Soap or No Soap ..... Dry or No Dry????

JimFly

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OK, I need to clean up some PCB's. I've heard running them through the dish washer works. The questions are ....... Do I use the soap? Do I go through the dry cycle? I'm sure this sound stupid BUT, I thought running these PCB's through the dishwasher was a little odd too.

Thanx
Jim
 
whatever method you use go easy on the detergent
some say to avoid the dry cycle and some say to avoid putting them in sunlight to dry

i place them verticle on the shelf for a few days to dry them out real good

i try and avoid putting those little bitty transformers through any kind of moisture but thats just me
 
I know lots of people do it without any problems... but I guess I don't understand the need. What are you trying to accomplish by doing it? IMO it seems like many more things could go wrong than could be helped by doing it. Does the board really need to look sparkly clean... if you're worried about caked on dirt or dust, I'd just take a brush and compressed air to clean it. Water can get in places that can take a LONG time to dry (ever got water under a plexi control panel cover?), and also in places that you really don't want it (caps, transformers, wire sheathing, etc).

I mean... how many computer repair places recommend pulling components and sticking it in a dishwasher, versus blowing them out with compressed air. Well... maybe the repair places will recommend it, so they have more stuff to repair when it goes wrong ;) .

It seems sort of equivalent to power washing arcade cabs... sure, it works if done right, but if you screw it up, you can definitely ruin a perfectly good cab. I'd stick with the cleaner and paper towels :p .

DogP
 
but I guess I don't understand the need.

well, one reason is, if the board is spread with rat's sh*ts. it happened to me lot of time (i know it's kind of filthy).

second reason, some one trying to cleaned it up in wrong manner, i.e. using thinner solution with no dust cleaning first causing the board looks really dirty, or using WD40 spray to spray the board all over, make it dirty all over, or else.

i don't need to clean them if they don't need a repair.

in precaution with what your pcb contents like DogP said, yes, use soap, and use a good/a little bit expensive soap make a better result. use hot water if available. and for final rinse, use thinner. that's my recipe :p
 
I may get grief for this, but I would never recommend putting them in the dishwasher. And I'm the kind of guy that might use soap & water to clean 'em. And I have put musical instruments in the dishwasher. But putting PCB's in there is outside my comfort zone. Not only does the detergent contain mild caustics which could cause corrosion, but the water pressure could force H20 into places you never knew existed. And the heat cannot be good for 30yr old equipment.

As for the final rinse, I'd recommend alcohol over thinner. Not only is it less likely to dissolve any lacquers, but it will mix with any remaining water and help evaporate it. That said, I've cleaned contacts with rubbing alcohol, but never bathed a PCB with it. As such, I'm not sure what it might react with and discolor/damage. That said, If I were in your shoes I'd try it first over thinner.
 
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I used to work in a grey market Apple repair depot in the mid 90s and we used an old dishwasher to wash hundreds upon hundreds of boards. In all that time we never had a problem with a warranty return that was based upon how the boards were cleaned. We used hot water wash, no soap, and no heat dry since the heating elements in a dishwasher get so hot that it'll melt plastic.

Sometimes you just have to scrub a board to get it cleaned. Compressed air won't remove oily or crusty grime... and won't remove spills or rodent/insect damage.

Last night I fixed a 6 slot Neo-Geo board for a forum member and this will probably blow your mind: The top board was really nasty so it got a scrub in the sink with a toothbrush and dish soap. I found that is the best method for thoroughly cleaning out the slots to remove the years of dust, grime, gunk, etc. that gets inside them.

The board was dried in the gas oven at 170 degrees then tested. After drying, every slot worked with no lines in graphics or garbled sound which is an indication of dirty slots.

I prefer that method of drying since it gets all the water out of the cracks and crevices. It's safe for most plastics: the only plastic I've ever had issues with is the square piece over the top of the memory card slot on the 2 slot Neo Geo boards. It will get soft and when you pull the board out simply lift the plastic back in place and blow on it and it'll set back where it needs to be. This type of plastic would really be bad off in a dishwasher if you use the heat dry.

Just don't do any washing or drying of boards that have batteries on them and you'll be fine. Batteries and water simply do not mix.

RJ
 
Channelmanic, thank you for the info. I think I'll try it out in the dishwasher. How long do you put the pcb in the oven for?
 
Till it's dry.

It differs from board to board and how much you shake off of it and out of the sockets before you put it in. The 6 slot board I did the other night took about 35 to 40 minutes because I didn't turn it upside down and pat it against a lint-free cloth to get a bunch of the water out first.
 
Last night I fixed a 6 slot Neo-Geo board for a forum member and this will probably blow your mind: The top board was really nasty so it got a scrub in the sink with a toothbrush and dish soap. I found that is the best method for thoroughly cleaning out the slots to remove the years of dust, grime, gunk, etc. that gets inside them.

The board was dried in the gas oven at 170 degrees then tested. After drying, every slot worked with no lines in graphics or garbled sound which is an indication of dirty slots.

I prefer that method of drying since it gets all the water out of the cracks and crevices. It's safe for most plastics: the only plastic I've ever had issues with is the square piece over the top of the memory card slot on the 2 slot Neo Geo boards. It will get soft and when you pull the board out simply lift the plastic back in place and blow on it and it'll set back where it needs to be. This type of plastic would really be bad off in a dishwasher if you use the heat dry.

Just don't do any washing or drying of boards that have batteries on them and you'll be fine. Batteries and water simply do not mix.

RJ
thats how i cleaned the PCB's for the 6100 that was in the space duel i had, works wonders
 
I've put several boards through the dish washer w/o any problems. Usually they're monitor chassis. My dish washer has a quick rinse cycle, thats what I use. No detergent needed. It just uses hot water. I towel dry the water then place them vertically w/ a fan blowing on them. Now, let them sit and dry for 2-3 days w/ the fan on them. Then before working on them or installing them, I blow compressed air under the sockets and components. Make sure all the water is gone. Working on monitors is bad enough, but add that damn black build up makes the job worse. If you don't believe, then just try it w/ a junk board. Old motherboard or video card or jamma board that you are gonna throw away.
 
Just use a little common sense too. I've seen some pcb's from games that people had stored in sheds. Nothing but mouse *!@& all over. Obviously I wouldn't let that thing in the kitchen, none the less the dish washer. In those cases, some windex and a hose in the driveway works just fine.
 
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