The Screw In Front Of Paula's House

[paul1981]

Looks a lot like this one:



http://www.amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=3323

You can replace the battery. Then your Amiga will remember the time & date.
After you've removed the old battery, you must neutralise the corrosion with lemon juice (do that whole half of board or whole board) and then rinse with water (you can put it under the tap). I'd used cotton wool buds to apply the lemon juice. You can also use concentrated lemon juice if you like.

Edit: Due to your chips being socket, might not be a great idea to wet those.
But in any case, do make sure all is nice and dry before turning back on again.

[paul1981]

What is it with the lemon juice and isopropyl alcohol?

While the leaked battery paste is potassium hydroxide, it is water soluble as are the corroded metal; if you think that simply washing it away is not good enough and you want to use kitchen ingredients, then why not use acetic acid (white vinegar)? Why exposé the circuits to lemon pulp and all the other junk from a squeezed lemon?  Secondly, the isopropyl alcohol is only 30% water (or 10% using the 90% isoPrOH solution); is this to dissolve grease?  Plain water will dissolve and wash away the corrosion, so the alcohol evaporates more quickly and this does what?  Clean away the "germs?" Yes it dehydrates and denatures the viral and bacterial cell walls, but do circuits care?

Please explain the chemistry, physics, and electronics behind this voodoo mixture

Vinegar smells like crap. Who wouldn't want a lemon-fresh Amiga?