On Monday, February 19, 2018 at 1:37:53 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 09:56:55 -0800, John Robertson
wrote:

It doesn't always work, the corrosion can be too extensive for
economical repairs, but boards that have been treated as advised have
rarely failed if they worked after cleaning (and corroded IC sockets,
etc. replaced). Boards where traces are missing are normally too far
gone, but have been saved with extensive repairs.

You're doing better at repairing corrosion damage than me.

Depends on what you're dealing with. $20 electronics deserve no effort unless it's for the satisfaction. But like John, I've repaired extensive PC damage where the board is unavailable or stupidly expensive. Back in the projection TV heyday, I used to do tons of Mitsubishis that suffered coolant leaks onto double side plated through hole circuits both for myself and other dealers that wouldn't attempt it. I bought a stereo microscope to help identify missing/damaged traces and damaged plated through holes. The TVs were several thousand dollars to replace and the boards were several hundred dollars when they were available. Even so, changing the main boards on Mitsus meant a total realignment afterwards.

You do what you have to do.