Sony A77ii damage due to corrosion - DIY fix

I originally posted this on dpreview
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55238101
and several people on the forum requested that I post the info here on dyxum. Hope the info helps some of you out! :)

So, my Sony A77ii got corrosion damage from 2 things.
1. Bringing it to Burning Man and the dust got into places it shouldn't ( risky but totally worth it )
2. The rain and moisture from subsequent camping and hiking in the pacific Northwest

These 2 things created the perfect storm of just enough corrosion to make my camera malfunction.

01/13/2015
I called Sony and they told me to send my camera to Precision Camera Repair. Which I did.

02/02/2015
Precision Camera sends my camera back, exactly the way I sent it to them, no repairs or anything along with a very simple print out stating that the camera is BER which I think means Beyond Economic Repair?? Not really sure. There were no other alternatives or descriptions on the single piece of paper they sent on how to go about repairing or proceeding from there.

Frustrated and without any other alternative, I decided to just start carefully taking the camera apart myself.

( This previous post about someone taking apart the previous A77 model helped me to get to a certain point http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50898361

When I got the back panel off of the camera, I saw some slight corrosion on the main board which I used 99% alcohol and a small paint brush to remove as much of the corrosion as I could.

I removed most of the pieces and connections on the camera without damaging or breaking anything, cleaned as much as I could with 99% alcohol, put it all back together, waited a day, then turned it back on but the camera was still not working properly.

2-6-2015
I took my A77ii camera apart again last night and went in deeper to see if I could find anything else that looked like it wasn't working properly. I ended up finding more corrosion under the main circuit board.

photos here
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55245369

2-07-2015
IT'S WORKING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi! Great news! All functions of the camera have been restored this morning after gently removing all visible specs of corrosion!

Here's photos of the rest of the process I went through.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55252332

Everything worked!!!! Aperture wheel, shutter wheel, iso, menu buttons etc all returned to normal for all modes!!

So in conclusion, I can say that this process worked for me. My warranty is clearly void now but after being told by Precision Camera Repair that my camera was "Beyond Economical Repair" I knew fixing my camera by tearing it down and meticulously going through every piece I could was really my only choice.

After learning that it's absolutely possible to restore a camera with a simple tear down and cleaning process with household items, it's clear to me that Precision Camera Repair probably has a policy that says something like "If there's any slight sign of corrosion, don't even attempt to clean, repair or replace anything, just send the camera back immediately with a vague description of why". I understand that businesses like Precision Camera Repair need to adhere to budget and time limitations in order to stay on plan but quick rejections made by them are also why they lose business, trust and cultivate a tarnished reputation rather than gaining respect, trust and appreciation. With all that said, I still love my camera and am incredibly ecstatic to have it back in working order, ( fist of triumph in the air! )

Edited by pegelli - 09 February 2015 at 11:12

Thanks Chris for a great contribution.

Well, A77II is a new cam. A trip to Burning Man and a camping trip shouldn't kill such new cam. What about coating of the circuit boards ? Complete coating ?
We had similar story about an A7R lately.

Clearly, Sony need to fix their production and weather sealing generally.

jkp1 wrote: Well, A77II is a new cam. A trip to Burning Man and a camping trip shouldn't kill such new cam. What about coating of the circuit boards ? Complete coating ? We had similar story about an A7R lately. Clearly, Sony need to fix their production and weather sealing generally.

Sony describes the a77II as "weather resistant" - not "weather sealed". It is not designed nor priced for extreme conditions.

Thanks for the posting Chris - I think it will be of great interest to others in the community... and welcome to Dyxum!