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 BATTERYIdeally 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 AREAYou will need the following:
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.
TESTWith 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 HELPI 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.
