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| Thread ID: 38700 | 2003-10-15 19:07:00 | Isopropyl Alcohol and Computers | bob_doe_nz (92) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 183595 | 2003-10-15 19:07:00 | I recently used isopropyl alcohol + cotton bud to clean the dusty side of one of my SBlive in my computer and found that it doesn't seem to be any problems. Has anyone else tried something similar to clean circuit boards????? i thought there might be some problems with electrostatic discharge and so i made a basic test to check for conductivity and lo and behold.. NO BEEP to indicate conductivity. the alcohol i used was called Amazing Haste from mitre 10. |
bob_doe_nz (92) | ||
| 183596 | 2003-10-15 19:20:00 | well i never bothered to clean pci board with it, but we use manufacture circuit boards and all our boards are washed in it after soldering :) so it should be okay :) | Budda (2736) | ||
| 183597 | 2003-10-15 19:24:00 | Water also works fine. In severe cases of contamination, warm soapy water, with a rinse off in clean water. Drying is the key. Only possible if the components are hermetically sealed, but is used in the repair sector. You sound surprised that Isopropyl Alcohol works, I would be surprised if it didn't, however most circuit boards are coated with an anti-corrosion film and solder mask. I would hesitate to use any solvent on them, unless I knew it would not attack the film/solder mask. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 183598 | 2003-10-15 19:36:00 | whats the effect of the alcy on things like transistors and capacitors on the other side of the circuit board | bob_doe_nz (92) | ||
| 183599 | 2003-10-15 20:09:00 | > whats the effect of the alcy on things like > transistors and capacitors on the other side of the > circuit board Some synthetic material doesn't like alcohol, but I would be surprised if much was in use for encapsulation. Transistors are resin based encapsulation, and capacitors vary widely, but most should be unaffected. Thats why soap and water are popular for decontamination, there is no reaction on the synthetics. Drying is an art though. I have successfully decontaminated a mobile phone (dropped in a milk vat) using warm soapy water, a good rinse off and a long drying period. Worked fine after that. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 183600 | 2003-10-15 21:50:00 | Iso-Alc is fine, of all the cleaners, probably is the most benign. (Apart from soap/water as previously stated). Don't use meths as it is made up of a different type of Alcohol and can harm some plastics. Interesting how you can test Static with a conductivity test. As long as you and the board are at the same potential (earthed mainly) , then static will not be a problem. This is to do with ElectroStaticVoltage, not AC or DC. We use water with a small amount of dishwashing detergent to clean spills on TV & remotes. Boards are washed, rinsed, shaken to get rid of excess and put in a box that blows air past the board by a fan. Works well. |
Pheonix (280) | ||
| 183601 | 2003-10-15 22:42:00 | Dont worry about me using meths ive seen what it does... (model planes) | bob_doe_nz (92) | ||
| 183602 | 2003-10-16 09:20:00 | Similar thing happened to me... I don't like my CD covers to have sticky residue from price stickers, and usually they don't... But earlier this year I got one that left residue. Me thinking that meths would work wonders (oh boy, how little I knew about the wonders of meths) on the residue, I put a little on a rag and wiped it on the CD cover... unfortunately it gave the plastic a nice frosting-like effect (like frosted light bulbs). Swapped the cover with one off a CD-RW case I found :D |
agent (30) | ||
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