Opened my COLECOVISION, rust, dirt etc....

[OldSchoolGamer]

I recently opened my Colecovision, the RF sheilding was pretty rusty and the main circuit board also shows areas of rust, dirt etc. Here is the thing, I am no electronics wiz, is it recommended I try to clean it up, remove the rust etc? I mean it works perfect, even the output is clearer with less interference then my "clean" Colecovision lol! Would leaving as it s likely be bad in the long run? Will it continue to rust? What do you guys recommend? THANKS!

[diskoboy]

I recently opened my Colecovision, the RF sheilding was pretty rusty and the main circuit board also shows areas of rust, dirt etc. Here is the thing, I am no electronics wiz, is it recommended I try to clean it up, remove the rust etc? I mean it works perfect, even the output is clearer with less interference then my "clean" Colecovision lol! Would leaving as it s likely be bad in the long run? Will it continue to rust? What do you guys recommend? THANKS!

For the rust, use a metal brush or an abrasive buff to remove it. A dremel tool can be a godsend in situations ike this.

As for keeping the rust at bay after removing the heavy stuff:
http://www.mcmelectronics.com/content/productimages/s3/200-060.jpg
Rust is basically oxidized metal. Deoxit kills and cleans up oxidization and corrosion on circuit boards. I use this stuff to clean chips from my arcade PCB's, old cartridge contacts, and clean potientiometers.

[OldSchoolGamer]

Cool, thanks diskoboy! I'm adding this link, it's a video for the opened Colecovision to show the detail I am talking about.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxaoJ8suW0A

[Compute]

After trying to "fix" my pinball machine (been dead for 6 years now), I figure that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

When you ignore this advice and go ahead anyway, be careful about metal shavings/powder. Make sure it's totally cleaned off the board before powering it up again, or you might short something. Unlikely, but possible.