Battery bombed SE/30 prospects?

[mattbee]

I pulled this out of the attic, powered it up. It beeped three times but no power to the display.

Opened it up and the board is very battery-bombed:



Like attempting CPR on a supermarket chicken, I've given it a soapy wash and will use a bit of vinegar to get the corrosion off:



Might the beeping mean there's any hope for it?

 

[Johnnya101]

Hard to say without a close up, but I think it looks like it's going to be real tough to get it going. Looks like all the faded traces may be bad, I could be wrong though. That battery juice looks like it flowed around rather than stay localized, and it looks like it's sat for years, eating away.

There are new SE/30 PCBs made, so not all hope is lost.

 

[mattbee]

Thank you! Yes it was probably last booted 15 years ago.

When you say there are new boards made, do you mean @Bolle's amazing work on Github, or some other source? I was resigned to finding a bargain original and hoping for better luck.

 

[Johnnya101]

You might be able to find an original, just ask around here, someone might have one. They are getting kind of hard to find.

Don't remember who made it, but it was probably Bolle. It was someone in Europe I remember.

Don't take my word it's a goner though, I don't really have much experience in person with stuff like this, only going off posts I've seen.

 

[volvo242gt]

That one looks better than the battery bombed SE/30 I had. You might be able to get away with a good Video ROM chip and some cleanup. In my case, the battery sludge got under the '030 chip. Machine powered up, but only showed simasimac. Never played any chimes, nor tried to access the drives.

 

[dochilli]

If you try to repair your board, some components are missing (Y1, RP8).

 

[joshc]

I've seen a lot worse but you might have trouble with rotten vias.

UA8 and UE8 also look particularly gunged up with cap goo.

 

[Jamieson]

Yikes. From the first pic it looks kind of like the evil corrosive battery gunk worked it's way UP the vertical SIMM like it was hell bent on trashing the ROM chips too. That's some next level twilight zone crap right there.

 

[volvo242gt]

The board I had:


-J

 

[Johnnya101]

That's the first one of that brand I have ever heard of exploding. Always have those in the ones I get, never had one explode either.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

@volvo242gt
Did you ever manage to repair that board or was it a goner?

 

[volvo242gt]

@volvo242gt
Did you ever manage to repair that board or was it a goner?

@3lectr1cPPC Didn't bother. Was in 2012, when SE/30s were somewhat plentiful (had four of them, two that were in good working order, and two that we either dead or what I felt was mortally wounded).

@Johnnya101 My Centris 650 had a Saft battery in it that was beginning to get a little on the large side at the positive end. My last IIsi had its original Maxell in it, but was in good condition. The previous owner and I decided to pull it when I met him at his place of work (a Radio Shack store) to pick it up. At least it got recycled, instead of making its way to the landfill.