Corroded GA-B85-HD3

[yuuki47]

Hi all...

I have a Gigabyte GA-B85-HD3. It mostly works but it has a few problems. At random times through the day, I get constant notifications from Realtek's Audio Panel that the rear jack has been connected/disconnected. It spams me for a few minutes and then stops.

Second weird issue is the integrated graphics have red artifacts. I've seen those in boards with bad caps, so I concluded that the caps must be bad... especially because the board has signs of corrosion everywhere.

But upon closer inspection, this appears to be environmental corrosion rather one induced by leaking electrolytes. I leave right next to the sea, and with so much salt in the air, this is far from impossible.

The caps also appear to be solid ones... though they could be hybrid. I have no idea what brand they are.

Some picks:










The rear connectors are corroded. Should I just neutralize it with vinegar? Won't I need to repaint it in order to prevent further corrosion?

Thanks... any ideas are appreciated.

[DynaxSC]

Re: Corroded GA-B85-HD3

First of all clean the board from dust with isopropyl alcohol and compressed air - several times, from both sides, using a brush, and cleaning also all ports. Then I would apply an ultrasonic bath in distilled water, to get rid of the salt everywhere, to go sure 2 times, from both sides a 30 min. at least per run - remove from the board any coated heatsinks/covers, as they can loose color in the bath, and clean them separately. Finally clean the water with compressed air, and once again spray the whole board with isopropyl alcohol and clean again thoroughly with compressed air, 2 times would not be bad - especially LGA socket (distance min. 10 cm), RAM sockets, PCIe sockets, all ports and the thin gap under the chipset. Check if any port contacts are corroded, if yes treat them with contact spray, if this does not help the ports needs to be replaced (needs hotair gun, 150-200W solder iron and it's not easy).

[yuuki47]

Re: Corroded GA-B85-HD3

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The problem is... I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner. I'm just a humble hobbyist with a soldering iron and a SS-02 pump

Since I wasn't getting replies, I tried cleaning the corrosion with some vinegar, then soapy water to rinse it all off, and then IPA. The board is much cleaner now but no dice.

In fact, it has stopped posting (before I did the cleaning, which is why I rushed it) and all it does is power cycle itself. The fans will spin for two seconds, then they will spin down, and spin up again in this infinite loop.

Which isn't surprising to be honest... it was doing all sorts of weird stuff before. I wish there was a way to see if it goes through any POST codes at all.

Maybe the capacitors have gone...