1960s? Toshiba AM/FM Portable Radio Issues

[vortalexfan]

Hello Everyone, I recently acquired from a local flea market a late 1960s or early 1970s Toshiba AM/FM Pocket Radio still has its original leather carrying case with it, and when I got it home to try it out the battery holder lid (which is polished chrome) had some corrosion markings on it, and was stuck to the radio case. I was finally able to get the cover off the battery housing and I saw clear signs that a 9V battery had been left inside the radio at one time and the battery leaked inside the radio case which got onto parts of the circuit board inside the radio and ate up some of the circuit traces, and so because of that the radio doesn't seem to respond to having a fresh 9V battery installed.
I tried to clean as much of the corrosion off the radio circuit board and the battery clip as I could but it seems that perhaps maybe the radio is too far gone to try and save?

What have you guys done with old Pocket Radios like this to try and fix them when they were damaged from someone leaving old batteries inside that leaked? The radio in question is a Toshiba Model 8P-823F, and also the tip of the FM Antenna is broken off so I can't raise and lower the antenna on this radio, is there a good replacement antenna for this radio for the FM Antenna?

I appreciate your help in this matter.

[bgadow]

When there is a broken trace, you can bridge the gap with wire. Sometimes that means soldering the ends of a wire to the next nearest joint, though in some instances you may be able to salvage the ends of the trace where it broke/corroded away and clean them up enough to solder a bridge. Short of finding a chassis out a junker, that would be the way to go. I wouldn't hesitate to try.

As for the antenna, measure the dimensions in its collapsed state. I haven't shopped for one in years, but I would think eBay would be your friend. Universal replacements used to be available from Radio Shack (and may very well still be on their website, for all I know!) The biggest trick is they tended to be too long/short or have the wrong mount.

[vortalexfan]

Originally Posted by bgadow

When there is a broken trace, you can bridge the gap with wire. Sometimes that means soldering the ends of a wire to the next nearest joint, though in some instances you may be able to salvage the ends of the trace where it broke/corroded away and clean them up enough to solder a bridge. Short of finding a chassis out a junker, that would be the way to go. I wouldn't hesitate to try.

As for the antenna, measure the dimensions in its collapsed state. I haven't shopped for one in years, but I would think eBay would be your friend. Universal replacements used to be available from Radio Shack (and may very well still be on their website, for all I know!) The biggest trick is they tended to be too long/short or have the wrong mount.

Thats what I was thinking, I was probably going to have to bridge the damaged traces with wire, because I've tried to clean up the traces with hydrogen peroxide and didn't have much luck (I even tried white vinegar and that didn't seem to work either.)

As for the antenna, the antenna on this radio is just a stationary antenna that pulls out from the cabinet and doesn't move around, from what I can see.