Cleaning old motherboards

[pkhoury]

I have some 5150 and 5160 boards I need to clean. Someone on some thread suggested mild dishwashing soap (not dishwasher detergent) and 5 minutes in the dishwasher, followed by drying. I have one 5160 board in front of me with nasty rodent turd remnants. Could I get away with this method? I've also seen 93% isopropyl alcohol (which I've had mixed success with on other boards), vinegar, etc. I want to try to get this board cleaned before I start testing/troubleshooting if there are issues, but have some other boards that need to be cleaned as well.

 

[epooch]

I have put logic boards in the dishwasher on several occasions with no ill effects, and to great benefit. It was very effective at removing leaking capacitor dielectric and get a computer working again before I could do a re-capping. After the dishwasher, I do a quick rinse with isopropyl to displace most of the water and then dry in a toaster oven for an hour or two at a low temperature, like 100 F.
I would not go this route on anything with transformers, chokes, switches, RF circuitry, or anything that could trap the water and cause corrosion. I am not sure how that applies to a IBM 5150 or 5160 board.
Here is an example of a washing gone wrong:

 

[pkhoury]

I don't think the 5150/5160 has any of that, other than the relay for the cassette port that almost nobody uses. I don't have a toaster oven, but it is about 100 degrees outside, so that could work.
I might take a shot at this then, and see how the results end up.

 

[jafir]

The 5150 had a relay and a pot that I wouldn’t trust going through a dishwasher. I probably wouldn’t even really want to get it wet in those areas.

 

[twolazy]

The 5160 I've been working on, went through the dishwasher day I received it... With no ill effects. Just make sure to thoroughly dry it. I put my oven on 200F (lowest it could go)... then turn it off waited about 15 mins and put it on the rack upside down. Dried overnight and works great.

 

[pkhoury]

The 5160 I've been working on, went through the dishwasher day I received it... With no ill effects. Just make sure to thoroughly dry it. I put my oven on 200F (lowest it could go)... then turn it off waited about 15 mins and put it on the rack upside down. Dried overnight and works great.

Guess I gotta put mine upside down. Mine goes down to 170, and I set it for 15 minutes. Should still be fairly warm enough to continue drying after it turns off.

The dishwasher worked beautifully, along with an old toothbrush head (I save my used ones specifically for jobs like this).