Oxidised connector iPhone 3G

Hi
Living in a warm country has its disadvantages.
The connector for the charger cable even though accepts the cable, has whiting around the pins, which I can only assume is oxidising from moisture.
It doesnt charge of mount in iTunes.
The company want to charge €200 to fix it.
I want to ask if there is a way to resolve this at home first, to see if it can become operational, before the expense.
Thanks in advance
G5 Dual 1.8(10.5.8) + G4 400 AGP(10.2)+ MacBook 2GHz Core 2 Duo(10.6.2) Mac OS X (10.6.6) 1.5Gbs RAM iPhone 3G iPod 5G 30gbs Black Magic Mouse