Me vs NiCad battery damage on PC boards

[Marvin Johnston]

When cleaning PC Boards that have had battery leakage, I always use
Muriatic Acid (about 33% Hydrochloric Acid) also known as pool acid for
adjusting pool pH. When I still owned the Printed Circuit shop, I would
use something called Solder Brite to remove the oxidation on the boards
after etching and prior to reflow. If you have a PC shop close by, you
might stop by and see if they would give you a couple of ounces to try.
IIRC, Solder Brite was basically Muriatic acid with some additives.

BTW, when I am cleaning up the crud on PC boards, I only use a couple of
*drops* of Muriatic acid and I would guess that Solder Brite could be
used the same way. Once it stops foaming, I am done :).

> From: "Tim  Shoppa" <tshoppa at wmata.com>

> But is there some magic chemical or mechanical means that will render 
> the existing cruddy PC board solderable so I can replace these flaky 
> sockets? 
> 
> Tim.