Advice Please: Removing Smoke Damage From PCBs

boards?

If it's after a fire involving plastics, I'd use an ultrasonic cleaner to remove as much of the toxic (and corrosive!) residues as possible.

Ken

Scrub with soap and water, rinse, then bake dry. Some people advocate running them through the dishwasher. Non-potted transformers and relays may not like getting wet.

John

Final rinse with distilled water to assure no chemical or mineral residue from the tap water. Either bake dry or let air dry for at least three days. Then follow up with a good inspection before attempting to implement use. Make sure there are no residue carbon (Smoke & Soot) traces between components that can produce a resistor like function with application of current. "John Larkin" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

boards?

Freon should clean it up nicely if you have a source...Ross

Use a dishwasher detergent WITHOUT "rinse aid", and as someone else already suggested, final rinse, by hand, with distilled or deionized water and blow dry.

Watch out for non-hermetically sealed components of all kinds; non-potted transformers, relays -- but also switches, jumper blocks, connectors, keypads (&c &c)

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.