cleaning pcb's and opinion on running them in dishwasher

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cleaning pcb's and opinion on running them in dishwasher

i do alot of soldering and hate working on filthy boards and monitor chassis so i always clean them in a big sink with soap water and simple green purple but that seems to take a long time. i just don't feel right sending them through my dishwasher that my dishes go through but i have a spare disher now and i ran them through my spare dishwasher and they seem to come out perfectly clean, but so far no problems and i am wondering if anyone else have done this and if they have come across any issues caused by doing this?? (no heat dry of course!!!!) it sure is a time saver but i haven't found any negative side affects yet and i blow them off wth the compressor and then leave them air dry for almost a week. i don't use any rinse aid only dishwashing detergent (LIQUID ONLY) so it completely desolves and doesn't leave residue and i usually add a cup of the simple green purple also. anyone try this and have any negatives???
 
That's the best way to do it if you want them super clean. Just like you said, don't power them up for awhile, a week is plenty. The water only hurts the board if it shorts something out when powered, as long as it fully dries there's no issue.
 
Dishwasher is fine. Just run it with Simple Green.

It's not the water you're worried about, it's the minerals dissolved in it.

A full blow-dry with the compressor and an hour in the (toaster)oven at 170f (~76c) will nicely clean a board. No need to dry for a week.
 
I ran my Tempest AR-II board and the entire wiring harness through my dishwasher. It worked great! I didn't use soap at all. Wish I had done the same to my WG6100 boards when I rebuilt the monitor....
 
I just use my laundry sink, simple green and a cut down 3inch paint brush to scrub it off. Then I set it on a box fan facing up on a 5gal bucket to dry.
 
cleaning pcb's and opinion on running them in dishwasher

I just use my laundry sink, simple green and a cut down 3inch paint brush to scrub it off. Then I set it on a box fan facing up on a 5gal bucket to dry.


Does Bob Roberts sell those 5gal buckets?

:)

On a serious note, I've read about washing PCBs for 10 years and I'm still worried about doing it!
 
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Does Bob Roberts sell those. 5gal buckets?

:)

On a serious note, I've read about washing PCBs for 10 years and I'm still worried about doing it!

Could you imagine if he did? 5gal bucket sale? Everything you can fit in a 5gal bucket for 1 price!
 
Dishwasher is fine. Just run it with Simple Green.

It's not the water you're worried about, it's the minerals dissolved in it.

A full blow-dry with the compressor and an hour in the (toaster)oven at 170f (~76c) will nicely clean a board. No need to dry for a week.

i forgot to say i always run the liquid soap and simple green but i do always so a second rinse cycle when i do all boards to make sure all residue is gone. i heard from someone in the past that they had a problem with the granular soap not desolving completely so i stayed away from that. i will say instead of standing over a sink scrubbing them i stick them in the dishwasher push a button and walk away....(I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO DO DISHES!!!)(i guess i should say boards since i don't do dishes)....:D
 
i forgot to say i always run the liquid soap and simple green but i do always so a second rinse cycle when i do all boards to make sure all residue is gone. i heard from someone in the past that they had a problem with the granular soap not desolving completely so i stayed away from that. i will say instead of standing over a sink scrubbing them i stick them in the dishwasher push a button and walk away....(I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO DO DISHES!!!)(i guess i should say boards since i don't do dishes)....:D


I would probably use a dish washer if I had a spare that I didn't use for my dishes. I'm not washing 40 pcb's at a time so it only takes a couple minutes. Usually only enough to cover the face of a box fan.
 
simple green. large sink. toothbrush. and lots of hot water.

then air compressor*, dryer (hand or hair), and a day to sit

*I've never used an air compressor, you use the dryer at various angles in and around sockets to get the water out from underneath.


I forgot the last key ingredient: finesse. ;)
 
simple green. large sink. toothbrush. and lots of hot water.

then air compressor*, dryer (hand or hair), and a day to sit

*I've never used an air compressor, you use the dryer at various angles in and around sockets to get the water out from underneath.


I forgot the last key ingredient: finesse. ;)

You should try a 3 inch paint brush with the bristles cut down to make them stiffer. way more efficient than a tooth brush
 
You should try a 3 inch paint brush with the bristles cut down to make them stiffer. way more efficient than a tooth brush

ooo. I don't know, I've had success with the toothbrush all this time. I use soft bristle cause I don't want it to be too abrasive or anything, especially when you're cleaning the gunk out of surface mount chips.
 
In almost 20 years I have never had a board that needed anything more than some alcohol and a soft bristle toothbrush. I can't imagine water being good and I have never found it to be necessary.
 
Washed this guy the other day.

Simple green, 2-3" black bristle brush (came from an automotive brush set), garden hose, hair drier, air compressor, and the sun on my back deck.
 

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In almost 20 years I have never had a board that needed anything more than some alcohol and a soft bristle toothbrush. I can't imagine water being good and I have never found it to be necessary.

I deal with a lot of water-clean fluxes in my day job. There's an increasing amount of them, since water is cheaper than solvents.
 
Washed this guy the other day.

Simple green, 2-3" black bristle brush (came from an automotive brush set), garden hose, hair drier, air compressor, and the sun on my back deck.


this is exactly what i am talking about.... great cleaning but i don't have the time to do it by hand so i resorted to a dishwasher to do it for me and i have found just as good of results and sometimes better and i save all the time and i save on the simple green since i can do about 10 pacman boards in one load and only use a cup or two of simple green and detergent and they come out sparkling and i don't have to spend a couple hours cleaning by hand 10 boards. i love working on boards and chassis that look like that.
 
this is exactly what i am talking about.... great cleaning but i don't have the time to do it by hand so i resorted to a dishwasher to do it for me and i have found just as good of results and sometimes better and i save all the time and i save on the simple green since i can do about 10 pacman boards in one load and only use a cup or two of simple green and detergent and they come out sparkling and i don't have to spend a couple hours cleaning by hand 10 boards. i love working on boards and chassis that look like that.

just be careful with the dish washer. I've heard of issues with the washers using super hot water and doing damage.

also total time spent was about 10-15minutes.
 
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just be careful with the dish washer. I've heard of issues with the washers using super hot water and doing damage.

also total time spent was about 10-15minutes.

that was what i was wondering too so i don't use the sanitize so the water is only tap water hot and not heated any higher from the dishwasher. i can't seem to hand clean 10 boards in less then an hour and half or two hours from start to finish. i have only done about 10-15 boards and so far with no problems yet but i plan on doing about a dozen or so more this weekend and also i am doing about 8 chassis too. if anything bad comes up i will report back. i am always trying to find anyway possible to save time without cutting corners since i have over 100 games in my collection to keep up and running and i also like to completely clean/restore them inside and out.
 
i would only wash the boards that are super filthy dirty, as you don't really wanna risk any unnecessary damage. Normally I only wash a PCB if it's been thru the mud/soda fountain, or if it's a monitor chassis (most of them need to be washed no questions asked).
 
i would only wash the boards that are super filthy dirty, as you don't really wanna risk any unnecessary damage. Normally I only wash a PCB if it's been thru the mud/soda fountain, or if it's a monitor chassis (most of them need to be washed no questions asked).

i generally only wash the boards that i have to work on or as you say really need it due to spillage. i totally agree on monitor chassis ( i haven't found one that isn't extremely dirty).
 
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