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What can I clean electronics with?
This thread has 6 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 09:40
Fins
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While our office was pretty much a total loss in the flood, I found a few pieces that were NIB that Id like to try to save, just for my own use or in the shop. When I opened them up they boards are covered in dirt. Is there a product I can try to wash the boards with?
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Post 2 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 09:49
GotGame
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Start with an aircompressor and then
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Chemicals and brushes there.
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Post 3 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 11:32
Ernie Gilman
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PC boards are regularly cleaned in mnaufacture by rinsing with water. However, that's when non-waterproof components haven't been put on the board yet. Those might be connectors, and large pots. Perhaps switches, too.

Air, of course, can clean, but compressed air can also drive abrasive dirt particles deep into components that slide on one another, or drive conductive conducting organic particles between conductors that are energized when the circuit is working.

Trying to use wet components is always iffy.

edit: I suddenly remember that WD-40 is not a lubricant. Its name signifies that it's the fortieth formulation tried when attempting to create a solution that will drive water out of underground spaces from which petroleum had been removed. It's Water Displacement (solution) 40.

This also explains why its use as a lubricant is so short-lived. It isn't a lubricant.

WD-40 might help quite a bit, but in quantities beyond what we've ever tried to buy before.
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Post 4 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 12:08
buzz
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I would flush with clean water as soon as possible. Since the components were submerged in mud, it does not matter if they get wet again. Clear water is not much of an issue, its the solids and dissolved impurities that are the problem. The impurities are corrosive and conductive. Whatever you do, don't apply power to "see if it still works" before cleaning. Remove any batteries before wetting.

A while back a customer brought in a receiver that was the victim of a feline induced floating candle spill -- about an ounce of vegetable oil disappeared inside the receiver. The next morning I gently flushed this oil with some acetone and managed to not dissolve anything important. After several years the customer moved out of my area and the receiver was still running.

Soda spills are some of the worst.
Post 5 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 12:27
ericspencer
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Compressed air generate stoic electricity, not good for sensitive electronics.
Use products specifically designed for cleaning electronics.
[Link: mgchemicals.com]
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Post 6 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 13:40
tomciara
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After a Napa CA flood many years ago, I serviced some flooded components.

The VCR and reel to reel could not be salvaged, with the fine grit getting into motor bearings and not able to be extracted.

Only their speakers survived because they put them on the couch on the 2nd floor and the couch floated.

Although the Kenwood receiver was totaled by insurance, I kept it and took off the top and bottom covers, then ran it through a full cycle in my dishwasher.

Cleaned up like new. Shot the controls and switched with silicone spray and my mom and dad used it for about 7 years.

Dishwasher is your friend!
There is no truth anymore. Only assertions. The internet world has no interest in truth, only vindication for preconceived assumptions.
Post 7 made on Wednesday November 29, 2017 at 13:56
Mac Burks (39)
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When i was a kid my mom pulled this old trunk out of the basement after a flood. It had a half dozen portable radios in it. She took them apart and hosed them down and let them dry. She put them back together and they all worked.

The dishwasher tip would have made the process quicker.
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