Cleaning mobos with a distilled water bath

Akille68

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Ok, now it looks crazy, but maybe not.
I saw some videos of people cleaning motherboards literally sinked in distilled water. Naturally with no batteries on board....any idea if this could damage anything, I am curious...
Take r.
Ale
 

malignantpoodle

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It does not damage anything, just has to be absolutely dry before plugging them back in.
 

Xian Xi

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Distilled water? I use regular sink water with no problems. I use warm water, a toothbrush and some liquid soap on mine.
 

Fortune

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I've heard of people running them through the dishwasher before. Not something I would want to try, but I guess it works.
 

malignantpoodle

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I've heard of people running them through the dishwasher before. Not something I would want to try, but I guess it works.

I've done it. Don't use detergent and no heat dry. It actually gets cleaned better with Xian Xi's method.
 

68k

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Distilled water only!!
 

Pope Sazae

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Perrier water is the only way to get it truly clean
 

Akille68

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I suppose that distilled water has properties that will link with oxide and other residues and will be easier to get a mobo completely clean. Here in Italy tap water has a lot of residues (i.e. calcium) that could oxidate and ruin contacts. Maybe a solution of distilled water and isopryl alcohol could make the job. From what I know alcohol makes water more liquid and able to remove dirt better. Naturally, do it at your own risk...
 
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bustedstr8

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I only use Poland Spring water and organic coconut oil soap for my pcbs.
 

GohanX

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I have a Garou MVS cart that had a rather smelly, corrosive substance spilled on it, and it did not work. I lamented, and someone on here I think suggested that I take the PCBs out and put them in the dishwasher with no soap, just hot water.

I thought he was a madman.

It worked! The Garou cart works to this day!
 

goombakid

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Same with Xian Xi. Warm tap water, some mild detergent, and a soft toothbrush. Just make sure there's no power whatsoever to the board (read: take the battery out). Did that on 2 slot MVS, I just let it dry for several days standing on its side.
 

Heinz

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Washing PCB's can fix weird problems, I should probably do it more than I do. Whenever I get MVS boards I tend to wash them, they tend to be fairly gummed up.
 

Fayk

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Distilled water? I use regular sink water with no problems. I use warm water, a toothbrush and some liquid soap on mine.

People should just be careful if they have particularly hard water or other issues that would leave residue, etc upon drying.
 

goombakid

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People should just be careful if they have particularly hard water or other issues that would leave residue, etc upon drying.

Yeah. If anything, just use a Brita or Pur filter if you're really wary about residue. Most residences have decent water though.
 

Xian Xi

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People should just be careful if they have particularly hard water or other issues that would leave residue, etc upon drying.

I'm in Hawaii so we have the best drinking water plus I use a PUR filter as well. Have yet to see any residue.
 

Heinz

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I'm in Hawaii so we have the best drinking water plus I use a PUR filter as well. Have yet to see any residue.

Considering we have exceptional water quality here as well, my use of distilled water is probably overkill.
 

goombakid

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I'm in Hawaii so we have the best drinking water plus I use a PUR filter as well. Have yet to see any residue.

On Oahu, maybe. The water on Maui from tap has massive chlorine taste to it. I wouldn't use straight Maui tap water to rinse my boards...washing, sure, but rinsing, nope.

The tap water here in Portland, OR is great. When I washed my MV2, it left absolutely no residue on it.
 

channelmaniac

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Same with Xian Xi. Warm tap water, some mild detergent, and a soft toothbrush. Just make sure there's no power whatsoever to the board (read: take the battery out). Did that on 2 slot MVS, I just let it dry for several days standing on its side.

Same here, except I put it in an oven at 170F (lowest heat setting it has) to dry which gets water out of the pesky dip switches and cart slots before there's a chance to get any oxidation problems.
 

SpoonyBard

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I have a Garou MVS cart that had a rather smelly, corrosive substance spilled on it, and it did not work.

Electronics lubricant works incredibly well on corrosion also. I had an old PCB literally caked in corrosion and a couple shots of spray had it looking like new again. Dries a bit faster than water too.
 

Xian Xi

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If there is any obvious corrosion on IC legs, I usually use a nylon pen on them first then wash the board. I also use canned air to get water out of the hard places then hang dry.
 
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Any advice on cleaning CPS-2 boards?
The board "lives" one hour without battery (according to... don't remember now), but I think the water could make a mess, shorting the remaining energy stored on the capacitors and erasing the decryption data.

The problem is without water is near impossible to clean a dirty -very dirty- pcb anyway!
 

Fayk

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Any advice on cleaning CPS-2 boards?
The board "lives" one hour without battery (according to... don't remember now), but I think the water could make a mess, shorting the remaining energy stored on the capacitors and erasing the decryption data.

The problem is without water is near impossible to clean a dirty -very dirty- pcb anyway!

Careful usage of an anti-static brush? A powered blower (careful of static buildup).

Possibly careful application of q-tips and high-concentration isopropyl, but I dunno if you would need to worry about that with battery boards just the same, so...
 

BIG BEAR

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bathe and blow dry... a lot of the time I just use a whisk to remove as much of that dry dirt as possible then apply alcohol to spot areas....
BUMP just in case somebody has been wondering what others do like myself..
BB
 
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