I've cleaned motherboards and graphics cards in the sink with dish brush, no problem. But you need to dry your components fast directly afterwards since otherwise corrosion can occur. I use the oven on about 75 degrees celsius (that's 167 F for you Americans) for around 30-45 mins.

Water here is full of chlorine (Like, loads, it tastes like swimming pools and gives everyone a sore throat). Never had corrosion.

I don't own an oven (aside from the microwave, and I think I have valid reasons for not wanting to put things in there... It would make my noodles taste bad.) so all I ever use is manually blowing away as much water as I can and then store it sideways up, leaning against something so all but two edges are obscured. I do flip it over every so often to try and discourage water from pooling up anywhere.

I suppose an alternative is to stand a good distance away with a hair dryer so the component only gets fairly warm, this would encourage drying. You could even use just a plain desk fan I guess, it would cause some evaporation and speed up the drying process. Usually I just have it in the vicinity of the workstation as that shifts massive amounts of warm air.

brassicGamer wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:

brassicGamer wrote:

Dishwasher. Seriously? I hold this site in such high esteem that it almost makes sense. I have to admit I wasn't expecting trolls.

When people are trying to help dont call them trolls or that will be the last help you get, seriously.

Hey I know I'm new here but I'm not new to forums nor computers. In over 20 years of computer use I have never heard anyone recommend a dishwasher as an appropriate method for cleaning PCBs. Forgive me for being skeptical.

I'm very happy to be the butt of a joke but not so much one which might cause me to destroy a piece of hardware I drove 5 hours to collect today. Thinking about it now I'd be very surprised if someone here would actually allow that to happen but I am more paranoid than the average so apologies and thank you for the advice.

I hear you have never come across sub-zero cooled computers before? 😉 It can be a pain to remove Vaseline from a motherboard, especially in socket holes 😜

Marquzz wrote:

I've cleaned motherboards and graphics cards in the sink with dish brush, no problem. But you need to dry your components fast directly afterwards since otherwise corrosion can occur. I use the oven on about 75 degrees celsius (that's 167 F for you Americans) for around 30-45 mins.

Yup i agree with this one. The important part is drying it quickly before rust can occur.

Personally for me in ever sunny tropics, its a quick wash with diluted dish wasing detergent
and a discarded toothbrush to gently get the dust off for about 1 min for sound cards and
3 mins for motherboards before quickly centifuging with my bare hands to get most of the water out
before drying it for a day under the sun. So I ususally do the washing early in the morning in time
for the afternoon and evening frying under the sun. And in the evening, using a hair dryer to gently blow
warm air from a distant to assist in removing the last moisture. Too close and you heat unsoldering
the parts.

For people in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Russia there is a hardware retailer called K-rauta.

K-rauta sells the Nitor brand of White Gas which I find the best solvent for cleaning computer stuff, it leaves no residue at all. Im sure other retailers in other countries also sell the Nitor brand.

This is how the bottle looks, what White Gas is called in your laguage this link will tell you http://fuel.papo-art.com/
There are many types and brands of White Gas but this is the only one I have used so therefore its the only one I can recommend.

dunz wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:

dunz wrote:

Throwing a PCB in the dishwasher seems really stupid. You'll risk corossion from the dishwashing detergent and risk getting water in places where it shouldn't have been in the first place.
I personally use isopropyl alcohol, it's great for cleaning everything!

I also prefer to use a solvent when possible but if there is dirt in the expansion slots nothing else than soaking the motherboard in water or something else will do, dishwashing detergent might even be neccisary if the dirt is tar from a heavy smoker who has smoked in front of the computer for 10 years. Using the dish washer or washing manually wont make much difference, I have done both.

Corrosion from wasing stuff in water rarly seem to be a problem but batteries like High Treason mentioned is a real danger so its always good to remove those first.

I'd go for some isopropyl alcohol and some q-tips, water is nasty stuff, it's also (if not properly sterilised) not very clean. I would rather soak it in a mild alcohol than water... I really don't trust water 😁

But if you say it works, I believe you, I'm just saying I wouldn't do it.

^^ This ^^. Isopropyl alcohol is the way to go. It's cheap and commonly available in most electronics stores. Gently brush as much dust as possible of a board (dry brush), then clean what's left with alcohol. It gives the PCB a nice shine. It doesn't corrode contacts, it evaporates really fast (unlike water), doesn't damage paper stickers and labels, and won't leave white traces like soaps and detergents.

"White Gas" is some form of Kerosene or lighter fluid. It's OK for cleaning PCBs if you don't mind the smell. I still prefer Isopropyl. It might also make the PCB oily depending on the quality of "gas" used.

kanecvr wrote:

^^ This ^^. Isopropyl alcohol is the way to go. It's cheap and commonly available in most electronics stores. Gently brush as much dust as possible of a board (dry brush), then clean what's left with alcohol. It gives the PCB a nice shine. It doesn't corrode contacts, it evaporates really fast (unlike water), doesn't damage paper stickers and labels, and won't leave white traces like soaps and detergents.

"White Gas" is some form of Kerosene or lighter fluid. It's OK for cleaning PCBs if you don't mind the smell. I still prefer Isopropyl. It might also make the PCB oily depending on the quality of "gas" used.

