corrosion on circuit board

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

kenpat

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2009
Posts
49
Location
Oakwood Tx
have 97 bounder34v it has the main fuse box out under the hood, I'm talking all the fuses for the motorhome asssories, we have corrosion growing on the board, is there a spray or something to clean and maintain,,,,,,,thanks
 
Corrosion X has worked well for me over the years. I use it on all my circuit boards on the RV and RC helis and planes.

Pete
 
I use Vaseline for all my battery connections to prevent corrosion.  It's  cheap and I suspect it would work for your situation.
 
What ever you use must dry COMPLETELY so as to leave no moisture behind that will short out the circut board.
 
I have used a flux brush cut short - the bristles left  maybe 1/4 inch long - and isopropyl alcohol to clean circuit boards. I then sprayed them with polyurethane. You would have to be very careful so as not get the spray on any fuse holders though.
 
I would go to an electronics store aka Radio shack and see what they had to clean and preserve the circuit board. I like the idea of using a stiff brush and Isopropyl alcohol. This is the method of cleaning the boards during soldering. 
Bill
 
The recommendations for isopropyl alcohol are right on.  There is another that can be used and that is the De-OX-IT.  However if you use it, I would clean afterwards with the alcohol and then use the spray that Clay mentioned or you could get a conformal coating from an electroncs parts store like Mouser, Allied, etc.
 
What do they have .. De-Oxit Gold,  Kind of pricy,  Kind of worth it. (Radio Shack).

That said, I like the clean it off with the brush (I use a plastic bristle brush myself) and alcohol, then coat with polyurethane to protect.. In fact, that is something I do with NEW boards on the solder side.. I did not do the component side, Just the solder side.
 
+1 on the Radio Shack idea.....or any electronic store for that matter.  They will all carry a spray that dries completely and it's as simple as point and shoot.  In these parts, we must be cotinually on the defensive for corrosion, but living on the coast does that.

WD-40 is a good idea sprayed in the engine compartment as well.  I don't use it on the electrical connections because I'm not 100% sure it dries totally.  Good post as a lot of folks could probably heed this advice.
 
I found an item called a fiberglass scratch brush is great for removing corrosion on circuit boards and metal.
Also it can get into small areas really well. I use it a lot when working on old corroded electronics and prepping a circuit board trace for soldering. The thing about the fiberglass is it will take off the dirt and corrosion but not damage the existing metal.

http://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Brush-Fiberglass-Colors-vary/dp/B0019V18D2

You can get refills for it.

http://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Brush-Refills-Fiberglass-Pack/dp/B005ISQAFI/ref=pd_sim_hi_5

After I  hit the area with a good zero residue cleaner such as this.

http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/cleaners/contact-cleaners/electrosolve-contact-cleaner-409b/
 
Ken, I have the same '97  Bounder 34V that you have, and I have never found corrosion on the BCC board (which is the only circuit board under the hood), to be a problem.  The suggestions for using alcohol to  clean the board is certainly okay, but probably not necessary.  If the battery control system passes the test as outlined in the attached document, it is OKAY.
 

Attachments

  • PDF BCC Package.pdf
    446 KB · Views: 7
Just Lou said:
Ken, I have the same '97  Bounder 34V that you have, and I have never found corrosion on the BCC board (which is the only circuit board under the hood), to be a problem.  The suggestions for using alcohol to  clean the board is certainly okay, but probably not necessary.  If the battery control system passes the test as outlined in the attached document, it is OKAY.
If some have the problem and others do not AND we're talking about the control board being mounted in the battery compartment or under the hood with the battery, this might be due to battery outgassing due to over charging or could even be caused by a faulty battery.  I recommend cleaning the board as mentioned several times above and to throughly check out the charging system including the battery.
 
raytronx said:
I found an item called a fiberglass scratch brush is great for removing corrosion on circuit boards and metal.
Also it can get into small areas really well. I use it a lot when working on old corroded electronics and prepping a circuit board trace for soldering. The thing about the fiberglass is it will take off the dirt and corrosion but not damage the existing metal.

I had forgotten about the fiberglass brush. I have one in my small tool box that I bought when I took a descriptive geometry (drafting) course in college. I guess I am really dating myself when I say that I used it to remove inking mistakes on drawings. :)
 
Just Lou said:
Ken, I have the same '97  Bounder 34V that you have, and I have never found corrosion on the BCC board (which is the only circuit board under the hood), to be a problem.  The suggestions for using alcohol to  clean the board is certainly okay, but probably not necessary.  If the battery control system passes the test as outlined in the attached document, it is OKAY.

I didn't mean to imply that one should not clean a circuit board, just that if it passes all the checks in the document, no permanent damage has been done yet.  I'm getting very inarticulate in my old age. 
 
WD-40 is a good idea sprayed in the engine compartment as well.  I don't use it on the electrical connections because I'm not 100% sure it dries totally.

WD-40 was originally a Water Displacement spray for the Atlas missile program in the late 1950s - the 40th attempt at a formula to protect electrical connections and relay contacts against corrosion.

It became a commercial product when the developers noticed project engineers were sneaking cans home to use as a general lubricant.

So yes, it's safe to use on electrical connections.  Just don't use too much or you'll get a waxy build-up.
 
One possible cause of the corrosion is the use of silicone sealant in, or around the area. When silicone sealant cures it releases acetic acid, which is highly corrosive (and what you smell). If the acetic acid fumes get trapped in the enclosure they will cause corrision.

Look for "non-corrosovive" labeling to find suitable silicones for use as a sealant
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
131,753
Posts
1,384,359
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom