Cleaning a motherboard (and other components) with de-mineralised water. Problems?

[Derek12]

I was referring to the ingredient "Ammonia" aka window cleaner

And bty I was admitting to my mistake

Sorry I though you were sarcastic

 

[de.das.dude]

instead of weting it in water, take a soft cotton rag, wet it in water, squeeze out the extra water.

use this as a wipe to clean what ever you want. you may add a mild liquid handwash.

this saves a lot of hassels while drying.

i did this last sunday to clean my gfx card. dried out under the fan overnight.

 

[AsRock]

You crazy bastards!

idk if I'm overcautious, but any electronics I clean with Isopropyl alcohol @ 91% or higher. Definitively a safer method IMO, not costly, and less chances of damaging your mobo

Yes indeed, after a few days of doing what their saying i would have to get a can(s) of air too to make sure the water blows out of all those plastic parts.


I though there was liquid that was made for cleaning electronics ?.

Example, surly there is some thing out there like this that does the job and cheaper lol.
http://www.criticalcleaning.com/CCContact.htm

I remember another member bringing some thing up like this and for some reason i think it was either Panther or Viper though i could be totally wrong haha.

That's for cleaning screens and plastic cases. To clean PCBs/circuit boards something like this would be OK:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BC5CS2/?tag=tec06d-20

But it's way expensive maybe there are others cheaper out there

Hehe see your thinking the same thing too, sorry only read though the crazy part of the thread.

 

[n-ster]

You are not fit to have your pair of balls, give them to someone who deserves them more

Really, this is a bit like overclocking, the first time it would be like "omg its going to kill my computer, isn't it?", second will be "well, first one went fine, so lets do this again" and then some time later "there is a f**king speck of dust in my rig, washing time!"

Overclocking is logical, you haves something to gain... e-peen and more performance! Putting your mobo in the dishwasher, you basically have nothing to gain, and a LOT to lose... Also, you gotta wait till it dries. With Isopropyl it is much quicker and safe.

Also, I spend half of all my money on computers, so I feel obliged to baby it It is also my only friend

Isopropyl alcohol has oil (not that it will hurt the board its just not the best for connections)

AFAIK, mine doesn't. Only normal rubbing alcohol has oil.

 

[pantherx12]

With Isopropyl it is much quicker and safe.

Yeah alcohol evaporates faster but there's something satisfying about dropping a motherboard in a sink



Also shake excess + box with rice in for uber drying mode.

 

[n-ster]

Then removing the rice from the ports etc of your motherboard.... uber fun

 

[Derek12]

Yes indeed, after a few days of doing what their saying i would have to get a can(s) of air too to make sure the water blows out of all those plastic parts.


I though there was liquid that was made for cleaning electronics ?.

Example, surly there is some thing out there like this that does the job and cheaper lol.
http://www.criticalcleaning.com/CCContact.htm

I remember another member bringing some thing up like this and for some reason i think it was either Panther or Viper though i could be totally wrong haha.



Hehe see your thinking the same thing too, sorry only read though the crazy part of the thread.

Yeah in my experience they can be better than Alcohol; I used to use (is this correct grammar?) them to clean PCs motherboards FULL of DUST and NICOTINE and they all were fine and shiny clean so imagine

 

[n-ster]

Yea but you gotta buy it. I use Isopropyl for any wound I have, any CPU that needs thermal paste cleaning, any electronic, to clean my Personal Vaporizer (also known as e-cig) etc

I got 1L of Isopropyl anytime of year

 

[Derek12]

Yea but you gotta buy it. I use Isopropyl for any wound I have, any CPU that needs thermal paste cleaning, any electronic, to clean my Personal Vaporizer (also known as e-cig) etc

I got 1L of Isopropyl anytime of year

Yeah that's the best: it is very versatile: the one I have doesn't seem to be isopropyl (I don't know what kind of alcohol is it TBH, maybe ethyl) but seems to do the job well, I used it to remove a super hard dried TIM from the CPU lol

 

[Steevo]

thanks to all that opened my eyes. Yet... it's like a taboo.

Any why not a HDD? They are sealed!

No they are not.

They have small valves in them to allow air in and out as the temperature changes. The air valves has desiccant material and filters to prevent ingress of dust.

Air is needed in harddrives to allow the heads to fly.

 

[Derek12]

No they are not.

They have small valves in them to allow air in and out as the temperature changes. The air valves has desiccant material and filters to prevent ingress of dust.

Air is needed in harddrives to allow the heads to fly.

Correct, they often has a label saying "Don't cover breathing hole"

 

[de.das.dude]

No they are not.

They have small valves in them to allow air in and out as the temperature changes. The air valves has desiccant material and filters to prevent ingress of dust.

Air is needed in harddrives to allow the heads to fly.

exactly!!!

but you may remove the circuit and rape it with water.

BTW i have a seagate HDD which smokes wen connected to the power supply LULZ

do you think i can get a replacement circuit?

 

[pantherx12]

Then removing the rice from the ports etc of your motherboard.... uber fun

Why would you bury it!?

Just placing it on top will help a lot : ]

 

[n-ster]

Why would you bury it!?

Just placing it on top will help a lot : ]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

If you want the satisfaction.... dump it in a sink full of isopropyl?

 

[de.das.dude]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

If you want the satisfaction.... dump it in a sink full of isopropyl?

why not use rice dust? then wash it off with water(p[un intended)

 

[pantherx12]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

If you want the satisfaction.... dump it in a sink full of isopropyl?

Could probably get drunk from the fumes alone!

 

[Delta6326]

Cool thread I really didn't know you could do this.
Is this what you would need to do?
1: Remove CPU, RAM, Battery, ETC.?
2: put in a sink/pan with distilled water?
3: dry it?
4: your good to go?
Sounds fun might have to try this with a really old Gayway I have around here.

 

[Steevo]

Make sure its really well dried. And yes, distilled water should be used, the mineral salts in tap water can cause issues.

I had a Media keyboard that died after my wife spilled a glass of wine into it. I washed it in the tub, and it worked to a degree after that, and I spilled a large cup of coffee into my laptop at work, compressed air and a gallon of distilled water later and set out to dry for a day and it was fine. I still replaced the keyboard as it would occasionally go wonky with the d key.

 

[Neuromancer]

Erixx,
Why wouldn't you?

Sneeky,
The dishwasher method sounds very dodgy and does not allow any control at all. You know that dishwashers are loaded with salt to aid in the wash, at least ours is.

Tom.

Salt is used to soften the water (demineralise) , and it is still potable so I do not think any salt is actually carried through.

Unless you actually have to add rock salt to your dishwasher.. then all bets are off I suppose


Straight water or just use isopropyl.

For vaseline I have even used electric motor cleaner in DIMM slots and stuff. You just have to wash out the EMC residue afterwards

 

[Jetster]

Hose it down with soap and water and use a power leaf blower to dry. Sorry I'm feeling sarcastic. Really don't do that

 

[Tommygunn]

Salt is used to soften the water (demineralise) , and it is still potable so I do not think any salt is actually carried through.

Unless you actually have to add rock salt to your dishwasher.. then all bets are off I suppose

There's a large screw cap in the bottom of the washer that you tip a half box of salt into every six months, or something like that. I've no idea if it gets mixed into the wash or not.

Tom.