PBC gunk cleaning

"j.b. miller" schreef in bericht news:JCA1d.35850$% snipped-for-privacy@read2.cgocable.net...

I always use thinner to remove soldering flux after assembly; works great, though it will dissolve certain plastics. Don't know if it the best solvent for coke and coffee, I think water still works best then, but I have never tried that ;)

Jeroen

A hard stream of hot water and 409 and then attack them with a medium bristle brush.

Final rinse in RO or distilled water if you can. Blow dry.

Many years ago a friend of mine spilled a glass of port into his TRS-80, which stopped it working. It was OK after he cleaned the mess up with some damp tissues. Water would be best for coffee and coke.

Leon

If you can get hold of some freon (CFCs), that would clean it very nicely.

Regards Anton Erasmus

I used to work for a company that manufactured equipment to clean flux and other contaminants off pcbs without using CFCs (eg: freon). Methanol (wood alcohol) followed by a de-ionized water rinse is pretty good at removing most gunk. Use a soft-bristle tooth brush in the methanol wash to scrub off those stubborn bits. It shouldn't hurt anything on the boards.

Mark

-------------------------------------------------------------

GMCFESIL: (Guy Macon's Cure For Electronics Soaked In Liquids)

(Feel free to repost, but please include this reference to my webpage at [

].)

[1] Remove all power sources. Unplug the device and remove all batteries, including soldered in batteries if you can. [2] Disassemble the device as well as your skills allow. If there is a paper cone speaker, or other part that looks like it might be damaged by water, set it aside. [3] Go outside with a garden hose or put it in the sink and flush it with clean water to try to remove any soap, coffee, urine, or whatever else you managed to get in there... [4] Use a 1/2 gallon jug of distilled water (make sure it's the distilled kind) and flush out the normal water. [5] Use a bottle or two of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to flush the distilled water out. For antique devices that may have natural rubber in them, use pure drinking alcohol. In either case, the higher the proof/percentage the better. [6] Put it in a warm, dry place until you can't smell any alcohol. Then leave it for at least another day before reassembling and testing. [7] If you are in a hurry, you can try to accelerate step five with a fan, blow drier, etc. It's up to you to insure that you don't start an alcohol fire.

-------------------------------------------------------------

--
Guy Macon

I'd try Gumout carburator cleaner. Incredible stuff. Blast it on and it pours/evaporates of.

Try > Hello. I have several old PCBs that need to be cleaning of old coke and

I would avoid anything that aggressive. It may damage some of the component plastics

Also acetone- it will attack plastics. OTOH, isopropanol is certainly mild enough, and some petroleum solvents are okay, with care.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

Try what many manufacturers use: demineralized water. No damage to any plastic. Put the PCB in a hot air oven at 50 degrees celsius to dry.

I have cleaned TV and video remotes many times using this method.

Meindert

[...]

Denatured alcohol might be a better choice. Roughly 85% ethanol, 15% methanol.

Though natural rubber isn't particularly vulnerable to isopropanol. Perhaps there is some other material you are concerned about?

Regards,

-=Dave

--
Change is inevitable, progress is not.

Careful. There are all kinds of denaturing agents for alcohol. Some may be harsher than others.

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmerconsultingthis@att.net

I am concerned about the fact that every bottle of "rubbing alcohol" that the chemists I was working with had small amounts of other hydrocarbons in them, and the other hydrocarbons varied.

Anything we got from a chemical supply house only had what was on the label.

I used to have a bottle of 180 proof Everclear grain alchol. Great stuff. Can't seem to find it anymore though.

I use 190 proof. It is available in many shops in Tijuana. Each visitor can bring up to one liter over the border duty free. I pick up a bottle every time for use in cleaning delicate electronics.

In article , Guy Macon writes

I know someone who puts their boards in a dishwasher (no detergent!) with good results.

--
Tim Mitchell

I have used my dishwasher (*with* detergent - but only for the first part of the cycle) to clean keyboards and mice and such (things that I am willing to risk losing), followed hy keeping the item in my car parked in the sun for a week or two to get it really dry. So far the items have all survived. I woudn't risk anything valuable with this method.

Oh, that stuff has much better uses than cleaning. Friend of mine has a great recipe - you take a gallon of apple cider, throw in a handful of cinnamon sticks, stir in one or two cups of sugar, and boil away about half of the water. Remove cinnamon sticks. Stir in a cup of Everclear. Chill. Serve. You may want to lay in a stock of Advil before trying this recipe, but it's delicious - it tastes like apple pie filling (in fact, he calls the beverage "apple pie"). He plans to make a thicker batch soon, by boiling away most of the water, and use the resulting goo as an ice-cream topping. I'll gladly be a beta tester for that.

Long long ago and far far away, in a Canadian Crown Corporation

120 odd miles northwest of Ottawa, there existed a biology lab. This contained a vat of 'lab alky' for various official purposes (the details of which were of no interest to me). However a bottle placed under the spigot could extract a usable sample, which powered many a party. Some of these were thrown in the co-ed so-called staff hotel, better known as the riding academy.

At the same time the Quebec Liquor Board had available a potion known as 'Alcool', which was a pale imitation of the real thing (about 100 proof instead of 190). Also the environment of Montreal (especially Rougemont) had many farms and orchards which produced hard apple cider, in various flavors (sweet, normal, dry) which sold for Can$ 2.00 per real (imperial) gallon. That also powered many parties, and the Bostonions to whom I fed it wouldn't listen when warned that the end effects were dire. After discovering those effects those people couldn't face apples or anything derived therefrom for about a month.

--
 "This is a wonderful answer. It's off-topic, it's incorrect,
  and it doesn't answer the question."  --  Richard Heathfield

 "I support the Red Sox and any team that beats the Yankees"