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Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

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    Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

    Originally posted by linuxguru View Post
    Vaguely related - I just had an Acer desktop PC survive full immersion in silty river water for a period of 24+ hours in a recent flooding here. The machine had been disconnected and placed upright on a table, but still got immersed above the top of the cabinet. I retrieved it immediately after the water receded to ankle depth, and cleaned off all the exterior deposited mud and sludge within 48 hours of immersion, followed by drying in open sunlight for about 36 hours, followed by indoor drying for a full 3 weeks.

    I opened it for the first time about 2 days ago, and it wasn't too bad inside. A bit of dry silt was present on all upward facing surfaces, and I left it alone. Motherboard showed some light corrosion at the terminals of the CR2032 CMOS battery holder. I cleaned and replaced the battery - the submerged battery showed a terminal voltage of 1.72 volts. The fans were a bit sticky, but released quickly when gently rotated by hand. I removed the DDR2 DIMM, cleaned the contacts with IPA and reseated it. I left everything else alone.

    I powered it in on, in the hope of getting to the POST screen, but I was certain that the submerged HDD would not even spin up. To my surprise, the only error was the CMOS date/time reset, and after the date and time were set, the machine booted straight into Win7 and all data on the HDD is intact. This is a conventional rotating platter 320GB SATA HDD, not an SSD. It appears that all gaskets worked well and kept the water out, and the small hydrophobic membrane seal that allows air recirculation within the head/platter chamber also worked well and kept the water out.

    Other contributing factors are that it had been powered down and disconnected completely before immersion; it was immersed only to about 1 foot above the top of the cabinet (thus keeping the hydrostatic pressure fairly low); the cabinet was upright allowing the sediment to settle harmlessly mainly at the bottom of the cabinet; and the extended dry-out period of 3 weeks that I gave it before powering it on.

    In short, PCs from the last decade or so are far more durable that they're given credit for. For reference, the processor is a Core 2 Duo E5700 (Wolfdale-2M), the board is an Acer G31T-M5 v1.0, and the HDD seems to be a Seagate. Capacitors are mostly Sanyo and Rubycon, with a sprinkling of small Teapos at the audio and I/O locations. No electrolytic has bulged in about 4.5 years of normal household use.

    The LCD monitor that came with it is also electrically functional, but the screen/polarizer has purple internal splotches all over due to the ingress of water. Maybe the splotches will diminish over time as the water evaporates - we'll see. The DVD-R/W drive is likely to be dead, but I haven't checked it yet - it's a relatively minor expense.
    Amazing what they can stand up to given a good time to dry out!

    Comment


      Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

      had a gm trailblazer cluster a customer bought at a yard to replace one lost in the mail.they sent it to some place online and it vanished into the bermuda triangle.
      he found out i fixed these and bought the junkyard unit.it was sticky,stinky,and a golden color!
      dead too.steppers are shot on all these so right into the sink everything went.
      the film preserved everything nicely.looked new when i was done.
      now i have to detail the rest of the damm car to match that cluster!
      at least this cluster didnt have live roaches in it like i have seen before.
      who the hell lets roaches infest a 2 year old caddilac?

      Comment


        Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

        I washed a motherboard yesterday. Have done it before. I do keep it under direct sun for 4/5 hours.

        Comment


          Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

          its really working? what about the new motherboard..? i wanna try

          Comment


            Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

            Originally posted by cyjun1990 View Post
            its really working? what about the new motherboard..? i wanna try
            Yeah it is. I've washed motherboards with water and detergent 4/5 times and it worked all times. Will upload pics later.

            Comment


              Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

              First time I washed a G31 entry level Gigabyte with the battery. It worked fine post wash. However since then I take the battery and the south bridge heatsink out before washing the board not because of the risks being discussed here but to get a better wash. Just washed one 2 days ago.
              Originally posted by Elitist View Post
              Addendum: It's an urban myth to remove batteries and other active components. Look up the conductivity of tap water.....

              Comment


                Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                you remove socketed chips, battery's, jumpers, heatsinks etc so you dont trap dirty or soapy water.

