Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

[gonzo0815]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Well, i usually have some harder cleaning jobs to do, where you do not can use a brush or spray etc. (e.g. a Laptop PCB with lots of big BGA chips soaked with dried Coffe, milk and shuggar). Thus i use solvents or cleaning agents like Simple Green (great stuff btw. for this task). Therefore i always rinse with distilled water and pure alcohol (wich more easily evaporate than water). I therefor feel more comfortable with removed batteries.

[hardwareguy]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

I have done a similar process for almost 6 years now but the BIG water cleaning job happened about two years after I started doing it during my senior year in high school!

It started when I got a call from a friend asking me if I could fix his girlfriend's PC...... I knew this chick and I also knew that her little brothers were SLOBS. The PC had bugs..... literally!

The PC was an old socket 7 Compaq with a K6 2-450 CU and 64MB of RAM. An 8GB Quantum BigFoot drive was the primary HDD. The symptom was the PC had hardware devices dropping in and out and none of the removable media drives functioned.

We picked the PC up, threw it into a garbage bag (no roaches allowed in the car!) and took it home. We got a BIG ASS can of Raid MAX and prepared for war. I instructed my friend to start spraying the little bastards as soon as I opened the case as to avoid introducing like 500 roaches into the yard. The case was full of live roaches.... it was an amazing sight.

After the great massacre of insects, we pulled the case apart and retrieved the PSU, mainboard, RAM, the BigFoot (only because we had no other drives to give!), CPU with heatsink and the PSU. All the removable media drives were given a light dusting of pyrethrins and thrown in the garbage.

The first step was to wash the excess insecticide off the case so we didn't get ill. This was accomplished with a water hose and some soap.

After this, we washed our hands and proceeded to clean the stuff off. We got a half gallon of 91% isopropyl alcohol and 3 gallons of distilled water and mixed up our cleaning solvent. It was about 50% alcohol, a dishwashing detergent and the rest was regular hot tap water. We dipped the mainboard and other parts including the PSU board in it and scrubbed them down with an old tooth brush. We rinsed the parts in cold tap water to get the soap off. To remove the hard water deposits, they were again rinsed in distilled water twice and then left to dry overnight.

The HDD was cleaned by removing the logic board and giving the board the same treatment as the rest of the boards. The HDD case was simply wiped clean with a rag soaked in alcohol.

The case and other steel parts were just hosed down and wiped dry.

The next day we put it together, fitted new fans and optical drives, bumped the RAM to 96MB and reinstalled Windows 98 with my utility package. It worked fine. We then got an idea..... if a PC is an inviting place for bugs, let's make said inviting place LETHAL to them! We picked up a six pack of roach motels and placed them in various areas of the case that we had seen the most roach activity. Some areas of the case were also treated with a residual insecticide. It took two years for the forces of nature to kill it again. By that time, my friend and his girlfriend had broken up and I didn't have to fix it again!

[tazwegion]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

I can't say I've ever seen a 'roach' in any PC I've owned/or fixed for anyone, I have however found the remnants of a reasonably large spider which had encountered one of the case fans

[Jor3llBR]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards (Dipping)

I'm about to the the process of Mobo cleaning as described (simple green and water), but I'm afraid of the high % of calcium on the water we have here.

After the water treatment can I dip my entire motherboard inside a tank full of 70-80% Alcohol or Distilled water before I dry it?

Thanks.

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Just curious what the ideal dilution rate of Simple Green and water is for cleaning most boards.

Also, my Sister's boyfriend has A Creative Zen V Plus MP3 player that recently went through the washing machine. It didn't work again until I took it apart, rinsed w/ denatured alcohol and dried it with the air compressor. Works fine now

[gonzo0815]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

It depends on the kind of pollution. I usualy have used a 1:1 ratio of Crystal Green and water.
I think it at least needs a little water to accomplish the task.
For thin films of smoke or dust or something els less demanding, i have used very low concentrated solutions, may be below 10%.

[Scenic]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

another example...

got this Asus P4C800-E Deluxe (i875) for free as untested.
after i opened up the box i knew why they didn't wanna test it..




the seagate microdrive is just as a comparison how real white looks like *lol*

so much for those before pics... i'll post after pics later because i don't have the time to clean it up now..

