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Can we talk about how a cap leak ruined my soldering iron tip
I was fixing an old stereo receiver from 1987 on Tuesday and found a bulging capacitor near the power supply. When I lifted it off the board, it leaked electrolyte all over my station. That fluid ate through the tip coating in like 30 seconds and ruined a $15 tip I just put on last month. I've been working on audio gear for years but never dealt with that before. Do you guys clean your boards before you start desoldering or just risk it with caps that look suspicious?
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the_sam27d ago
Learned that one the hard way too. Now I treat old caps like little acid grenades.
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emery_black27d ago
That electrolyte is no joke, it's basically acid. I started wiping down old boards with isopropyl alcohol before I even touch them after a similar thing happened to me. A Q-tip and some 91% IPA will get the gunk off the leads and around the caps so if something leaks it doesn't spread as much. Another thing nobody mentions is that old cap glue can be just as corrosive as the electrolyte itself, I've seen it eat traces clean off. A pre-soak with alcohol and a soft brush saves tips and boards. Sucks you lost a new tip though, that stings.
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