Washing the dishes.....

[obsessivestu]

So i got a lot of 10 games from the land of Japan.....and i couldn't get 1 of the games to boot.....not a single bloody one...in any of my boards. I inspected the connectors on the games....nearly all of them look like brand new. So at this point i was getting a little worried as there was a few not so cheap games in the lot and i didnt buy these on the cheap either...

Sooooo....what do we do next?

Stick them in the dishwasher of course.

All 10 now work perfectly

Must have been stored somewhere and some sort of residue had covered the contancts on the boards...i just couldn't see it.

(Yes i probably could have got them working by using an eraser on the contacts, but washing them also cleans any other residue off the boards, like that sticky goop that seems to be on the back of alot of boards. And i couldn't be assed with using the eraser on them.)

Disclaimer: I take no responsibilty for anyone who does the same and cooks their boards. I don't recommend you do this.

 

[Fish_Monger]

That's awesome. I have some Atari 5200 carts that need a good dish washin'.

 

[daybona]

I like how you didn't waste space. Wash those other dishes along with the boards!

 

[Cavalry]

too riskay for me to try, but believe me, I have carts that need it.

 

[aria]

I like how you didn't waste space. Wash those other dishes along with the boards!

Agreed

 

[Pocketgamer]

are you kidding dude? Who would wash their games in dishes?

 

[2Dfan]

what is the exact procedure for this?

no soap I imagine, but low temparature? anything else?

 

[billd420]

The best way to utalize the dish washer for PCB's is no soap (can cause corrosion), low temperature wash (don't wanna melt the solder joints), heated dry turned off.

I highly would recommend AGAINST washing with anything other than PCB's in the load. Some of the food that washes off of the dishes can potentially get caught under chips on the PCB.

Dishwasher works awesome. For drying, I put my oven on 100 degrees F or so, and check them frequently. The goal is to dry them, but not melt/warp.

Sun drying works well too.

*Also- Don't attempt this if you have hard water. It'll leave a nasty white residue on your PCB's that is a pain in the butt to remove.

-Bill

 

[2Dfan]

cool, thanks for the info.

sooo, how do I open up an aes cart without damaging the case/sticker? I have a pricey aes cart that needs a good cleaning since the cotton swab thing does not work...

 

[BigTinz]

What would happen if you forgot which boards where which and combined different boards?

 

[werejag]

ic numbers

 

[Nickn]

Thats a killer idea I like it.

As for erasers does that actully work? If so I gotta try it on some console carts I own.

What about washing without a dishwasher? I dont have one. What is the proper way to take a cart apart and wash it safe. No soap i assume, but use what to scrub it?

Thanks

 

[Hakkai]

Its hard to believe how sturdy these can be, it sucks that I can't use that option though since I live out in the country with good-ole well water. Kinda reminds me of all the flash drives that I forget to remove from the laundry which still work even after they've been through the washer/dryer.

 

[loegan43]

The dish washer's a god send, especially with Yaton carts.

 

[obsessivestu]

Here's how i go about mine.

Yes there is other things in my dishwasher when i did this lot, but there was no food...just some crumbs etc, i would never wash them with really dirty stuff. I half put them in the shot just for the look in the photo


I set my dishwasher to the 40 degrees celcius option. I do use soap....this is what gets all the residue off. I tried it without soap and it didn't work for me. I use a product called "finish powerball". This soap is really really strong, i dunno what's in it but it eats through grease and grime very well. It will also eat through weak/worn parts of your pcb protection layer. I have run alot of PCB's through the wash, not just neo carts. I only do neo carts now. THe more stuff on your board the harder it is to dry. If you get pcb's with volume pots and other enclosed bits i wouldnt put them near water.

As for neo carts, they are very simple. I run them through the wash (although i can take them out half way through and they are generally finished). I always take them out before the steam dry though. You know the pcb connectors only get water splashed over them, its not some scrub therapy....what this tells me, is you could get the same soap substance, put it in some water and clean the conectors with it, or even just soak the bottom of your boards in it and get the same result.

If you do decide to throw em in the washer...MAKE SURE YOU DRY THEM PROPERLY!!!! I use a heater, stick the pcbs in front of it for 10/15 mins, blow under the surface mount chips...they hide water under there very well...

 

[obsessivestu]

What would happen if you forgot which boards where which and combined different boards?

Yes, as werejag said, you just read the NGH numbers on the IC's

 

[sven666]

I highly would recommend AGAINST washing with anything other than PCB's in the load. Some of the food that washes off of the dishes can potentially get caught under chips on the PCB.

lol.. i guess its a minor drawback that alot of the materials used in PCB assembly are toxic as hell and can be of serious health hazard if ingested

 

[obsessivestu]

lol.. i guess its a minor drawback that alot of the materials used in PCB assembly are toxic as hell and can be of serious health hazard if ingested

Bah, it's a small price to pay for clean pcb's

 

[werejag]

I highly would recommend AGAINST washing with anything other than PCB's in the load. ...

lol.. i guess its a minor drawback that alot of the materials used in PCB assembly are toxic as hell and can be of serious health hazard if ingested

Bah, it's a small price to pay for clean pcb's

quoted to show real dedication to the great neogeo gods.


dibs on his carts , cabs and his car

 

[Takumaji]

Like sven666 mentioned, PCBs contain lots of highly toxic/carcinogene chemicals like dioxines and furanes, plastic softeners and solvents that may ooze out during a dishwasher run and end up on your plates and cups. At least let the machine do some empty runs with soap and hot water to get some of that stuff outta the system and never clean PCBs and tableware in one load.

Personally I would not use my everyday-dishwasher for PCB cleaning jobs, I'd get me a a tub, warm water, a sponge and an old toothbrush and clean them manually.

Oh, and never try to wash multi-layered or SMD PCBs, they might fall apart when in contact with water for too long.