                Comment


                  Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                  Originally posted by Rockfella View Post
                  Yeah it is. I've washed motherboards with water and detergent 4/5 times and it worked all times. Will upload pics later.
                  Please upload. what do you mean detergent? i thought hot water is good and enough? do you use detergent?

                  Comment


                    Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                    i use the stuff you wash dishes with,
                    you cant use just water because it wont remove anything other than loose dust.

                    Comment


                      Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                      Wilco moving forward.
                      Originally posted by stj View Post
                      you remove socketed chips, battery's, jumpers, heatsinks etc so you dont trap dirty or soapy water.

                      Comment


                        Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                        Done here:

                        https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=52128

                        I used Prill.

                        Originally posted by cyjun1990 View Post
                        Please upload. what do you mean detergent? i thought hot water is good and enough? do you use detergent?

                        Comment


                          Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                          Hi Guys , I dont repair computers , I repair TV s , a 3 year old Panasonic 50 inch Plasma has just come in with a poor picture complaint , however there is not actually a problem with the set at all the cause is so much nicotine behind the safety screen you cant see the picture to well, the whole set had to be disassembled to remove the screen to clean behind it.
                          Take a look at the photos this gives a better idea of how bad it is, this is the power connector to the Y sustain board , it would have been white when it came out the factory, the other photo shows the plug disconnected.
                          Attached Files

                          Comment


                            Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                            Originally posted by michael dranfield View Post
                            Hi Guys , I dont repair computers , I repair TV s , a 3 year old Panasonic 50 inch Plasma has just come in with a poor picture complaint , however there is not actually a problem with the set at all the cause is so much nicotine behind the safety screen you cant see the picture to well, the whole set had to be disassembled to remove the screen to clean behind it.
                            Take a look at the photos this gives a better idea of how bad it is, this is the power connector to the Y sustain board , it would have been white when it came out the factory, the other photo shows the plug disconnected.
                            Yuck, that looks like what my family's late-1990s IBM (Pentium 133) (Aptiva C32) looked like and I cleaned it... My father was a heavy smoker at the time.....

                            Both my father and mother were heavy smokers in the late-1990s and early-2000s.....
                            Last edited by RJARRRPCGP; 03-07-2016, 06:47 PM.
                            ASRock B550 PG Velocita

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                            "¡Me encanta "Me Encanta o Enlistarlo con Hilary Farr!" -Mí mismo

                            "There's nothing more unattractive than a chick smoking a cigarette" -Topcat

                            "Today's lesson in pissivity comes in the form of a ziplock baggie full of GPU extension brackets & hardware that for the last ~3 years have been on my bench, always in my way, getting moved around constantly....and yesterday I found myself in need of them....and the bastards are now nowhere to be found! Motherfracker!!" -Topcat

                            "did I see a chair fly? I think I did! Time for popcorn!" -ratdude747

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                              Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                              Hi for All,
                              this is my first post here,
                              that was very strange for me to see motherboard clean with water,
                              I will use this,
                              until now I spend clearing spray that cost so much according water treatment,
                              great post,
                              best regards

                              Comment


                                Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                                This is great info, I wish I'd known about it back in the day. I used to be a pretty heavy smoker (and drinker) - I'd get drunk and blow smoke in to the front intake of my PC case to watch it come out of the back

                                That PC stopped working, and I wondered why...

                                Comment


                                  Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                                  I know detergent does get used to clean out boards. I know a mechanic that made a huge ton of money fixing car computer boxes after a flood and was laughing his ass off since he charged people the standard price, but all he did to fix the computer boxes was to soap them with detergent, rinse and dry.

                                  Anyway, thanks for the guide. My father is a heavy smoker and I've been seeing nicotine gunk on my motherboard and card.