I would be very careful brushing my components with a dry brush since can cause electrostatic discharges. Careful as in I wouldn't do it. Compressed air is the way to go if you want to remove lose dust.

kanecvr wrote:

^^ This ^^. Isopropyl alcohol is the way to go. It's cheap and commonly available in most electronics stores. Gently brush as much dust as possible of a board (dry brush), then clean what's left with alcohol. It gives the PCB a nice shine. It doesn't corrode contacts, it evaporates really fast (unlike water), doesn't damage paper stickers and labels, and won't leave white traces like soaps and detergents.

"White Gas" is some form of Kerosene or lighter fluid. It's OK for cleaning PCBs if you don't mind the smell. I still prefer Isopropyl. It might also make the PCB oily depending on the quality of "gas" used.

Isopropyl alcohol was what I used before I found the Nitor brand White Gas / Cleaner's Naphtha . While its true that "White Gas" isnt nice to paper labels thats about the only downside, it removes old thermal paste and tar easier than Isopropyl and I see the smell as a positive 😉. As you say some brands and types of White Gas could possible leave residue but the stuff in the bottle I linked dosnt. I still have a bottle of Isopropyl somewhere and I agree that its a great solvent.

Perhaps its good to add what solvents should be avoided, avoid using acetone as it will melt most plastic fabrics, like CPU sockets and expansion slots... 😵

Marquzz wrote:

kanecvr wrote:

^^ This ^^. Isopropyl alcohol is the way to go. It's cheap and commonly available in most electronics stores. Gently brush as much dust as possible of a board (dry brush), then clean what's left with alcohol. It gives the PCB a nice shine. It doesn't corrode contacts, it evaporates really fast (unlike water), doesn't damage paper stickers and labels, and won't leave white traces like soaps and detergents.

"White Gas" is some form of Kerosene or lighter fluid. It's OK for cleaning PCBs if you don't mind the smell. I still prefer Isopropyl. It might also make the PCB oily depending on the quality of "gas" used.

I would be very careful brushing my components with a dry brush since can cause electrostatic discharges. Careful as in I wouldn't do it. Compressed air is the way to go if you want to remove lose dust.

Not if you use special anti-static (ESD) brushes like I do. The come in a set of 5 and cost about 6-7 dollars. They even come with a grounding strap. Compressed air does nothing for some of the stuff I get. Just look at the 386 board on the left:

It literally has DIRT on it. I spent two hours cleaning it with an ESD brush and used up a bottle of alcohol (the regular blue stuff for disinfecting wounds) and 500ml of isopropyl, but got it perfectly clean. It works by the way! Battery needs replacing, the keyboard controller was missing and one of the cache chips as well. I replaced all chache chips with ones off a dead 486, added an Amikey KB controller, and she booted up just fine. 33MHz 386 with cache.

What I do in extreme cases like this is:

1. Remove the barrel battery
2. Brush off as much dirt as I can (gently) with a ESD brush
3. Fill a plastic container with household alcohol (sanitary alcohol will do) and soak the board for 10-15 minutes
4. Remove board from the container and brush the remaining crap off using a finer grounded ESD brush
5. Soak again in alcohol for 5-10 minutes
6. Rinse with isopropyl, carefully removing dirt and grime off stuff like sockets and expansion slots
7. Dry off with my SMD heat pump set at 100 celsius and make sure I remove leftover alcohol from places like under sockets, expansion slots and PGA chips
8. Dry off for 30-60 minutes
9, Test

kanecvr wrote:

What I do in extreme cases like this is: […]
Show full quote

What I do in extreme cases like this is:

1. Remove the barrel battery
2. Brush off as much dirt as I can (gently) with a ESD brush
3. Fill a plastic container with household alcohol (sanitary alcohol will do) and soak the board for 10-15 minutes
4. Remove board from the container and brush the remaining crap off using a finer grounded ESD brush
5. Soak again in alcohol for 5-10 minutes
6. Rinse with isopropyl, carefully removing dirt and grime off stuff like sockets and expansion slots
7. Dry off with my SMD heat pump set at 100 celsius and make sure I remove leftover alcohol from places like under sockets, expansion slots and PGA chips
8. Dry off for 30-60 minutes
9, Test

Serious kudos my friend as I will literally be following these steps one by one in a few days - just acquired my first VLB board and, while I'm yet to receive it, I now see from the photo the dreaded green by the barrel battery. I got rid of the last board that had this because I had no ISA hardware to test it with. Thankfully this one has a built in controller and I've got an ISA graphics card on the way too. If I can get it working I'll invest in a VLB graphics card too.

I never clean except vacuuimg cases.

I was just thinking of a product which I use in my trade--it used to be called "Ting" and now another company owns the product and calls it "Detro Clean." It's an emulsifier which we use to completely strip painted surfaces, or any surface for that matter, of contaminants (wax, tar, road grime, oils, grease). It isn't solvent based so I don't imagine it would hurt paper or stickers. Just treat it like a soap, but much more effective.

Just an idea, and you can use it to clean other stuff while you're at it, like tires and wheels, or even your bath tub.

^^ that stuff sounds awesome. Is it anything like Scrubbing Bubbles (TM)? I found this video somewhat unsettling. I don't know if it was the cavalier fashion in which he tossed the cables into the water, the presence audio but the lack of dialogue, or the bottle of Jager on his workbench. Also loving how the video ends before he tests the thing. Kind of defeated the object there...