Cleaning corrosion from a printed circuit board?..

[cjshaker]

Does anyone have experience with, or know the best way to clean corrosion from a printed circuit board? The corrosion is not from a battery or leaking capacitor, I believe it's just from being in a cold damp climate in my car. It's on my remote for my door opener, and I think the corrosion is jumping contacts and causing it to open at random times. They're not cheap and I'd rather not have to buy a new one if not necessary.

I've read about using vinegar to scrub it with, then wash and thoroughly dry with isopropyl alcohol. Just wondering if anybody has used that method or has a better one? There aren't any capacitors on the board, so that is not an issue.

Here's a couple close-ups of the corrosion. Not serious, but it seems to have formed a pathway between points of contact.

[hvywrench]

Doug, are you familiar with the "DeOxit" electronic cleaners?

https://www.amazon.com/DeOxit-Cleaning-Solution-Spray-spray/dp/B07HM695CF/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1543534866&sr=8-4&keywords=Deoxit

They make several different products, maybe you've heard of them since you are into guitars and such.
I've used their cleaners to clean up nasty electrical connections and then used the protectant spray to coat them for a level of protection.
I've had good luck with them, not sure if they are exactly right for what you need, but they are the first products that come to mind.
Bill

[gdaddy01]

what about LPS contact cleaner ?

[fekbmax]

X2 on the circuit board/contact cleaners. Use um all the time on HVAC equipment.  Most HVAC and appliance supply houses have good aerosol circuit board cleaners.

[RustyCrankshaft]

what about LPS contact cleaner ?

NO. THe LPS contact cleaner is not safe for electronics. The LPS stuff is designed for cleaning contactors and is really aggressive. You can use LPS 1 sparingly - it also works good to lube adjustable pots. DeOxIt is really good too, Amazon carries it still I think. All my vintage stereo stuff gets either DeOxIt or LPS in the pots every once in a while, especially the volume pot - I don't like pops and crackles and it helps from loosing one channel at real low volume.

[cjshaker]

I have and use DeOxit and a couple varieties of contact cleaners, I just wasn't sure if they would harm a PCB. A lot of compressed aerosol type cleaners have a chilling effect, and that can be bad on the board and protective laminate. Once the laminate starts to release, then you've all but destroyed the board. I've done repairs on old amplifier and pinball boards, but that involved de-soldering and re-soldering points, where flux and heat generally take care of any corrosion. I'd prefer not to use heat on this if at all possible.

I do have some old boards that I've saved for small parts. I suppose I could experiment on a couple of those.

Oddly enough, there are practically NO videos from any pros on YouTube about this kind of repair. Lot's of point repair videos, but nothing on surface corrosion cleaning.

[Cyclone Joe]

After you clean it, I'd suggest to re-apply the conformal coating that appears to be missing from the corroded areas.

[cjshaker]

The laminate coating is still in good shape, it has just formed corrosion 'bridges' to neighboring solder points.

[BattlestarGalactic]

I've gotten to start watching Youtube videos from a fellow that works on radio equipment.

Here is a video he made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5XeWpgVJZw

[RustyCrankshaft]

DeOxIt and some gentle scrubbing should clean that up. I haven't found DeOxIt to have too much of a thermal shock. The LPS stuff, besides being a very agresive

https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-422B-340G-Silicone-Conformal/dp/B008O9YGQI

It's not the best, but it's inexpensive and works pretty decent to re-coat after you scrub it up.

[shady]

I use a small light brass wire wheel in a dremal set at the lowest speed. After that spray it with contact cleaner & inspect it closely. There is no chemical that I ever found that will just wash the corrosion off without damaging the components.

[chris401]

Does anyone have experience with, or know the best way to clean corrosion from a printed circuit board? The corrosion is not from a battery or leaking capacitor, I believe it's just from being in a cold damp climate in my car. It's on my remote for my door opener, and I think the corrosion is jumping contacts and causing it to open at random times. They're not cheap and I'd rather not have to buy a new one if not necessary.

I've read about using vinegar to scrub it with, then wash and thoroughly dry with isopropyl alcohol. Just wondering if anybody has used that method or has a better one? There aren't any capacitors on the board, so that is not an issue.

Here's a couple close-ups of the corrosion. Not serious, but it seems to have formed a pathway between points of contact.

I have used vinegar and a stiff bristle tooth brush on electrical components. Like you not wanting to scrub the coating off I never was agressive enough to completely got rid of the discoloration on the surface. The AC guys seem to have the best advice. Is that a Toyota key?

[cjshaker]

It's the remote for my garage door. Expensive little booger, but it's a nice direct drive opener.

I'm going to try the vinegar and alcohol method first, then maybe the DeOxit if I need to do more. I tried some DeOxit on junk boards last night and it just doesn't want to dissolve the corrosion. The corrosion on the junk boards was from a leaking capacitor though, and that gets nasty and typically causes bad stuff to happen to the traces and laminate. Once I get rid of the fluffy surface stuff, the DeOxit might be more useful.

YouTube isn't just for kids, there is a WEALTH of info on there from very knowledgeable people, for just about anything that would spark your interests. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

[cjshaker]

For anyone interested, I thought I'd show the results of using the vinegar, along with an old tooth brush, then scrubbing it with isopropyl alcohol. I blew it off, then brushed it again with the toothbrush after I dried it, then set it in the air path of my wood burner to make sure it was good and dry. Seems to have worked pretty good and the opener is working fine again. Maybe somebody can find this useful on an old ignition box or some other car related piece.

These are the exact same spots that I photographed before...

[Bolted to Floor]

Congrats on getting your garage door opener working again. I’ll have to remember this trick.