cleaning a motherboard with water???

D

DeanZawistowski

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
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90
would it work if you washed it off and then let it dry for a couple of days?? a friend of mine claims it does but i find it hard to believe.
 
It is possible if all the water is gone and the MoBo is completely dry...and I do mean completely dry. But my question is why would you want to do that when there are specific cleaners out there designed for electronics. If there is any water left when you power on it could possibly short something out and the water if left on the board for awhile will start to rust and corrode the metal components. I think the cons out weigh the pros.
 
RadioShack electronic component cleaner, cleans and dries instantaneously. On another note I spilled and entire beer on my keyboard and it quit working so I put it in the bath tub and took it all apart dried with hair dryer and now it works perfectly. I would not try this on a motherboard.
 
Make sure you take the CMOS battery out first.

But, yes, theoretically, this is possible. But you'd want to make sure that you use distilled water with no minerals. . . lest the water leave behind deposits that will eventually corrode and/or form a film.
 
You can DIP electronic components in 100% ethanol or isopropanol and they'll be fine (as long as you let them dry off). But they dry off quickly because of the volatitity. I wouldn't use water if I were you, but hey, if you want to, that's cool.

Funny story: My roommate in college had an audio receiver by a window that was left open overnight while it was raining. In the morning, it was soaked with water (with a large puddle underneath too) and he flipped the switch to turn it on to see if it was ok... Pop.
 
I would not risk a motherboard, but I run my keyboard through the dishwasher on cold whenever it gets excessively dirty.
 
dishwasher would probably produce enough static to kill that board. You might want to just take a cotton ball and use alcohol to clean your motherboard off and buy a bottle of compressed air to get rid of any dust and stuff where you can't reach. Isopropyl Alcohol dries fast and leaves nothing behind. I'd do that if I were you.
 
StealthyFish said:
dishwasher would probably produce enough static to kill that board. You might want to just take a cotton ball and use alcohol to clean your motherboard off and buy a bottle of compressed air to get rid of any dust and stuff where you can't reach. Isopropyl Alcohol dries fast and leaves nothing behind. I'd do that if I were you.
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A cotton ball isn't a good idea. That definitely is an ESD hazzard.
 
My preferred solvent choice is alcohol, but sometimes you just need to clean a large board and don't want to use that much alcohol. I've cleaned plenty of circuit boards with water. Some with just plain water and soap and others in an ultrasonic cleaner. When you rinse, try to use distilled or filtered water to prevent mineral deposits. Remove batteries before washing. I prefer not to immerse boards with large electrolytic caps underwater or in hot water to prevent damage to the caps. Hand cleaning a board with water and a brush is fine, just make sure you give it plenty of time to dry (a fan helps drying times and compressed air helps get water out of nooks and crannies).
 
Yes, I've done it. We were moving, and I found an old computer that hadn't been used in many years. I took it out to the backyard, popped it open, and hosed the whole thing down. Let it sit on a table, side-up (it was a pizza box style) for 2 days, hooked it up, and it worked perfectly.
 
just use deionized water. then you can just leave it in a tub of it and run it. then again that would probably be a bad idea after a while. just use a cleaner ;)
 
Enless it's stuck to the key board: Use Canned air--works for my computers. And you can even air clean it when it's on (wouldn't suggest it though)
 
I once had a dead video card on my hands - tested in several machines and confirmed dead. I figure, what the hey, I don't really want to fork out another bundle of cash just to replace a video card that was previously perfectly sufficient for the tasks required. So I took it to the sink (yes the sink) and ran it under hot TAP water and scrubbed it with (gasp) a toothbrush (dread harbinger of plasticy static doom). I shook it off, sprayed it with compressed air to get the mineral laden goodness from under the larger components, then hung it out on the clothesline, using clothespins, for about 5 hours on a hot sunny day. That night I plugged it in and it worked perfectly. It's still running to this day (not in my primary rig, of course!).

Your results may vary; this post does not constitute an endorsement of above stated technique and is merely meant to portray an anecdotal oddity. The poster assumes no responsibility for damaged components and or electric shock, dismemberment or death resulting from any action taken after reading this post. See store for details.
 
