boogiepop wrote: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.
boogiepop wrote:(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.
boogiepop wrote: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!
boogiepop wrote: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.
boogiepop wrote: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/videosHere's a Genesis that he did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cT10AX-S4Please feel free to ask any other questions, and welcome to the forums!
