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Cleaning vintage computer motherboards

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Flushy

New Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2015
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8
Hey,

What is the best way to clean the motherboard of a vintage computer so that it can be restored to it's original circuit board shine? Most of my collection of computers have been air dusted inside but never fully cleaned.

What is the best method?

-Flushy
 
I have washed boards with dish soap and a fine brush before as outlined in the above threads. I wouldn't try the dishwasher as it may be so violent that it throws the board around.

Remove the battery first as it does not like getting wet. Use a small amount of dish soap in warm distilled water; brush it over the board and then rinse thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly) with distilled water. Never use tap water or even rain water as the salts will stay behind and cause conductive tracks to form between the smaller pins on the IC's.

I then blew out most of the water using an air compressor, stood the board up on its edge in the sun for about 2hrs, rotated to the other edge (etc etc) until completely (again I mean completely) dry.

Most people go wrong with these methods because a) they don't dry the boards before powering back up, b) the IC's / board have some damage which allows water inside them and then causes more damage or c) don't rinse thoroughly with clean distilled water.

Remember water will tend to hide under SOIC's and any large PCB componants like ISA slots, memory sockets etc. That is why I used a compressor; it's the only way to thoroughly remove water from these areas.

As above, proceed at your own risk.
 
An air compressor seems to be a somewhat expensive device. Would a can of compressed air do the job?
I have read posts of at least one person who suggests using a space heater.
 
If you have to do any more than a little cleaning the cost of canned air adds up. You don't need a "shop" air compressor, just something like this. (I have one of these and it's awesome...has much more force than canned air and it never runs out.)
 
I use canned air works fine. Just never vacuum a motherboard. The air being sucked in through the plastic nozzle can generate a static charge. Especially with low humidity.
 
I have washed plenty of boards in the dishwasher. Alot of them came out with that pcb shine again. But not all. Some of the worst with industrial grit or rust residue need hand scrubbing. But I use that method. Just dont use the heat dry at the end.
 
Dish soap and water plus air drying work for me. My basement is pretty dry and a couple days is all they need.
 
I've come to learn juat lately that 20% coupon doesn't cover a lot of items. Anything that says Central Machinery is one of them. Got to read the fine print. It's a bummer and I have less and less reason to shop there. Except for some odd little item now and again. Their tool sets are as much as Craftsman and other well known brands. Not that I want their tools. Please.
 
Electronic manufacturers of any type would NEVER use water and soap.
Water encourages corrosion and not all components are water tight.
They use solvents of different types.
Use compresses air, a small vacumn device, and a brush with non-static producing bristles.
For a solvent - you can buy cans of different specialty types in stores or online
but isopropyl alcohol wowks fine for most things.
Use high % alcohol. Drugstore 70% has too much water, use 90%, ot buy special 98% from an electronics store.
 
The thing is though at least some of us have bought electronic equipment at outdoor flea markets. When the weather wasn't so hot. When it eas pouring down. When that vintage item you've been waiting for is located at the wrong end of the tarp. The end that's a functional rain gutter, and is directing all runoff on and through the item. You brought it home anyway, dried it out thoroughly and watched it power up. So I'm not afraid of water anymore. It may not be the ideal method but it doesn't seem to be the worst.
 
Bob.A said:
Electronic manufacturers of any type would NEVER use water and soap.
Water encourages corrosion and not all components are water tight.
Click to expand...

Your point is moot. We are not talking about manufacturing. We are talking about cleaning. And dishwasher detergents/agents contain corrosives. That point has been brought up many times already.
We are talking about cleaning Filthy boards.. Not dusty boards. Gross boards with mouse droppings and urine accumulation. Mud and debris from flood damage. Extreme cases. The dishwasher works miracles in some of these situations.
I have washed and repaired boards that any sane person would have said "its ruined! Its garbage, Throw it away!"
 
I usually clean all my motherboards by hand in a 2 part process. First off I remove all loose dust with a dry paintbrush, then I use a old toothbrush, fingernail brush, or something similar to brush with acetone or strong isopropyl alcohol. I even do this with badly dirtied boards because I"m a tad OCD about trying to make my stuff look as OEM new as possible. After all that's done I blot and fine clean using Q-tips and paper towels. Works well enough for me, even my desktops when cleaned off after years of running and getting covered in dust look brand spankin' new when I clean them off.

Granted, I've never seen any "Found in a creek/riverbed" bad stuff in a long, long time.
 
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