[Scenic]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

I'm done with cleaning the board.
it's drying now... hope it works after that

tested the board before i tried cleaning it up..

gave me random beep codes. every time i tried to power it up with a known good PSU/CPU/RAM/GFX-Card it gave me different beep codes (even non-documented beep codes (AMI BIOS)) and it never POSTed.

put it on my grundig amplifier for drying

[Scenic]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!





problem is that this board still doesn't work

[kc8adu]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

are the vrm output caps elite?
if so they are probably bad.
its worth a recap.
i did several p4c 800 boards with polys.
i got them free because they were about as stable as charles manson.
perfect afer recapping with 820@2.5 polys on vrm out.
i also fill all spots on the vrm out line.
seems some were left out for clearance of the hsf clips.
polys are short so no problem

[Scenic]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

nope.. OST :|

but i opened up a new thread already..

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...newpost&t=5461

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Addendum: It's an urban myth to remove batteries and other active components. Look up the conductivity of tap water.....

Look up the conductivity of dirty water with soap in it.
That's more appropriate to the situation.

.

[gonzo0815]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Even then the current flow is probably negligible. I forget it a few times when cleaning a laptop board.
There was no problem whatsoever. However, i think a battery should be removed any way, just as a good measure.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

I haven't had a brain fart (forgot the battery) that actually resulted in damage either but the worry to me is the BIOS chip is powered and you are dumping dirty water and soap and alcohol on it. - If just static will kill a BIOS chip.....

Just makes sense to play it safe.

.

[NxB]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Any better stuff to clean it with than water? Something that evaporates quicker?

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Clean it as above first.
Then to dry the water:
Put some (90+% preferred) isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle that has a stream setting. Spray stream in and under sockets, under chips, under caps, anyplace that would trap water. You aren't just wetting, flush it, force it out with stream.
- Isopropyl alcohol dries fast and carries residual water with it when it evaporates.
- It leaves no residue of it's own so if anything is left it was there before.

The 70-72% isopropyl works but it will take a lot more because the % that isn't alcohol is already water and it can't capture as much 'new' water as the higher % alcohol.

Do it outside or in a sink with lots of ventilation going on.
[More motherboards is nice but that's not how to get them.]

.

[kaniki]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

another thing that i have used to clean things with that is excellent.. especially with tobacco tar.. Westley's whitewall cleaner.. the stuff for cleaning whitewalls of tires.. I have had computers come in that were so sticky that i did not want to even touch them. took them apart and washed the case down with it.. or maybe i should say sprayed.. then in the shower with the had attachment and sprayed the heck out of it.. I have used it for cleaning a lot of stuff, including car upholstery. it does say something like bleach white on the bottle but there is no bleach in it. and i have never had it stain anything, from vinyl to fabrics to carpets to computer cases and heatsinks.. just remember to rinse very well after done..

[kaniki]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

a warning and success story. I got a computer in that was from a automotive garage. It was completely covered in the dust (dirt, brake shavings, metallic participles, etc.) from the garage, From the power supply to the ROM's. The computer had gotten wet and after letting it fry out a bit, they tried using it, the video (on-board) kept going out and and it kept freezing up. I was given the computer, took it apart, cleaned just about everything, from the power supply to the motherboard and case. After getting everything cleaned and dried, i put it back together and tried booting it up. it ran for just a short time and then acted like the motherboard fried. I ordered a new board, which took about a week to get in. Upon getting the new board, i tried the old one first. To my surprise it booted right up. I had the thing running for hours with no problems.. Now what to do with the spare board that i have.. backup??

Moral of the story. If your motherboard gets wet, make sure that it is fully dried before using it. and just because the motherboard gets wet, does not mean it is trash. If after washing it and given a time to dry and it still does not work, maybe give an extra day for it to dry. It may only be 95% dry when you think it is 100% dry..

[MXM]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

i know im gonna sound absolutely like an idiot but can anyone point me to a replacement for the mean green? i do not live in the US and we do not have that, neither dollar general :S

thanks.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

Simple Green
Isopropyl Alcohol
Fantastic or 409 [last choice]
Use a small paint brush with non-synthetic bristles to work it around.

.