I love those uber cheap, generic cases. So many memories. But the pic of the battery sent shivers down my spine!

(re: corroded battery and external battery connection)

Nothing that a soldering iron, and a little TLC can't fix 😀

TLC Hint: Naptha lighter fluid, isopropal alcohol, Q-Tips, and a small wire brush 😀

Removed the battery and connector, damage is not that bad.. But should still be cleaned. I think the designers actually kept a possible battery leak in mind as there are no traces running underneath the battery, so that's a good thing.

I tried removing the stain with isopropanol and brake cleaner. Most of the gunk is gone now but there's still some left. I'll see if I can find some lighter fluid. Anyone has any other tips on how to clean it completely?

jwt27 wrote:

I think the designers actually kept a possible battery leak in mind as there are no traces running underneath the battery, so that's a good thing.

Probably simply "luck of the draw" 😀 Most batteries of that type will leak from that side of the can, and most are mounted to the motherboard just like in your pic.

jwt27 wrote:

I tried removing the stain with isopropanol and brake cleaner. Most of the gunk is gone now but there's still some left. I'll see if I can find some lighter fluid. Anyone has any other tips on how to clean it completely?

As long as the pins of the external battery connector are clean, you're good to go 😀

Anyone has any other tips on how to clean it completely?

Vinegar to neutralize any remaining leakage hiding in the nooks and crannies, then go back over the area with alcohol and a soft brush. There will probably be some discoloration left, but that's really just cosmetic and nothing to worry about.

I put some vinegar on it, what was left of the acid (which was nearly invisible by now) immediately turned pale green, so there was certainly some kind of reaction going on. I am unable to remove the green stain with isopropanol so I guess I'll just leave it like that.
Now all that's left is getting a new battery. I think I'll go the 2xAA route with external holder mounted far away from the board.

Here's what the vinegar did.
Before: http://imageshack.us/a/img577/7568/img4195xt.jpg
After: http://imageshack.us/a/img7/3756/img4204xz.jpg

As you can see I took out the connector as well. There was not much left of it.

jwt27 wrote:

I am unable to remove the green stain with isopropanol so I guess I'll just leave it like that.

Note that (as I'm sure that you probably realize/know) won't hurt a thing... as long as the connections are shiny and "solderable", you're good to go 😀

P.S. Off-topic as far as old PC motherboards, but it DOES deal with soldering in general 😀

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969471873557
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969472233566
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969472553574
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969473153589
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969473353594
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969473753604
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969474273617
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2969474913633

...and YES, it worked PERFECTLY (and sounded GREAT) after I finished the job 😀

I can't get any solder to stick to the component side (with the green stain around it), I think it's just corroded too much. The other side is still good however.

jwt27 wrote:

I can't get any solder to stick to the component side (with the green stain around it), I think it's just corroded too much. The other side is still good however.

You mean to the actual shiny contacts themselves? That's kind of weird... they look clean enough to me to accept fresh solder.

That being said, the side to solder to would be the other (non-component) side though. You would use a "Solder Sucker" to open the holes with... heating the existing land (contact) with your iron, and while the solder is molten, suck it up with the solder sucker.

After doing that, you're usually left with nice clean holes to pass the leads of the components through, and then solder them on the bottom side of the board.

That's what they look like, yes. But they don't. It's not much of a problem anyway as the other side is still good.

edit in response to your edit:
I already used a solder sucker and desoldering braid to remove the battery and open the holes, and filled them up again. But the component side is just too corroded to take new solder.

You mean to the actual shiny contacts themselves? That's kind of weird... they look clean enough to me to accept fresh solder.

It doesn't take much... just a thin layer of oxidation can keep it from taking solder.

But it's really nothing to worry about anyhow... even if you were going to put a battery back in there, you'd really only need for the foil side to take solder. And since you're not putting a battery in there, it's a complete non-issue. It's nothing more than a minor cosmetic flaw at this point, and you can be glad you caught it before it got any worse.