IBM 5160 - Dishwasher time?

[FunctionalLimits]

I recently got an IBM 5160 from a local recycler. (Yes, apparently people are still taking these things to the recycler!) The exterior of the box looked pretty clean, so I figured it would be a quick and pleasant little weekend project to open it up, inspect it, get rid of the dust bunnies, and take it for a test drive. I'm sure I was humming cheerfully as I removed the case screws. Then I slid the top off and saw...something. There was very little dust, but there was a *lot* of mess: The RAM banks looked mossy, and the processor was yellow. At first I thought the machine must have been stored in a very humid environment, although I hadn't spotted any rust at all on the case. Then I noticed the little pellets of organic matter. Droppings! OK, this motherboard was somebody's latrine. Now all I could think about was removing the drives to make sure there wasn't a carcass lurking in or under them. There wasn't (big relief), but I can tell you that the previous inhabitant did spend some time hanging out in drive A. Drive B was remarkably unscathed.

Unfortunately, due to a certain loss of composure, I forgot to take commemorative photos of the motherboard in its fully glory. I did manage to get a couple of shots after the first scrub-down with brush and 99% isopropyl, although I guess I must have been a little shaky, because they're slightly blurred. :-/ I'll try to improve them later with Photoshop, but to give you an idea, here's the 8088 beginning to re-emerge; you may also notice some remnant poop still stuck to the board between the slots:



And here are the RAM banks looking much less furry:



Again, these were *after* I had already removed a *lot* of muck. I've cleaned this motherboard three times now using brushes, swabs, and alcohol, but there's still a fair amount of residual crud. There's also a lot of oxidation; even the expansion slots have areas that are green. (On the other hand, the connectors on the cards that were in them are fine.) Given the high filth factor on this board and the unusually tenacious properties of said filth, I really would like to give this thing a bath. I've heard/read lots of stories about motherboards going into the dishwasher, but I've never been tempted to try it. I don't even use a dishwasher for my dishes. However, I don't think I can clean this board without giving it a thorough soaking with agitation.

So here are my questions:
(1) Has anyone put an oldish board like this in the dishwasher? If so, was the experiment a success? What were the parameters (water temperature, board placement, drying method, soap)?
(2) Given all the oxidation already on this board, should I just avoid exposing it to water?

Thanks in advance for any tips. I don't know how much more manual poop-swabbing I can stand to do...

 

[Shadow Lord]

Here is a bit of linkage from Tezza's blog. Maybe he will drop by the thread himself to give you more insight.

 

[FunctionalLimits]

Here is a bit of linkage from Tezza's blog. Maybe he will drop by the thread himself to give you more insight.

Thanks for the link! And thanks, Tezza, for recording all that info in your blog. Now if I *do* decide to go with the dishwasher option, at least I have some settings that worked in one instance. I had read another of Tezza's stories about his adventures with the dishwasher in which he ended up with a warped case (an Apple II, I think), and that one got me very worried about which dishwasher settings to use.

 

[barythrin]

Bloody hell you're up late lol. I've also heard lots of folks successfully using the dishwasher to clean keyboards and other parts after letting them dry completely afterwards (a day or so) before applying any power. Some folks also recommend using a hair dryer (at a distance .. too close and you could theoretically melt some solder).

I haven't done this though. A few members here in another similar thread pointed out the toxicity of rat droppings that you would not want to do this in a dishwasher that you actually use for things you'd eat off of. There may be some google results on whether that's a real concern or whether boiling water and a dry run would be enough to kill any diseases or bacteria in the dishwasher afterwards. I kinda think that the folks that I've heard of running things through dishwashers have done it at their office and not home or perhaps they didn't have any disease type concerns. Keyboards while disgusting if you think about them are not likely anything some soap wouldn't kill.

 

[FunctionalLimits]

Well, the good news is that I never use my dishwasher! The noise bugs me, and I secretly like washing dishes. (Hope no family members spot this...) I would imagine that a couple of runs at super-hot settings would sterilize the dishwasher, but I'd have to check the temps to verify that. I have to admit, though, Hantavirus is one of the first things I thought of when I figured out what was on this board.

Btw, a lot of people (including Tezza) dry their boards in a convection oven at a low setting.

 

[tezza]

Hi,

Yes, as you would read I did have a rodent-resident apple board I cleaned up in the dishwasher (actually more than one). They certainly come up looking much better and worked just fine.

I hasn't always worked for me. One apple II clone board warped as has been noted and another (a PS/2) stopped working after it went in the dishwasher. It may not have been the treatment though as I did handle it a lot before hand. It could have been static electricity from that. Who knows!

I wouldn't expect an AT board to warp. The one's I've seen are thicker (and maybe squarer) than Apple II boards.

On balance my experience with washing boards has been more positive than negative, and that seems to apply for others too. However, like all of these things there is some risk and nothing is guaranteed.

I'd remove all removable chips before you do and make sure the board is completely dry before booting it up. Mouse urine is quite corrosive and it may have already caused damage. Hopefully not.

Tez

 

[FunctionalLimits]

Thanks, Tezza. You must have stopped by while I was putting my board into the dishwasher! It's now in the oven on the "Dehydrate" setting, which I didn't even know existed (approx. 140°F/60°C). I'm *very* glad I did it. Nothing warped, and the board is clean at last.

I pulled everything socketed before loading the board into the dishwasher so that all the crud that had accumulated underneath the chips and around the pins would be removed. I cleaned the microprocessor, RAM, etc., by hand with alcohol. Amazingly, so far I only have one confirmed casualty that actually lost a pin due to corrosion, but I'm sure there will be many more. A couple of the soldered-on components look pretty dubious too.

The traces on this board don't look bad -- I've found other boards that had traces in much worse condition due to battery leakage and they still worked reliably. Several of the contacts in the expansion card sockets look very thin and frail (and green), so those should all be replaced. In the end, the board might not be worth salvaging, but if not, at least it will go to its grave looking respectable.