Apollo 060 Hot - Is it broken?? :-(

[Brian Hoskins]

There are many people in the Amiga scene who provide repair services, ranging from the very basic up to professional level technician work.

I think you should post a high resolution photo of the full card, front and back, and a close-up of the damaged area.

Let the dog see the rabbit, as they say.

[Brian Hoskins]

Stachu has an excellent reputation, I agree.

I am personally interested in this 'damage' you speak of, so if you have the time and don't mind posting a decent hi-res photo, I'd definitely like to take a look at it.  I can give you my opinion, for free, for whatever that will be worth.

[Brian Hoskins]

Thanks!

OK, so this battery damage does not look like a disaster.  I have seen (and successfully repaired) a lot worse.

If I were in your position the first thing I would do is try to remove the battery, clean the area and see what happens. 

REMOVING THE BATTERY
Ideally you would use professional equipment to remove the battery safely.  This would involve freeing the joints of solder and safely pulling the battery out.  I'm going to assume you don't have any professional equipment.  In that case you can do it with a basic soldering iron as follows:

Apply fresh solder to all joints.

Option [1]: Use solder braid to remove the solder from each joint.  This may be successful or it may not.
Option [2]:
With fresh solder applied, go to each side of the battery and heat the joint enough that the solder is molten and has had time to propagate the heat top-side.  5-10 seconds after solder is molten should do it.  When the heat has been applied, gently prise the battery up from the side that you have applied the iron.  It'll move a little but it won't come all the way.  Don't force it.  Instead, go to the other side and do the same thing.  Go back and forth like this until the battery is removed.

Some words of caution:
If you apply too much heat you can lift the pads and even damage the PCB.
If you don't apply enough heat, so that the top-side is still solid, you might damage the PCB when you try to release the battery.
If you apply too much force when removing the battery you will definitely cause damage.  If you have to apply a lot of force there is a reason, and you need to solve that rather than brute-force rip out the battery.

If any of this sounds daunting to you, it's best to refer to someone who knows how to solder.

Assuming you got the battery out, then it's on to the next stage:

CLEANING THE AREA

You will need the following:

• A small tin of IPL
• An anti-static brush
• An abrasive pencil (fibre glass)

Optional:
I tend to buy tins of IPL rather than the spray cans.  If you buy a tin then it's useful to keep the tin as your main store and use it to replenish a local dispenser.  I use these.  They are for flux dispensing, which I also use them for, but they also work well as IPL dispensers.


Now you just need to thoroughly clean the area.  Make sure you are strapped to Earth using an ESD wrist strap.  Then flood the local area with IPL and use the ESD brush to scrub it clean.  Use relatively small amounts of IPL, clean, and then repeat.

For the jumpers I would prefer to remove the jumpers themselves (note where they came from) and inspect the jumper pins.  If they're contaminated you might be able to clean them with IPL using the same technique, but if not then your fibre pen will come to the rescue - use the pen to brush the pins clean and then IPL afterwards to remove any residue or fibre hairs.

If the jumper pins were contaminated then the jumpers themselves were surely contaminated as well.  I wouldn't even bother trying to salvage them - just replace.  You can get them from old hard drives or if you don't have any get them from here.

NOTE:
I have read blog posts and forum threads where people have used white vinegar to neutralise the chemical reaction before cleaning the area.

I have never done this myself because I don't understand the chemistry and I refuse to soak my AMIGA motherboard (or accelerator) in vinegar unless I understand why I am doing it.  So I just use IPL to thoroughly clean.  But it's possible that the white vinegar technique is legit.  In that case, if you find a good explanation as to why, please share.


TEST
With the battery removed, the area fully cleaned and dried, you're ready to test.


FURTHER ADVICE?
If you decide to attempt this work and require further advice at any stage of this process feel free to reply here, PM me or ask for my email address.

GET PROFESSIONAL HELP
I have never used Stachu but I have seen the work he has done and based on that I am confident that he would be able to complete this work using professional equipment.  Your battery would be removed, the area would be cleaned and any contaminated components (which could not be cleaned) would be replaced.

Of course, this doesn't guarantee that your card would be working afterwards because maybe it has another fault.

That's really why I would remove the battery and clean the area myself first.  But only you can decide if that's within your capability or not.

[Brian Hoskins]

@Brian Hoskins

I do use the vinegar/lemon juice, mostly on leaked battery terminals. When you apply it you can hear it sizzle as it neutralises. It may bubble slightly too I can't remember.

Thanks for the response Paul.

Your account mirrors that of many others I've read on forums and blog posts.  But my problem with it is I don't understand any of the chemistry and I'm not going to apply vinegar or lemon juice or any other acidic liquid to my equipment unless I do fully understand its effect on the battery leakage as well as surrounding components and materials.  So far nobody has been able to give me a credible explanation that satisfies me in this regard, but I am very open to someone who can do so.

It all sounds plausible but I would want to understand it myself rather than copy it because someone else did it and said "it sizzled and bubbled" 

Assuming it's a sound and recommended technique, what is the advantage to neutralising the leakage rather than simply cleaning it away?
If it's because you cannot hope to clean all of the leakage, and that the reaction might continue afterwards, then what is your process? Is it:

* Clean area as much as possible first
* Then apply lemon juice / vinegar to neutralise
* Wait some time
* Thoroughly clean again

Or is it:

* Neutralise first
* Wait some time
* Thoroughly clean last

[Brian Hoskins]

I think you've persuaded me Paul, especially with respect to inadvertent spreading of the leakage by washing.

I have always washed thoroughly and this has probably protected me in the past.  But your post makes sense and it does sound more sensible to attempt to 'deactivate' the leakage first.

Spreading vinegar or lemon juice on the board just sounds a little too unscientific for my liking, especially as nobody has so far been able to justify it with actual chemistry.  I understand that acid neutralises alkali of course, but it seems to me that you would need to more precise about what acid you apply, and how much of it.

I guess if you wash thoroughly straight away afterward then there's nothing to lose by trying the vinegar and plenty to gain (the vinegar neutralises the leakage).

Don't use a hair dryer or similar because that would induce static.

I don't understand this.  Why do you think a hair dryer would induce static? The only thing I can think of is that use of a hair dryer would create dry air in the vicinity, and dry air holds a charge much better than humid air for obvious reasons.  But other than that I don't see how the hair dryer itself becomes a source of static.  It's just some heating elements with a fan to push the hot air out of the end.

I reckon your use of a toothbrush for cleaning would generate more static.  That's why I recommended an ESD brush.  Although, to be fair, I don't think that a toothbrush generates that much static.  I should measure that one of these days, actually.  I'll probably find I've been wasting money on proper ESD safe brushes when an old toothbrush would have done.

[Brian Hoskins]

all the 68K CPU's run hot in my experience.  you could easily melt some cheese on them. The 68040 could easily fry some bacon and eggs.

Agreed, it depends on each person's subjective view of "hot". 

I am left wondering if op is going to have a shot at removing the battery and cleaning the leakage or send the card off for repair.  It's a decision only he can make but if I were in his position I'd definitely like to get that leakage cleaned first as it's plausible that it's causing the issue with his card and after a bit of attention all could be well.  It's worth a shot in my view: the current state of the card is "broken" anyway and this is a repair attempt that will cost a small amount of money for supplies plus a little invested time.

His A1200 tower & mediator setup is very similar to my own, but I have the Blizzard accelerator card rather than Apollo.

Anyway, good luck AmiBoy!