Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.
--
Bill

On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 1:39:16 AM UTC, Bill wrote:

Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.
The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

and contains salt, not soemthing you want to leave on electronics

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.
Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

help what?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.

I cant imagine a wash making it work again, unless there's some big pile of wet gloop on it.


NT

On 03/12/2013 02:03, wrote:
On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 1:39:16 AM UTC, Bill wrote:

Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.
The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

and contains salt, not soemthing you want to leave on electronics

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.
Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

help what?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.

I cant imagine a wash making it work again, unless there's some big pile of wet gloop on it.


NT

How about borrowing the use of a sonic cleaner, that should do it.

Bill wrote:

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

Forget water and washing up liquid, loony idea. Cans of spray de-greaser
are what's wanted as it dislodges the goo, washes it away and then
evaporates. Cotton buds are good for mopping up large areas of residue.
I use the Toolstation Brake Cleaner (green spray can) for laptops (and
about a million other things; very occasionally brakes too.)

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

On 03/12/2013 01:39, Bill wrote:

Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

You have to pour a fairly copious amount of liquid into a laptop
keyboard to have hope of it making its way through it. They are usually
designed to be somewhat spill resistant - even if they themselves die in
the process.

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards?

Not generally.

Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

Hopefully those tracks should be well insulated from the world by a
layer of solder resist.

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.

There are a multitude of reasons for a board to fail, being "dirty" is
one of the far less common ones. (the contamination would have to be
quite severe)

Keyboards on the other hand are more susceptible to damage by
contamination - but motherboards with no moving parts, or switching
contacts far less so.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 03/12/2013 01:39, Bill wrote:
Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.

There are a lot of machines out there that have faulty soldering on them.
AND CPU and Nvidia graphics spring to mind.
You need to google your model and see if its affected.
If so re-flowing is a temporary fix, re-balling may fix it permanently
but as some of the faults are the package design may not.

On 03/12/2013 08:48, Scott M wrote:
Bill wrote:

I use the Toolstation Brake Cleaner (green spray can) for laptops (and
about a million other things; very occasionally brakes too.)


Interesting

"Bill" wrote in message
...
Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where the
coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and letting
them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs and sizzles.

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2 scrub
routine, as it still doesn't work.

I left a load of electrical stuff including a PC with a neighbour after my
loft tank burst and the ceiling collapsed for "safekeeping", his kids
managed to cover the insides of it with thick black ink. I only found out
when I turned it on and nothing happened, so I dismantled it.

I took everything off the motherboard that would come off - fan, CPU, memory
modules etc., gave it a good wash in the sink with (strong dilution) washing
up liquid, good rinse, then let it dry for about 3 days on a working
radiator to be sure, turning it around and upside down every so often. It
worked fine when I put it all back together. In my case, the ink had
"insulated" some of the connections like the memory and various plugs, so
removing the ink made it work again. I cleaned the memory modules and CPU
connections with wet wipes then a clean rag (remembering to wear rubber
gloves to prevent static of course).

I'd be surprised if washing helps any of the soldered components or fixed
connections come back to life if they've died though. If the laptop just
stopped working without any obvious external cause, it's probably knackered.
And if you spilled coffee in it while it was on, it's probably knackered.

Personally, I've never managed to get anything back by wasing it.

I think too much residue is often left and some of the moisture gets inside
components in any case.


Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Bill" wrote in message
...
Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where the
coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and letting
them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs and sizzles.

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2 scrub
routine, as it still doesn't work.
--
Bill

Indeed, and I'd not do it on mixers either there are special lubricating
cleaners for that purpose.

Most of the completely dead motherboards in laptops are dead power
regulation parts, often bespoke and unobtainable now.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 1:39:16 AM UTC, Bill wrote:

Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.
The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

and contains salt, not soemthing you want to leave on electronics

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.
Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem
awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

help what?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.

I cant imagine a wash making it work again, unless there's some big pile
of wet gloop on it.


NT

Bill wrote:

I have a machine with a dead mainboard.



Some people[1] recommend (as a "hail Mary" try) actually putting the
mainboard in the oven. This apparently helps thermal shock any dodgy
connections (it is also supposed to remake 'iffy' solder connections
but I would not have thought domestic ovens could get anywhere near the
temperature required to melt solder, and subjecting the whole 'board to
those(melting solder) sort of temperatures strikes me as 'interesting').

Wouldn't have thought washing it with washing up liquid was a good
idea (too much residue) if you feel you have to use liquid

Make sure it is powered off
The battery is removed
Only use water. (de-ionised water will NOT conduct electricity but
it will pick up ions really quite quickly[main reason there are no water
submerged rigs])
It is totally dry BEFORE applying ANY power.

Better still to use some form of easily evaporated de-greaser.

