Dealing With Moldy Sega Genesis Model 1

[boogiepop]

So I had a Sega Genesis stored away and unfortunately it's covered in mold (through the insides as well). I've read that distilled white vinegar can take care of the mold on the plastic (though the ratio of water to vinegar I've found to range from 20:1 to no water at all), but I'm not sure how to deal with the pcb.

I think it needs to soak. (I don't fancy trying to poke around in it and potentially inhale those spores). The question is, what to soak it in and for how long. Or do you recommend I just toss it? (I know.... sacrilege. And it does pain me to say it.)

I found plenty of information online about electronics and mold, but I couldn't find anything that didn't have contradictory information elsewhere. Like, if I bathe the pcb in vinegar, will it cause problems down the road by corroding batteries and such?

Sorry, I'm perhaps making this overly lengthy. And thank you in advance to all responders! ><

[Ziggy]

I've read that distilled white vinegar can take care of the mold on the plastic (though the ratio of water to vinegar I've found to range from 20:1 to no water at all)

Sure, white vinegar could work. Although soap and water should also work fine. If you don't have a good sink or bathtub to do this in, then get a good size plastic tote container. Put a few drops of liquid soap (dish soap is fine) in it and fill it with water. Drop the plastic shells in there. I suppose you could let it soak for a few minutes. Then hit everything with a soft bristle brush and some elbow grease. You'll want a brush that's soft enough as to not scratch the plastic, but firm enough that you get still give it a good scrubbing. An old toothbrush works great for getting into small crevasses, such as the vent area. Sometimes a toothpick or similar can help with tight areas. Be careful when using a brush around the white etched Genesis logo. It shouldn't come off with just soapy water, but scrub lighter over those areas just in case. Rinse everything well with water when done. You can do multiple washes if needed.

(I don't fancy trying to poke around in it and potentially inhale those spores).

Just wear a mask. But get a real mask, not a piece of paper that you can currently find at the checkout counter in any type of store these days. Go to a hardware store and grab a 3M N95 mask. They usually keep these in an area with other PPE such as eye and ear protection. You'll be fine. Especially if you're soaking it in water, most of the mold will be trapped in the water, very little of it should be in the air at that point. If using a tote, you can do this outside which will also help.

Or do you recommend I just toss it? (I know.... sacrilege. And it does pain me to say it.)

But seriously, don't toss it. It's just mold. It could be in far worse condition and I still wouldn't recommend throwing it away. Perhaps if it were covered in radioactive gunk, then maybe. But it's just mold. As in, it's just dirty. Nothing is actually damaged.

And I should mention, even if anything is damaged, it's usually repairable. So once you open the console up, if you happen to notice anything that looks damaged, don't fret. If in doubt, just post pics. But never throw anything away!

I found plenty of information online about electronics and mold, but I couldn't find anything that didn't have contradictory information elsewhere. Like, if I bathe the pcb in vinegar, will it cause problems down the road by corroding batteries and such?

The PCB I would clean with isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol). Get as high of concentration as you can. For example, you can commonly find 75% strength, but you can also find 90-some-odd strength. 75% would be OK, but it's 25% water so a higher strength will help you clean faster. Definitely don't use 50%, which you can sometimes find in drug stores. It's too weak. You can usually find 93 or even 99% in drug stores. Or grab it off Amazon. It wouldn't hurt to grab more than you need, as this is the best stuff to use to clean cart edge connectors as well.

Grab a disposable tin tray, the kind you typically see for catering. You can get them cheap in Wal Mart or a dollar type store. Put the PCB in the tray, and pour some alcohol on it. You can use a liberal amount. Use a soft brush and start scrubbing, such as an old toothbrush. If you're really concerned, you can get anti-static brushes from Amazon for cheap. Although an old toothbrush will work fine, it's what I've always used for this. Note that if the board is excessively dirty, you will have to do multiple passes with alcohol to get everything off. Dump the dirty/spent alcohol from the tin pan between passes.

