Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

[Sushi1808]

Dear expert community,

I have read somewhere (forgot the source), that cleaning newer Intel motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner can sometime cause damage to some components, particularly the PCH.

What are your experiences regarding this matter?

I clean all motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner after BGA rework, since no clean flux residue could develop shorts under BGA after some time. I am talking about fake Amtech 559 flux, bought on ebay. For last few months I only use original Amtech flux from official Amtech distributors.

I clean all boards in a no name 6L ultrasonic cleaner (without sweeping frequency function), with Electrolube SWAS solution heated to 40C. After every minute of cleaning I take out the motherboard and rotate it, thus the whole exposure time to ultrasonic cleaning is around 4 minutes. After the cleaning, I rinse the boards with warm tap water and after that in a de-ionised water.

Thus far I had no problems, but I am mainly working with older Intel and AMD laptop motherboards.

[stj]

Re: Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

afaik the only real issue with ultrasonics is that powerfull ones can damage crystals.

a place i worked once, we had a tank like a chest freezer!!
we always cleaned the boards before soldering any crystals.

i would be more concerned with the choice of solvent used.
i use IPA now,
but before it was banned, Freon was the best cleaner.

[Sushi1808]

Re: Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

stj thank you for your reply.

I would use IPA, it is a lot cheaper than Electrolube SWAS, but I cannot since IPA is very flammable and fire safety is a concern. Although, they sell special ultrasonic cleaners, designed for use with flammable liquids.

I only use IPA when cleaning smaller components, I put it in a 1dcl glass beaker together with the component. It performs well.

I read somewhere, IPA can be used in a waterproof bag which can be then submerged in the non-flammable ultrasonic cleaning liquid. I thought about using waterproof dry bags from ebay, they are normally used when kayaking and such, to keep stuff dry.

[alindumitru46]

Re: Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

I have a DFI LP UT NF4 SLI DR-EXPERT with pronounced oxidation on the LAN chipset pins and some resistors/capacitors or near 1st PCI-e slot, like here:
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...nt=photo%2cjpg
The ultrasonic bay can be a solution to clean?
I cannot take a Hi resolution photo right now, sorry.

[Sushi1808]

Re: Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

Dear alindumitru46 I have no real experience with cleaning the oxidized elements in ultrasonic cleaner...maybe someone else here on forum could be of more help.

But in my opinion, ultrasonic cleaner is not a magical device...it can't achieve something you wouldn't be able to achieve with a toothbrush, a proper solvent and a bit of manual scrubbing action.

In your case I would try to remove oxidation with the help of a electrical contact cleaner solution and scrubbing with a toothbrush or similar. After as much oxidation as possible is removed, I would inspect the traces and elements for corrosion under a microscope or magnifying glass, and if everything seems OK, I would try to remove the damaged solder with de-soldering wick and apply a fresh solder.

[megaraider]

Re: Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

But in my opinion, ultrasonic cleaner is not a magical device...it can't achieve something you wouldn't be able to achieve with a toothbrush, a proper solvent and a bit of manual scrubbing action.

I do agree with you: ultrasonic cleaner is well far from being magical...!
IPA, or acetone in uglier cases, and manual scrubbing produces far better results.
On extensive surfaces i also use an air pressure gun (similar to the ones used to paint cars) to proper and faster moisture and debris removal.

I read somewhere, IPA can be used in a waterproof bag which can be then submerged in the non-flammable ultrasonic cleaning liquid. I thought about using waterproof dry bags from ebay, they are normally used when kayaking and such, to keep stuff dry.

My experience with those waterproof dry bags used in water sports are well bellow expectation.
They're everything but reliable or waterproof!
Had quite a few incidents using those while doing water sports and definitely quit using them.
Instead, you should try using a plastic container (similar to the well known tupperware).

Beware that the greatest danger arises from the flammable liquid gases due to evaporation over temperature and atomic level agitation,
not from the flammable liquid itself.
Therefore, after the ultrasonic exposure, special attention must be taken when removing the plastic container cover!

[stj]

Re: Cleaning newer INTEL motherboards in Ultrasonic cleaner

put some ice cubes on the cover