LED Bulova - can it be repaired ? [w. pics]

[DARKuser]

Hello everyone,

I purchased a vintage LED Bulova recently. The outside looks nice, but the module itself not so much. I put some new batteries in and the screen displays some digits, but nothing coherent. Pressing the buttons does not help either.

Checking the module, it appears that the old batteries had leaked. You can see this in both of the pictures. The first thing to do is probably to clean it, but I have no idea what chemicals to use without destroying the electronics.

What do you think ?





Thanks.

[james_stan]

I'm no expert but that looks pretty far gone.

Do you have a dmm to test if there is any conductivity on the circuit board tracks on the batttery side - it's difficult to tell here if ther have dissolved away completely.

Don't press too hard with teh DMM probes though those ceramic boards are brittle.

Also It looks like the tiny wire bonds on teh display side are mostly
still in place. That's a good sign but be careful not to touch them as tehy break and only the gurus here can fix that !

JS

[retroleds]

Egaads, looks pretty roasted. And that is a notoriously flimsy module. Imagine how often/easily those thin pins they use for button contacts get broken off? Funny shaped watches often have funny shaped, unique guts..... nothing funny about that.

Trying to power it up without first cleaning off the corrosion may have finished it off - all those metal salts are sure to conduct electricity hither and forth - in directions the circuit was never intended to endure. A cotton swab with either vinger or some CLR(rust remover for sinks/toilets), dab on, gently rub, dab off and let dry.