OldMX said:
Washing with regular water I think its just bullshit...
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OMG!!! do u have some super fantastic alien water i can barrow then!!!! :D

but seriously, i had to wash a mobo and a videocard in my kitchen sick with some dish soap after my motor oil submersion experiment. as long as you make sure you dry it well enough it should be fine.
 
Sniper X said:
OMG!!! do u have some super fantastic alien water i can barrow then!!!! :D

but seriously, i had to wash a mobo and a videocard in my kitchen sick with some dish soap after my motor oil submersion experiment. as long as you make sure you dry it well enough it should be fine.
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lol no, but really, washing electrical pieces is hard to believe, unless you use some special chemical fluid to prevent corrosion in caps or circuitry...

oldmx
 
wouldnt the minerals in the water cause issues? i would think you would have to use distilled water
 
alkaline said:
wouldnt the minerals in the water cause issues? i would think you would have to use distilled water
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Someone already mentioned this in a previous post... please read whole thread. :)
 
category_five said:
Your results may vary; this post does not constitute an endorsement of above stated technique and is merely meant to portray an anecdotal oddity. The poster assumes no responsibility for damaged components and or electric shock, dismemberment or death resulting from any action taken after reading this post. See store for details.
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Joke?
 
I clean stuff all of the time with water.

It is true that you might lessen the lifetime of the part due to residue, but generally, you can wash stuff WITHOUT SOAP just fine.

After the washing, just make sure to look out for any contaminants left over on the board. (Dust bunnies, bits of paper, that sort of thing.) You might wipe the board with an alcohol wipe, if you want to be thorough. Let the part sit for a week or two, but be careful where you leave it... my cats have destroyed stuff before. :mad:

I've spilled coolant (watercooling stuff) onto the AGP slot of a board once. That board never worked the same afterwards. ;)
 
Menelmarar said:
We usually use alcohol to clean up residue left on PCB's from flux.
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Which is fine on RMA flux, but when using Water Sol, only water will clean it entirely.



MD_Willington said:
http://www.espseattle.com/PhotoMenu.htm

Go look at the tour...

"[font=Arial, Helvetica]Inline Conveyorized Aquaeous Washer"[/font]


General show of hands of how many people here actually work in the electronics manufacturing industry....

:rolleyes:
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I build pcbs and yeah, we use a very similar Inline cleaner.
 
I suppose distiled water brushed over the board with a paint brush might work. But I agree full submegence in water might be a bad idea





On a side note:

Fun-fact: If you try to boil distilled water, it will not boil since it has no impurities and instead with super heat and when removed from the heat will explode... in your face
I kid you not
 
J_I_M_B_O said:
On a side note:

Fun-fact: If you try to boil distilled water, it will not boil since it has no impurities and instead with super heat and when removed from the heat will explode... in your face
I kid you not
Click to expand...
I have heard that before, anyone want to try it out and see if it is true :D
 
DeanZawistowski said:
would it work if you washed it off and then let it dry for a couple of days?? a friend of mine claims it does but i find it hard to believe.
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Bah...I did once in a desperate pinch. Just rinsed it off. Then I used a blowdryer to completely dry the thing before anything could corrode. After that I let it sit for a couple of days just in case there was a pain in the arse water spot that didn't dry.

Board seems to work fine now tho there are quirks with the machine that I cannot pinpoint the cause of. Overall it functions well as a desktop machine.

After that I would not recommend cleaning anything electronic with water.
 
J_I_M_B_O said:
Fun-fact: If you try to boil distilled water, it will not boil since it has no impurities and instead with super heat and when removed from the heat will explode... in your face
I kid you not
Click to expand...

That might be fun, but it's no fact.

Distilled water still has impurities; just less than tap water. It has impurities the moment you open it and expose it to the atmoshere. It has even more when you pour it into your pot; by chrning and pouring the water, you're mixing it with air.

Distilled water will be a little more likely to superheat than tap water, but it really does boil.
 
mikeblas said:
That might be fun, but it's no fact.

Distilled water still has impurities; just less than tap water. It has impurities the moment you open it and expose it to the atmoshere. It has even more when you pour it into your pot; by chrning and pouring the water, you're mixing it with air.

Distilled water will be a little more likely to superheat than tap water, but it really does boil.
Click to expand...

Just pour it directly inot a bowl in the microwave. I saw it on Mythbusters
 
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