Peter Turnbull wrote:
> Don't use contact cleaner. Proper contact cleaner contains oil. It's
> not nearly as bad as WD40, but you don't really want the board covered
> in a flm of oil.
I can vouch for that - someone sent me a 386 motherboard he'd "cleaned" with
Amberlube (IIRC). Now the board attracts dust like there's no tomorrow. It
*needs* rinsing in IPA followed by deionised water, but I haven't got any.
> If that's too much like hard work, or you have a lot of boards to
> clean, consider using the dishwasher. That's what's used commercially
> (at least, for small-scale stuff). However, DON'T let it do the
> drying cycle (too hot for some things) and don't use the dishwasher
> if the board contains anything that might suffer: transformers,
> relays (unless hermetically sealed), paper labels that must be
> preserved, anything with extremely fine wires (core mats), etc. I've
> been told some very old ICs (grey type) don't like being immersed in
> hot water. I've never had a problem with that, but YMMV. Some old
> types of compressed paper boards (Paxolin) may not like the
> dishwasher either. Same rules apply about drying.
Ick... IIRC Electrolube produce a foam cleaner that (they claim) can rip
grease and grime off a PCB without causing any damage to components.
Fluxclene is also quite good, but it stinks to high heaven. Alcohol based,
IIRC, with a slight citrus scent... For $DEITY's sake, use it in a
well-ventilated area - outside if possible. I used a can of it for 20secs in
a large kitchen and ended up with a headache that lasted 40 minutes... Oops.
Never did that again...
Later.
--
Phil.
philpem_at_dsl.pipex.com
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/
Received on Wed Feb 12 2003 - 01:57:00 GMT