If it still will not work, maybe source a substitute mainboard
(beware of buying used computer parts on Ebay) and replace or buy a
new laptop (if flush) and get any required data from the hard drive
of the defunct laptop. Sometimes (especially with computers) the
technology advances so fast that items should be replaced rather than
much time spent repairing them.

[1] All information worth what you paid for it e.t.c.

Bill explained on 03/12/2013 :
Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where the
coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff dilutes
to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and letting
them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs and sizzles.

Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on there
that don't like a good rinse? Those little tracks and wires seem awfully
close, so will a good soaking help?

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2 scrub
routine, as it still doesn't work.

I, as a matter of course, wash any electronics I am working upon.
Washing a laptop, I would remove the HDD and the keyboard and use an
absolute minimum of detergent.

Water under a membrane keyboard can be almost impossible to get out,
unless the membrane can be removed.

I then rinse very well under warm water and use compressed air to blow
the surplus water out, then a long spell on a radiator or on top of a
hot water tank to dry it out thoroughly.

Be aware of any mechanical parts, where the lubrication might be washed
out.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Indeed, and I'd not do it on mixers either there are special
lubricating cleaners for that purpose.

Most of the completely dead motherboards in laptops are dead power
regulation parts, often bespoke and unobtainable now.

Thanks to all. I'll follow up Brian because I think he is wrong :-)

On the old fashioned audio mixers that I knew and loved it was standard
procedure to yank them apart and head for the toilets, especially when
it was hot Lemsip that the DJ had spilled. Proper faders can be cleaned
and lubricated easily. I bought a couple of the
grandsons-of-Dermic-oiler that were in the Aldi remainder bin a month or
so ago, and they seem quite useful.

I have some of the non-lubricating electronic cleaner, but the brake
cleaner sounds interesting and I might try some.

The current laptop in question was bought off ebay to break for parts
(case, hinges etc.) with dead mainboard and is a Lenovo, so there are
drawings and even a huge, horrifying circuit diagram available. It has
Intel graphics, so that is likely to be OK. The fan/heatsink comes away
quite easily.

The little square spillage drains don't seem to have worked too well and
the rinse over a bowl of water did turn the water brown even though the
board looked quite clean before I started. I was just thinking that a
good soak and thorough airing might possibly revive it and nothing will
be lost if I have to scrap it. I take the point about salt in washing-up
liquid.

Stage 3 might be the electric blowlamp reflow at a slightly greater
distance than I used to use to reclaim TTL from boards.

I have a sonic cleaning bath, but it's too small.
--
Bill

On Tue, 3 Dec 2013 01:39:16 +0000, Bill wrote:

Specifically laptops where the motherboard is under the keyboard where
the coffee, beer and crumbs settle.

Vacuum cleaner for the crumbs

The washing up liquid thread made me visit this (the cheap Aldi stuff
dilutes to about 1000 to 1).

I am familiar with washing audio mixers, guitar amps and so on and
letting them dry in a clean environment to wash off the clicks, bangs
and sizzles.

Salt laden washing up liquid + water = a daft approach. I'd use washing up
liquid sparingly applied to a dishcloth to clean greasy marks from a
disconnected mains plug and mains leads, nothing more.

For PCB's, Isopropyl Alcohol or Electrolube Safewash and Saferinse

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp;jsessionid=PRIYJKQENSVAACQLCIQZOXQ?N=0& Ntk=gensearch&Ntt=safewash&Ntx=mode+matchallpartia l&exposeLevel2Refinement=true&suggestions=false&re f=globalsearch&_requestid=32575

http://uk.farnell.com/electrolube/sr...osol/dp/451277

http://uk.farnell.com/electrolube/sw...osol/dp/451265


Has anyone done this with laptop motherboards? Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse?

All will have been rinsed and probably fully immersed in aqueous based cleaners
during manufacture, some with ingress protection, but that is to clean off
manufacturing debris and flux, not general grime.

Those little tracks and wires seem awfully close, so will a good soaking help?

If not performed correctly It would only help move debris from somewhere visible
to somewhere not visible where it could cause further problems

I have a machine with a dead mainboard. A light rinse with a soft brush
produced brown water in the bowl, but I now need to try the stage 2
scrub routine, as it still doesn't work.

'Dead' is not usually due to dirt. It could be anything, soldering, cracks in
the board or component failure such as bad caps. Liquid spills will kill a
computer if it is left for any time with power connected (mains, battery, CMOS
backup battery)

--

On Tue, 3 Dec 2013 01:39:16 +0000, Bill wrote:

Are there components on
there that don't like a good rinse?

CMOS backup batteries, if the coin cell often used is left in place
you will get immediate electrolytic corrosion.