A customer in Phoenix brought in a vintage Atari 2600 that had been in a flood, saying 'if you can't fix it, just tell me what parts to salvage'.

I spent two evenings cleaning corrosion with a 99% isopropyl bath and a fiberglass pen, and the look on his face when it powered up made the whole messy job worth it, so what's your best save on a seemingly dead piece of gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandraf9827d ago

Flooded gear always gets an alcohol bath first.

paige33127d ago

Actually, @sandraf98, an alcohol bath should come after a freshwater rinse if it was saltwater. The alcohol can't really dissolve the salt crystals first. That initial rinse gets the big stuff out before the alcohol dries everything.

angela_harris27d ago

Saw a buddy drop his phone in a saltwater tide pool last summer. He rinsed it in fresh water, then soaked the whole thing in a big tub of isopropyl for like two days. It actually powered back on, but the speakers were shot.