/vr/ - Retro Games

I popped open a console to clean it and discovered this. It looks like rust but my guess is some kind of corrosive. Like if you left a battery in an old electronic for years and it corroded. There is a grit, like sand, all over the interior but it is heaviest around this ribbon cable and the power plug in.

Haven't gone any further into disassembly so haven't seen the extent of the damage. What the hell is it? Causes? Remedies? Is the unit toast?