oXbox Capacitor Leakage Clean Up - Help

[Ghudda]

So after stumbling upon the very important issue of the leaking battery capacitor with the original Xbox, I had to of course open mine up and get rid of that nasty cap myself. Unfortunately, it looks like it's been leaking for a short bit and has caused some corrosion to the board and maybe components around it.

REMOVE YOUR BATTERY CAPS!

What kind of solution do I use to negate the effects of the remaining fluid? I cleaned the area thoroughly with 91% alcohol, but not sure if that's enough to stop corrosion. I hear vinegar is good?

Lukemorses video for removing the capacitor

I de-soldered the cap and as you can see, this is the damage that has been done.
before cleaning:

after cleaning:

capacitor:

back of the board looks fine, doesn't look like any fluid got on the back.

[Hobie-wan]

As long as it's been flushed enough it should be ok. But if you have an old toothbrush you might carefully scrub the dirty bits with more alcohol. Just enough to break up the other solids left behind, don't scrub any surface mount stuff off.

[Ghudda]

As long as it's been flushed enough it should be ok. But if you have an old toothbrush you might carefully scrub the dirty bits with more alcohol. Just enough to break up the other solids left behind, don't scrub any surface mount stuff off.

Thanks Hobie! I got everything cleaned up and while I was at it, I fixed the issue of having to worry about keeping the rubber feet on the bottom of the console every time I want to open it up. Just used a household hole punch and cut a base hole and then used a dremel to widen them a bit. Then just superglued them down to the base and I can just unscrew the screws through the holes.

[Ziggy587]

As long as it's been flushed enough it should be ok. But if you have an old toothbrush you might carefully scrub the dirty bits with more alcohol. Just enough to break up the other solids left behind, don't scrub any surface mount stuff off.

Just about what I would have said.

Lucky you caught it when you did, before it causes some serious problems.

I fixed the issue of having to worry about keeping the rubber feet on the bottom of the console every time I want to open it up. Just used a household hole punch and cut a base hole and then used a dremel to widen them a bit. Then just superglued them down to the base and I can just unscrew the screws through the holes.

Nice!

[nightrnr]

**Groans** yet another system with bad caps to worry about (only a nuisance, but quite annoying if you have several backup systems).

At least yours didn't explode. I'm not sure which cap it was, but I had one make a black crater on my 1st Xbox motherboard.

[Hobie-wan]

Thanks Hobie! I got everything cleaned up and while I was at it, I fixed the issue of having to worry about keeping the rubber feet on the bottom of the console every time I want to open it up. Just used a household hole punch and cut a base hole and then used a dremel to widen them a bit. Then just superglued them down to the base and I can just unscrew the screws through the holes.

Hey, that looks familiar.

**Groans** yet another system with bad caps to worry about (only a nuisance, but quite annoying if you have several backup systems).

All electrolytic (can style) caps will eventually dry out since the material in them is wet. So they'll all eventually fail, one just hopes it is gracefully, not with an explosion. Of course it depends if they're crappily made, like some of those in the Game Gear, early Duos, or some early 2000s PC mobos.

[nightrnr]

Well, I finally went through and removed that particular cap on a few of my systems (and cleaned best I could with alcohol). They ranged from barely leaking (if any) to looking all fuzzed over.

I haven't touched my 1.6 model yet, as I hear that it needs the cap in place to boot. At least I'll have a hunch what's wrong if/when it fails.

Oh, and my original oXbox that had the cap explode; it was the cap right behind the time cap. Makes me wonder if the leaking fluid instigated it somehow.

At least I'm good for now. I thank the TC for bringing it to my attention (even if I was slow to react).
I see replacing many capacitors in my future...

[s8n]

i like to use equal parts Vinegar and freshly squeezed Lemon juice in a small bowl , i also use a strainer so no pulp bits get stuck on what i'm working on.

i've noticed with my stuff if i leave it on the corroded parts it starts to fizz which is a good thing to show it's eating the corrosion.

[Ziggy587]

I came across this video recently, it's worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx50YtEC2S8

[nightrnr]

I came across this video recently, it's worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx50YtEC2S8

Wow, that guy is HARDCORE!
When I am a supreme overlord I am definitely hiring him as one of my techies.

@s8n
I'll remember the vinegar and lemon next time I really need to deep clean an area.

Can corrosion really get any worse after the initial damage though?
(answer is probably yes, or depends, but I think a more intensive clean would only really make a difference if you intended to solder there right away.

I think I may have been a little too careless in some of my repairs, but if I took as much care as the guy in the video, I'd rarely ever see a project through to completion.
I'm all about the quick and good enough fixes whenever possible.
I might feel differently depending on the hardware though (for ex., a Game Gear is not as valued as a Turbo Express).