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Cleaning corrosion off computer innards

T

tezza

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Can someone give me advice on a repair/cleaning job.

On the whole my SX-64 is in pretty good shape with the exception of an area around the power socket and the inner back panel. Both these areas show corrosion (see photos).

How do I best remove this? Should I use a solvent of some sort? Or sandpaper? Any tips kindly accepted.
 

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I would remove as much of the circuit cards as possible before doing anything - there is no point in spreading sandpaper grit and rust flakes on them.

After that, whatever mechanical method you have available works. A fine grit sandpaper, steel 'wool', a wire brush, etc. This isn't a circuit board, so you don't have to be too concerned about destroying anything .. it's a cosmetic problem that you can't possibly make worse.
 
Yes, I was thinking disassembly would probably be a good idea. I was hoping to avoid that as it's rather tricky...

Would it do any harm to leave it? I know something about the history of this unit, and it was stored in a damp enviroment for years. It's now in a dry environment and I've sprayed all the innards with anti-rust PBC cleaner. Would the corrosion still spread? It's really just on that back plate particularly around the switch. The rest of the machine is fine.
 
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The corrosion probably would not spread. My concern would be 'What substance is it now?' It is probably better to remove it than to leave it there to have it flake off and spread around.

Another possibility is to clean it with the cards in place, but to use a vacuum cleaner while cleaning to trap the contaminants.
 
ok, done.

In the end I disassembled the whole back section, removing the card containing the power supply, disconnecting and unscrewing everything.

I then used fine sandpaper on the panels as advised. The corrosion came off easily and now everything is spick and span and re-assembled.

I'm always amazed at the inginuity of the designers whenever I open one of these luggables. The SX-64 is particulary well engineered inside. It's a tight fit, but also accessible if you are patient and careful.
 
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