I'm assuming the Genesis has been powered off for a long time. If it's been powered on recently, click the power button to the ON position while it's unplugged from power, this will help to discharge any electric that stored in the caps. This is always good practice, when working on any kind of electronics.

The Genesis doesn't have any batteries, so no worries there. Although, white vinegar is typically what you use to clean corrosion from alkaline batteries. Isopropyl alcohol is best for PCBs though. Not that you couldn't use soap and water or vinegar, as long as the board is discharged, but then you'd have to rinse it with distilled water (because tap water has all kinds of stuff in it). Alcohol is used because it'll evaporate and leave no residue behind.

When you open the Genesis, there will be a metal RF shield around the PCB. You can also clean this with soapy water, then rinse it with soap. If it's rusty, you could hit it with white vinegar, let it soak, then scrub and rinse with water. Also, when you open the Genesis, you'll notice that the top shell has the LED stuck in it. You can remove it, I'm sure there's a video on YouTube you can check out if you're unsure how to.

Sorry, I'm perhaps making this overly lengthy.

No worries! Although, I do think you're over thinking this a bit. Not that there's any harm in asking these questions (there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers). I just mention this to give you more confidence.

Check out this guy's channel, he routinely cleans up the dirtiest of consoles... https://www.youtube.com/c/RestorationEG/videos

Here's a Genesis that he did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cT10AX-S4

Please feel free to ask any other questions, and welcome to the forums!

[boogiepop]

I've read that distilled white vinegar can take care of the mold on the plastic (though the ratio of water to vinegar I've found to range from 20:1 to no water at all)

Sure, white vinegar could work. Although soap and water should also work fine. If you don't have a good sink or bathtub to do this in, then get a good size plastic tote container. Put a few drops of liquid soap (dish soap is fine) in it and fill it with water. Drop the plastic shells in there. I suppose you could let it soak for a few minutes. Then hit everything with a soft bristle brush and some elbow grease. You'll want a brush that's soft enough as to not scratch the plastic, but firm enough that you get still give it a good scrubbing. An old toothbrush works great for getting into small crevasses, such as the vent area. Sometimes a toothpick or similar can help with tight areas. Be careful when using a brush around the white etched Genesis logo. It shouldn't come off with just soapy water, but scrub lighter over those areas just in case. Rinse everything well with water when done. You can do multiple washes if needed.

(I don't fancy trying to poke around in it and potentially inhale those spores).

Just wear a mask. But get a real mask, not a piece of paper that you can currently find at the checkout counter in any type of store these days. Go to a hardware store and grab a 3M N95 mask. They usually keep these in an area with other PPE such as eye and ear protection. You'll be fine. Especially if you're soaking it in water, most of the mold will be trapped in the water, very little of it should be in the air at that point. If using a tote, you can do this outside which will also help.

Or do you recommend I just toss it? (I know.... sacrilege. And it does pain me to say it.)

But seriously, don't toss it. It's just mold. It could be in far worse condition and I still wouldn't recommend throwing it away. Perhaps if it were covered in radioactive gunk, then maybe. But it's just mold. As in, it's just dirty. Nothing is actually damaged.

And I should mention, even if anything is damaged, it's usually repairable. So once you open the console up, if you happen to notice anything that looks damaged, don't fret. If in doubt, just post pics. But never throw anything away!

I found plenty of information online about electronics and mold, but I couldn't find anything that didn't have contradictory information elsewhere. Like, if I bathe the pcb in vinegar, will it cause problems down the road by corroding batteries and such?

The PCB I would clean with isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol). Get as high of concentration as you can. For example, you can commonly find 75% strength, but you can also find 90-some-odd strength. 75% would be OK, but it's 25% water so a higher strength will help you clean faster. Definitely don't use 50%, which you can sometimes find in drug stores. It's too weak. You can usually find 93 or even 99% in drug stores. Or grab it off Amazon. It wouldn't hurt to grab more than you need, as this is the best stuff to use to clean cart edge connectors as well.