                                  Comment


                                    Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                                    Originally posted by RJARRRPCGP View Post
                                    In Vermont, you're more likely to encounter a fat ass spider than a roach.
                                    A lot o' fat ass spiders at the current house, at 46 County Rd. North! LOL!
                                    My sister has been freaking out a lot! Possibly some tarantula-sized ones as well! LOL!
                                    Last edited by RJARRRPCGP; 06-06-2018, 02:20 PM.
                                    ASRock B550 PG Velocita

                                    Ryzen 9 "Vermeer" 5900X

                                    16 GB AData XPG Spectrix D41

                                    Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6750 XT

                                    eVGA Supernova G3 750W

                                    Western Digital Black SN850 1TB NVMe SSD

                                    Alienware AW3423DWF OLED




                                    "¡Me encanta "Me Encanta o Enlistarlo con Hilary Farr!" -Mí mismo

                                    "There's nothing more unattractive than a chick smoking a cigarette" -Topcat

                                    "Today's lesson in pissivity comes in the form of a ziplock baggie full of GPU extension brackets & hardware that for the last ~3 years have been on my bench, always in my way, getting moved around constantly....and yesterday I found myself in need of them....and the bastards are now nowhere to be found! Motherfracker!!" -Topcat

                                    "did I see a chair fly? I think I did! Time for popcorn!" -ratdude747

                                    Comment


                                      Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                                      After reading the original story by Topcat the smells came back...I'd been screwing around with Computers and fixing them for friends for so long that I thought maybe it would be a decent side hustle. I posted an ad and within 5 minutes had my first customer. Well this guy shows up with 2 laptops and a desktop he needs fixed. I almost puked when I opened up the desktop. He must of smoked inside the case! The power supply was fried too so the combo was something else. Don't smoke...just don't.

                                      Comment


                                        Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                                        Originally posted by michael dranfield View Post
                                        Hi Guys , I dont repair computers , I repair TV s , a 3 year old Panasonic 50 inch Plasma has just come in with a poor picture complaint , however there is not actually a problem with the set at all the cause is so much nicotine behind the safety screen you cant see the picture to well, the whole set had to be disassembled to remove the screen to clean behind it.
                                        Take a look at the photos this gives a better idea of how bad it is, this is the power connector to the Y sustain board , it would have been white when it came out the factory, the other photo shows the plug disconnected.
                                        I just puked in my mouth.

                                        Comment


                                          Re: Cleaning Motherboards - ATTN SMOKERS!!

                                          Originally posted by christinejshaw View Post
                                          After reading the original story by Topcat the smells came back...I'd been screwing around with Computers and fixing them for friends for so long that I thought maybe it would be a decent side hustle. I posted an ad and within 5 minutes had my first customer. Well this guy shows up with 2 laptops and a desktop he needs fixed. I almost puked when I opened up the desktop. He must of smoked inside the case! The power supply was fried too so the combo was something else. Don't smoke...just don't.
                                          There was worse:

                                          At Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, in Greenfield, New Hampshire, in horticulture class, the horticulture office PC got mouse'd! There was a mouse living in the PC case! (the early-2000s or the late-1990s) sadly, 99 percent, it was a deer mouse/white footed mouse. (and that means risk of American-hantavirus, the same one responsible for the 1993 hantavirus outbreak!)
                                          Last edited by RJARRRPCGP; 06-06-2018, 11:57 PM.
                                          ASRock B550 PG Velocita

                                          Ryzen 9 "Vermeer" 5900X

                                          16 GB AData XPG Spectrix D41

                                          Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6750 XT

                                          eVGA Supernova G3 750W

                                          Western Digital Black SN850 1TB NVMe SSD

                                          Alienware AW3423DWF OLED




                                          "¡Me encanta "Me Encanta o Enlistarlo con Hilary Farr!" -Mí mismo

                                          "There's nothing more unattractive than a chick smoking a cigarette" -Topcat

                                          "Today's lesson in pissivity comes in the form of a ziplock baggie full of GPU extension brackets & hardware that for the last ~3 years have been on my bench, always in my way, getting moved around constantly....and yesterday I found myself in need of them....and the bastards are now nowhere to be found! Motherfracker!!" -Topcat

                                          "did I see a chair fly? I think I did! Time for popcorn!" -ratdude747

                                          Comment

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