Can I clean my mobo with isopropyl?

S

shytfaced

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 1, 2004
Messages
326
Wasn't really sure which forum to post this in, but anyways, I just bought a motherboard that was caked in dust. I got sum of it up using a vacuum cleaner...lol and now I wanna get the rest out of the tiny ass little crevices. Is it safe to use Isopropyl for this, like all over the motherboard? Or is it only ok to use it on the surfaces of onboard chips n such?
 
A coworker of mine worked at HP a couple of years ago and he was repairing printers and copiers, etc. He was cleaning all those dusty PCB's with water and soap. It was working just fine once they were dry (for obvious reasons :rolleyes: ). Well, I do clean a lot of electronic stuff with alcohol and it never gave me problem. I feel it is pretty safe since alcohol dries pretty quick.

Para
 
Best/savest clean with compressed air..i belive professional electronic people do it with
buyable compressed air in tins..(100% dry..not like directly from compressors).
dont use water or alcohol and alike..(Results: shortcut or funny looking plastic parts)

Condenser like to blowup on shortcutting them sometimes .
..guess you wouldnt like peaces of toxic plastic fly into your eye with 50m/s.
...your eye shure wont..not to speak of the Mainboard you will kill.
 
I try to blow as much dust off as I can first, then I might use some alcohol. I know it doesn't hurt anything
 
You can use alcohol, but for an entire board, I wouldn't use the stuff that you buy at the drug store, which is typically 30% water. Electronics parts stores sell the purer stuff that's meant for this type of application.

Compressed air is OK, but it can only do so much. The best solution would be to use a can of electrical contact cleaner, which you can also buy at an electronic parts store. Start at one corner of the board and clean it with a steady stream, working your way down to the other end of the board. The stuff is also safe for plastic parts. Let it dry completely before you apply power
 
First, don't use a vacuum cleaner to clean anything with a PCB; it can generate static electricity that destroys a chip. Use only canned air.

Second, if you're going to clean something with alcohol use 91% alcohol, not standard isopropyl, which is 70% alcohol / 30% water.
91% is available at any pharmacy (Walgreen’s, etc). 91% dries much faster and won't leave any residue. Blow the board off with canned air a final time to get any residual alcohol hiding in crevices.

I've washed mobos by pouring an entire quart of 91% over one, and after drying it thoroughly it ran fine.
 
Use Chemtronic - Electrowash.

I work for an electronics manufacturer, thats what we use on our PCB's.

MD
 
What is easily available is denatured alcohol - 100% alcohol dries quickly and cleans well.

But you can soak a motherboard in soap and water if you really want, as long as it isn't powered and is COMPLETELY dry when you power it up. Not recommended, but the point is valid.
 
Most water will contain trace elements in it, also you may not want to wash it with water if you have a water softener in your house...

MD
 
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