Grab a disposable tin tray, the kind you typically see for catering. You can get them cheap in Wal Mart or a dollar type store. Put the PCB in the tray, and pour some alcohol on it. You can use a liberal amount. Use a soft brush and start scrubbing, such as an old toothbrush. If you're really concerned, you can get anti-static brushes from Amazon for cheap. Although an old toothbrush will work fine, it's what I've always used for this. Note that if the board is excessively dirty, you will have to do multiple passes with alcohol to get everything off. Dump the dirty/spent alcohol from the tin pan between passes.

I'm assuming the Genesis has been powered off for a long time. If it's been powered on recently, click the power button to the ON position while it's unplugged from power, this will help to discharge any electric that stored in the caps. This is always good practice, when working on any kind of electronics.

The Genesis doesn't have any batteries, so no worries there. Although, white vinegar is typically what you use to clean corrosion from alkaline batteries. Isopropyl alcohol is best for PCBs though. Not that you couldn't use soap and water or vinegar, as long as the board is discharged, but then you'd have to rinse it with distilled water (because tap water has all kinds of stuff in it). Alcohol is used because it'll evaporate and leave no residue behind.

When you open the Genesis, there will be a metal RF shield around the PCB. You can also clean this with soapy water, then rinse it with soap. If it's rusty, you could hit it with white vinegar, let it soak, then scrub and rinse with water. Also, when you open the Genesis, you'll notice that the top shell has the LED stuck in it. You can remove it, I'm sure there's a video on YouTube you can check out if you're unsure how to.

Sorry, I'm perhaps making this overly lengthy.

No worries! Although, I do think you're over thinking this a bit. Not that there's any harm in asking these questions (there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers). I just mention this to give you more confidence.

Check out this guy's channel, he routinely cleans up the dirtiest of consoles... https://www.youtube.com/c/RestorationEG/videos

Here's a Genesis that he did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cT10AX-S4

Please feel free to ask any other questions, and welcome to the forums!

Thank you for the detailed response!

I'm going to give that a try today. I'll post an update when it's done and tested again (hopefully with positive results).

[opa]

If you wouldn't mind, it'd be neat to see some before/after pics. Never seen a moldy Genesis before.

[Anapan]

Only skimmed through responses.
If everything is wet with chemical or even water all spores are rendered inactive and can be flushed with more liquid. Do not make them airborne while dry.
All plastic parts (even controller buttons) I put through the dishwasher. Buttons and even screws go in a tea-ball (pull the tea-ball out before the drying starts to avoid screw rust, tho it is only surface and could be wiped off with paper towel without consequence).
PCB gets a scrubbing with 99% isopropyl alcohol with a plastic vegetable brush and toothbrush in the hard-to-reach areas.
I saw videos of people putting PCBs through the dishwasher. I'm not brave enough to do that despite multiple success stories.
Do not put the rubber contact pads of controllers through any solvents or the dishwasher. They are the only parts that are sensitive to most cleaning - specifically the carbon contact pads can be cleaned enough to lose conductivity.
Wires for power, controller and video only need a quick pull through isopropyl-soaked paper towel. If the towel comes out black, just reorient the wire and pull it through again.
Edges of the controller shell might need more work - bamboo stuff - toothpicks and more work with iso soaked toothbrush and q-tips in the tight edges can get rid of the stuff the dish-washer couldn't.

[boogiepop]

Sorry to opa. I totally forgot to take the pictures.

The short of it is... I have a working Sega Genesis!
(The bad part is, I have a non-working Micomsoft XE-1 ST2 stick, which is what prompted me to pull out the Genny in the first place. But I'm returning it, so whatever.)

Many thanks again to all who responded. Your help was very much appreciated.

[Jagosaurus]

So curious on how it got moldy. Do you know? Was the storage not HVAC controlled, dark, and humid?

[Ziggy]

That's OK if "before" pics don't exist, we'd still love to see "after" pics!

Glad you got it up and running.

[hidden0]

The Best advice is Soap and water , First then you can always clean off thing with IPA.

[marurun]

The Best advice is Soap and water , First then you can always clean off thing with IPA.

Please do not clean electronics with India Pale Ales. I mean, it’s probably a better use for them than drinking, but still…