I like the soap and water in the sink method. Recently though I’ve been debating buying an ultrasonic cleaner although I’m a little worried about it doing damage since it seems to destroy tinfoil pretty easily. With the ultrasonic my plan is still soap and water, I don’t like using chemicals if I can avoid it.

My method for heavily soiled circuit boards:

Spray heavily with Simple Green and scrub gently with a small paintbrush.
Rinse with water.
Rinse with alcohol.
Blow off with air compressor and let air dry a bit.

I don't do this for boards with thermal pads.

midicollector wrote on 2023-10-19, 23:17:

I like the soap and water in the sink method. Recently though I’ve been debating buying an ultrasonic cleaner although I’m a little worried about it doing damage since it seems to destroy tinfoil pretty easily. With the ultrasonic my plan is still soap and water, I don’t like using chemicals if I can avoid it.

Diluted Simple Green works very well in ultrasonic cleaners. It's a relatively safe degreaser/cleaner. Non-Toxic and safe for pets. They might get an upset tummy if they manage to ingest some, but no long term damage will occur.

_StIwY_ wrote on 2023-10-19, 21:41:

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-10-19, 19:10:

i just use a lot of whater with a soft brush the whait some day before power-up,I've been doing this for 10 years

Tap water ? Technically tap water might rust some components sooner or later....

If you whas it ONE time the problem is close to zero.

I pull out any chips, wash with soapy water, and rinse with distilled water. I then blow off excess water and let dry for 48 hours on top of my dehumidifier.

Today's project isn't a motherboard, but it sure needed a cleaning--

Order of battle:

1. went over it with a clean, dry tooth brush to get the loose dust off
2. baking soda swab over the spots with accumulated battery corrosion
3. hit the more difficult stains with naptha, which is risky for some boards but seemed not to damage anything OK here. Isopropyl is probably a better choice in most cases.
4. polished up the corroded contacts with tooth paste and a cotton swab
5. let it dry for a day and then make sure that the power doesn't go straight to the ground before giving it power

The contact pins are not as bad as they look in the picture. They are flat but a little discolored. The gold is still tightly bonded, even if some copper might be exposed