fixed.
Hungry_Charge2857@reddit (OP)
I was afraid of that. Well hopefully the other stuff it came with is all in working condition.
GoodTofuFriday@reddit
Can i buy that card off ya?
Hungry_Charge2857@reddit (OP)
I just gave it a white vinegar bath and scrubbed it with an ultra soft toothbrush. The corrosion is gone but about 4 pins on one of the chips is completely gone. The chip would have to be replaced and I don't have the means or the steady hand to do so.
GoodTofuFriday@reddit
It is possible to repair it even with the pins gone! Ive fixed ones that have had the entire pci connector cut off
hrf3420@reddit
Damn. Corrosion on the QFP might be the nail in the coffin. New ram and pcb is no problem but that…
TerminalCancerMan@reddit
Imma keep it real with ya, chief. It's going to take a lot of effort, but you MAY be able to rescue the card. White vinegar, a lot of scrubbing, and a fiberglass pen. The. You've gotta pull the messed up chip, fix up the pads underneath with more scrubbing and that fiberglass pen to get down to metal to tin up, or reveal the metal is gone. Then you can either try cleaning up the legs of those chips, but it's almost a certainty that the corrosion has entered the plastic package and destroyed them. So you're left with a problem wrecked board, because if you had the skills to do it, you wouldn't be asking here, and a handful of dubious chips. I do this a lot, and it would take me hours upon hours to exhume that corpse.
Hungry_Charge2857@reddit (OP)
Whelp I did a white vinegar bath followed by a scrub. All the corrosion is gone but about 4 pins completely came off when I scrubbed with a very soft toothbrush. Rip card is now for parts only.
TerminalCancerMan@reddit
I would have strongly argued against a bath, and only recommended scrub. I've lost many passives to vinegar baths and I won't do it anymore. Good luck identifying a 0.5mm black SMD resistor, jack!
justkeeptreading@reddit
i don’t see anyone mention an ultrasonic cleaner, but that’s the first step, toothbrush won’t help that
Hungry_Charge2857@reddit (OP)
Doesn't matter now anyways. Just literally scrubbed with a very soft toothbrush after a vinegar bath. The corrosion is completely gone but so are 4 pins on the right side. Not sure if the toothbrush did it or if the corrosion was just the embedded.
vincentplr@reddit
If it was battery-bombed, you may try putting a bit of acid (white vinegar) on the crud. If it bubbles, there is base from the battery left around, and you can try adding more to stop the corrosion and clean what's already gone. This should give you a better view of the situation (broken ic pins, ...). But then you need to wash the acid off before it causes it's own share of corrosion.
TerminalCancerMan@reddit
This. White vinegar is good for scrubbing, but get it off ASAP. It will just start dropping smd passives right off the board if you don't.
fluffygryphon@reddit
I've repaired worse. It's bad, but it could still be salvageable under the corrosion.
TerminalCancerMan@reddit
Gonna be loads of eaten traces and pads, lots of bodge wires, and that IC in the center is almost certainly a total loss. Is this an ISA card? If so, I would take a crack at it. VLB too. PCI? Right in the trash.
TxM_2404@reddit
Probably a card for parts only. Looks like there was a barrel battery involved. Maybe its a case for the youtuber Bits und Bolts.
vincentplr@reddit
I was thinking of necroware, with his many revivals of battery-bombed 286, 386 and 486 motherboards. I do not remember seeing him tackle anything so corroded though.
TxM_2404@reddit
I thought about BuB because he has repaired a lot of Voodoo IIs and could possibly replace the chip.
Hungry_Charge2857@reddit (OP)
I guess I could sell it cheap on Marketplace for parts only. Maybe it could help someone else save their card. I'm no good with soldering.
Psy1@reddit
It looks like the battery acid has already eaten traces, maybe even the components too.
bjbNYC@reddit
Looks like some surface mount components fell off.
homerotl@reddit
F
50-50-bmg@reddit
Unless the result is worth $1000+, or you really enjoy a repair challenge, I'd salvage usable spare parts then recycle it.
Sentrinal@reddit
Anything can be fixed provided enough time, knowledge, and patience! That one looks like it would be a lot of all three though.
50-50-bmg@reddit
This would probably involve grinding off part of the qfp encapsulation, and literally handwiring it.
rpocc@reddit
Too hard and too long if even possible. I have restored many cards and motherboards, but this looks like at maximum, source for chips which were least corroded, and the backplane.