Motherboard and alcohol...

[Tamahome]

Hi folks,

I need some expertise here...

My head is achin' coz my cat (*call of nature*) dripped my soundcard and motherboard wet...

So what I did is clean it with alcohol and now I am drying them up...

My question is: "Did I do the right thing???".. Cleaning the board and card with alcohol???"

Help me. I'm not yet getting them back to life, I want to make sure all are dried up.

[ironik311]

Any liquid on circuitry could potentially damage it, particularly if the circuitry is holding a charge. I don't see anything wrong with alchohol to clean it, as long as the alchohol is cleaned entirely off tht circuitry and dead dry before you ever try to power the thing back up.

Again, Circuitry does not take kindly to any liquid!

[araaraara]

Rubbing alcohol is quite safe to use on circuit boards. I once built a submersed system at school using it.

The more pressing question in my mind is, how is your computer set up in the first place so that this could happen? Do you have an open case system?

[Tamahome]

Yeah I do have an open case system... to prevent my CPU from gaining too much heat... but unluckily our cat at home did mess up with my PC...

I've learn my lesson not to let it open once I'm not using it...

So guys, are you trying to say that there's a good chance for me to work it again?

I am not yet putting them back together to ensure the board and soundcard dried up well... anyways I used cotton and an alcohol...

[frank5]

The urine has to completely dry up prior to powering up. Let it dry overnight before you push the button!

[dave-harper]

did you use the common 70 % rubbing or the bloomin expensive 99 % isopropyl alchohol ---- the kind of stuff that evaporates quickly and will dry your fingertips white

[araaraara]

Or did you give that tired looking old system some Jack Daniels to cheer it up?

[tayloraj]

I am a Micro Miniature Solderer and alcohol is excellent for cleaning any kind of pc board. Just make sure it is completely dry before applying any power.

[Tamahome]

Cool! Now I am getting confident enough that it will work... thanks for all he boost! Wish me all the luck!

[Buji]

This should boost your confidence some more.

Our shop has a kitchenette with a dishwasher. Imagine my surprise when I opened the dishwasher one day to find a whole load of floppy drives in it! One of the senior techs had taken all the covers off of the defective drives and washed them in the dishwasher. I watched in fascination as he carefully removed them and placed them all in the OVEN...... Three hours at 200 degrees!

Almost every one of them worked after a cycle in the dishwasher. I was flabbergasted! We gave free drives away for months to anyone who wanted one - I think I gave more of them away than I did business cards!

Over time, the senior tech applied this bizarre procedure to CD-ROM drives, power supplies motherboards (sans batteries!) and printer parts of all types. I've seen completely disassembled Ink Jet printers in the dishwasher. Interestingly, this ridiculous procedure fixes more than half of these devices, and almost ALL of the Ink Jet printers.

http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-02-21.htm

[SearchSkillzzz]

I hear web cams and alcohol, don't go to good either!

[frank5]

Did you get your system working again Tomahome?

[Tamahome]

Not yet, Im still on my work and probably reassemble it on saturday when i go home... I'll tell everyone about the result when I come home... thanks for asking...

[TweakerXP]

I think I would feed the cat to the neighbors dog.

[philocipher]

incidently.
PCB boards are washed with water during some manufacturering processes.. so mostly water is safe
also I seem to rememebr HARD disk drives ALso are washed. but that 's ultra pure water and a clean room


so anyone hesitant to clean out a PBC can put his mind at reast that it is safe.... as long as u take the time to let it dry . like in an oven thats cooled down to under 40C.

oh . that a convection oven.. and under NO circumstances do u dry out your PCBs in a microwave..