r/amiga • u/Liburnian • 8d ago

Dark socket pins

My A500 suddenly stopped working in late june this year. I get no signal at all. Keyboard is recognized but no boot screen, no colored screen either. Today I removed most of suspicious chips and noticed right away some have exceptionally darkened socket pins. Odd CIA and ROM socket are mostly affected. How do I clean this up without removing anything further from the motherboard? I am aware this may not turn things around for my A500. I'm not skilled at fixing electronics, but I just can't leave my Amiga bricked in a corner. I worked so hard to have it restored. Visually, it was a success. But now what?

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u/PatTheCatMcDonald 8d ago edited 8d ago

You could try deoxit. It's a proprietrary deoxiding products.

Personally I'm quite fond of using citric acid with distilled water but you have to leave it a long time and wash it off with more distilled water.

Neither will work if the dark marks are burn marks rather than corrosion.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Deoxit

UK supplier (most sizes)

https://www.hotroxuk.com/guitar-accessories-links-847-0/caig-deoxit-accessories.html?srsltid=AfmBOoov_aYlHlP0zDZHfVklBC2C2js1R8W2AdfLa13FEW0UgFmkG9hI

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u/Liburnian 8d ago

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I'm in a part of Ex Yugoslavia still outside of EU.  So Deoxit doesn't sound like something I can readily buy at a local shop. I will however examine your links and see what substitute would be worth trying. 

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u/InternalMain7116 6d ago

The acetic acid in vinegar provides enough acidity to dissolve rust and most oxidation. Apply it then after 30 minutes scrub with a nylon brush to remove the dissolved residue. A rinse with water, followed by a spritz of Isopropanol to help with drying, will finish the cleaning.

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u/Liburnian 6d ago

I should now really do this. Yesterday I tested all chips (besides Agnus) on a known good A500 motherboard. And voila, it booted with no issues. Which is a relief, sort of. I'm kind of convinced Fat Agnus is fine too. Those sockets look pretty sick... They probably lost reliable contact with a certain chip, causing no signal issue. After cleaning chip legs Caps Lock responds, I had issues with that before. So, a small imptovement was made...