is a PCB with trace damage trash?

vintagegamer

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I've read in some posts here how battery acid does alot of damage to boards, and was wondering what other steps can be done to save a board that's had acid damage. I've read you can get some kind of neutralizer for the acid, but what other options do you have?

If a game board was super rare (like 10 games made or a prototype or something), do you have to just give up on the board and trash it? Discuss. :D
 
No, you can always just jumper out the traces with additional wires. It looks ugly but it works. I see these types of fixes regularly and I have even done a few when it was necessary.
 
Depends on how extensive the damage is. Did it eat components? Can you tell what the values were for them?

Were there any custom chips or hard to find chips damaged beyond use?

How many traces did it eat up? Are there enough bits of solder pads left to solder in jumper wires?

In the case of my Foxy Lady cocktail pinball, the answer is: Too much damage. There were over 100 traces that would have to be patched, the solder pads were damaged beyond use, and several hard to find chips were damaged beyond what could be reliably used.

On the plus side, for that pinball game there is a 3rd party replacement CPU board. ;)
 
In the case of my Foxy Lady cocktail pinball, the answer is: Too much damage. There were over 100 traces that would have to be patched, the solder pads were damaged beyond use, and several hard to find chips were damaged beyond what could be reliably used.

On the plus side, for that pinball game there is a 3rd party replacement CPU board. ;)

We're going to have to compare notes; I'm about to start restoration on one of those for the American Classic Arcade Museum. It belongs to a collector here in NE.
 
As a profesion I repair stuff with that kind of damage on a daily basis mainly from caps leakage. I'd be willing to work on it for you, plus I'm close by LMK
 
It depends on how much time/effort/expense you're willing to put into it. For two layer boards (which most games from the Golden Era used) it's fairly easy to hollow out and fill in substrate, then replace vias, pads, and traces. In fact a really good tech with a decent repair kit can make it look like it never happened!
 
Glad to hear guys, thanks for the replies. Sohchx, I may have to take you up on that offer.

VG

Ready when you are, if you want I can send you some pics of my past work, before and after. You would be surprised with some of the stuff I have resurrected. We have all the necessary equipment.
 
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