If your parts are corroded, you should probably get new parts. There are limits.

rgart wrote:

Is there anyway to bring your yellowed quad speed cd-rom drive back to its original colour?

That's an easy one: http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/ .

As retro hradware comes to me, I take it to the bathroom and clean it with a painting brush and A LOT of soap. I don't seem to need canned air since the brush is very flexible and if it can't reach somewhere, water surely can. Moreover, a lot of my hardware was originally covered in some nasty fatty substance, which is totally removed that way. Hardware shines and looks as good as new as a result 😀

And I use domestos for cases... It does not make parts white, but it works.

The canned air is good for getting water out from underneath surface-mounted IC's. It can get stuck there by capillary action.

Or leave it for a few days to dry by evaporation. 😀

I remember the guys on BadCaps just throw boards in the dish-washer, but they depopulate the board of capacitors, first since capacitors are not necessarily sealed, even surface-mount varieties.

My favourite cleaning supplies are dishwashing soap, isopropanol and brake cleaner. Especially brake cleaner is great for removing greasy or sticky stuff, but keep it away from rubber or silicone parts (like floppy drive belts and keyboard rubber domes). A hard toothbrush and paper towels are useful tools as well.

If you have corroded parts, probably the easiest way is to sand or grind the rust away. There are other methods like chemicals or reverse electrolysis but in my experience these aren't worth the time and effort.

To remove dust I usually use an air compressor and vacuum cleaner at the same time. Point both at the dusty spots and you'll get most of it out, almost never everything though. If you're dusting out a whole PC make sure to disconnect the fans first, they might generate some voltage when you spin them with compressed air.

RacoonRider wrote:

As retro hradware comes to me, I take it to the bathroom and clean it with a painting brush and A LOT of soap. I don't seem to n […]
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As retro hradware comes to me, I take it to the bathroom and clean it with a painting brush and A LOT of soap. I don't seem to need canned air since the brush is very flexible and if it can't reach somewhere, water surely can. Moreover, a lot of my hardware was originally covered in some nasty fatty substance, which is totally removed that way. Hardware shines and looks as good as new as a result 😀

And I use domestos for cases... It does not make parts white, but it works.

I use a tooth brush, i apply a dot of soap to the bristles every few minutes. Since i work with newer / modern circuit boards i use i distilled water and most of the time it's because something got spilled on the board.

I also sand down the contacts on ram modules with clean white printer paper in machines that don't post from time to time.

😳 I see, so it is actually possible to wash electronic board with water, as long as you dry it properly, am I correct?

Anyway, I'm not sure if the story is true or not, but some years ago I heard about some guy (friend of a friend) who loves to collect motherboard, and he cleans them by briefly dip the board in boiling water. Like I said, it is a friend of a friend, so I cannot verify whether the story is true or not. Is it possible to briefly dip electronic boards in boiling water without damaging the components?

Not all components are that sensitive. Depends on amount of time in the water. Electrolit capacitors don't like hot area.

100% of my hardware survived the soap+water washing. 24 hours on central heaters is enough to get anything hot and dry.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman, you shocked me 😁 I don't think any motherboard with electrolytic capacitors would survive this.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

😳 I see, so it is actually possible to wash electronic board with water, as long as you dry it properly, am I correct?

Anyway, I'm not sure if the story is true or not, but some years ago I heard about some guy (friend of a friend) who loves to collect motherboard, and he cleans them by briefly dip the board in boiling water. Like I said, it is a friend of a friend, so I cannot verify whether the story is true or not. Is it possible to briefly dip electronic boards in boiling water without damaging the components?

just don't use any thing but, distilled or de-ionized for modern stuff. tap water will deposit minerals that will short stuff out since it's so small and tightly packed in.

RacoonRider wrote:

100% of my hardware survived the soap+water washing. 24 hours on central heaters is enough to get anything hot and dry ...

Same here. I even wash PSUs with no problems thus far.

The key is a complete drying up before replugging.

Perfect!

I was just going to post a thread about whether all these videos pf Scrubbing Bubbles to clean PC parts were legit. I've rescued cell phones before by cleaning in tap water->thorough rinse in distilled water [to remove minerals]->thorough cleanse in high grade rubbing alcohol [to dilute the water to the point it evaporates quickly].

I'm eager to clean up a bunch on the old parts and glad to see soap can be used without problem...

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

😳 I see, so it is actually possible to wash electronic board with water, as long as you dry it properly, am I correct?

Drying it properly, and using soaps that don't leave behind any residue.

Stick it all in the dishwasher, but make sure you DON'T let it go through the dry cycle as it's too hot 😉.

PowerPie5000 wrote:

Stick it all in the dishwasher, but make sure you DON'T let it go through the dry cycle as it's too hot 😉.

There are abrasive particles in dishwasher liquid that might actually damage the components.

I never wash and rarely clean. I am not a fan of a lot of dust in machines but that is about it. I would rather play games than clean. 😀

PeterLI wrote:

I never wash and rarely clean. I am not a fan of a lot of dust in machines but that is about it. I would rather play games than clean. 😀

Nothing wrong with a bit of cleaning 🤣

Outdoors or smokers salvage you rather clean before even letting it in your home 😵
The other eew factor is when a machine turns up in the shop that is loaded with roaches D:

nforce4max wrote:

The other eew factor is when a machine turns up in the shop that is loaded with roaches D:

I've been working on computers for about 7 or 8 years now and I'm thankful that I've never had one come in that was loaded with roaches. I've seen YouTube videos in the past where people were removing live roaches from computers. No joke.

I have an air compressor so give the hardware a good blow over. For stubborn dirt, I have a bottle of goo remover. I put a couple of drops on a piece of tissue or a clean rag and then give it a wipe over and then use the dry part of the rag to wipe it down. After that I give it a blow over again. Don't feel comfortable dipping my hardware in water and the mentioned method makes my hardware look as good as new anyway so there's no need. Plus, with this method there's no waiting around for it to dry.