Chosen Solution
One of the negative battery terminals on my Wavebird controller is corroded to the point that it’s unusable. Is it replacable or do I have to recycle the controller? Thanks! EDIT: I was going to take apart the controller to show the damage, but it’s held together with tri-wing screws, and I don’t have a tri-wing screwdriver. So, here’s a picture of the damage from the outside:
And for comparison, here’s the other negative battery terminal, which was in contact with a non-corroded battery:
You can probably do one of a couple things here: Start by using a fine grit, wet/dry sand paper (about 600+) and sand off the corrosion.Disassemble the controller and get to the battery terminal. Remove it (desoldering or other means) and soak it in white distilled vinegar. Brush it down to remove any of that blue corrosion and then soak it in rubbing alcohol and clean it off. Solder it back on and see if it works.Purchase a busted controler off eBay and replace that particlar piece with the one you got off eBay. You may need to desolder it and put it onto the new one.Finally, if the corrosion has affected the board. Getting a busted controller off eBay and replacing the entire board may be your final option. Without pictures of the actual damage, these are the best options I can suggest to get the device running again. Let us know if any of these suggestions work and please rate my answer if it helped solve your problem. Good luck!
The bottom battery terminal (the one that just slots in loosely to the case) can be replaced with the terminal from a Gameboy Advance or Wii remote (they all use the same one), available from many console repair parts sellers. The top terminals (the ones that are soldered to the circuit board) are specific to the WaveBird and are not available anywhere. You can clean corrosion from leaked batteries off with white vinegar – making sure to rinse it off very well.
