I've heard of folks who also believe they can hose their appliances in the tub! Mr. Burns, evidently works in design or on customers' goods...therefore, extreme caution is necessary. I use similar cautions...but on a hobby basis.
I've worked in the telephone circuit design for 30 years and we always lube the connectors. This was done mainly for gold to gold contacts as they can essentially cold weld after many years making it impossible to remove the board. In the early days it was a very thin wiping of bee's wax. But, some people in the field took this to mean dunking it in the solvent dissolved wax. Today they use a very expensive lubricant from Monsanto which is mixed with contact cleaner for field use. Also, a disposable pad it used to clean both the board connector and the backplane connector to which it is plugged into. It leaves a very thin but effective layer of lubricant. BTW, these are not greasy and don't collect dirt.
...also used as an anti-oxidant (gold won't oxidize but other metals will). Thanks Art!
I'm with you. We used to fix buggy equipment by letting it soak in a deep sink with hot water and floor soap. Then rinse. Then bake at 125F for 24 hours.
You need to use Monster Products Magnetic Flux Tube® that enhances internal magnetic fields and Linear Polyethelyne (LPE) dielectric insulation for reduced static linearization of the laminar air flow resonator.
Is there anything you were taught years ago that would be considered utter nonsense now? Maybe something thought impossible then but routine now?
It's really great that you are posting here, my friend! I took a few electronics classes in college in the early 70's as free electives (instead of underwater basketweaving, popular at the time) mostly so I could fix my car radio, 8-track, etc.... Instructor was around 75 and wore a small black bow tie - not to be different, just because it had always been his standard dress code. He taught the latest technology, but also a couple of classes on vacuum tubes. What a great course that was.
That's true. In this I checked the connections first. All were snug and clean. I pulled them out and gave them the eraser treatment. Board still didn't work until I cleaned off the dust from the back side.
We used to scrub it on a wash board. And then dry it in the hickory smokehose.
However, for computers, the air compressor sounds right. Be sure to use modulated air.
Per J Burns:
When I serviced crypto equipment in Hawaii, we used to scrub the circuit boards in a warm solution of Pine-Sol.... scrub brush and all...
Make sure you use dry air. Probably also want a trap to prevent any oil from the compressor (or any inline oilers) from coating the electronics.
A compressor acts as a dehumidifier. If the air in the tank is at 100 PSI at ambient temperature and 100% RH, the air coming out will have 15% RH at the same temperature. I used to have to bleed off the water that ended up in the bottom of the tank.
Blowing a paper taped to a wall would be a way to check for oil.
Hitting a fan with compressed air can ruin it or cause it to ruin something else by generating electricity. I've read that compressed air can cause dust to lodge where it will do more harm than before.
I want to support higher education. I'll hire a dozen coeds and issue them attractive uniforms and drinking straws. They'll go door to door, offering to blow out computers gently. If their voice modulation doesn't sell the customer, the sight and aroma of their fishnet hickory smokehose will.
I worked at the Coast Guard electronics repair facility in Ketchikan. Anything from Alaska's 6640 miles of coastline that couldn't be fixed in the field came to us. The AN/URC-51 (UHF/SSB) was the eqjuipment we always laundered. I didn't understand it, but it helped a lot. Now I think the grime caused stray capacitance.
We used a caustic powdered floor soap that would probably have left a film if not thoroughly rinsed.
In the early 1980s, my mother's 19" TV quit. The main board was covered with syrup. Somebody must have put a sugary drink on the TV and knocked it over. I knew she wouldn't tell, so I didn't ask. I just soaked the TV in the laundry sink. I added a little ammonia. It was potentially harmful, but it wouldn't leave a deposit.
The TV worked like new after that.
Did I say 6640 miles? That's according to the the 1975 CRS report for Congress. The NOAA says Alaska has 33,904 miles of coastline.
Of course, you could/can do that with discrete/legacy components, but not any more these days. Maybe we can wash keyboard in the DW, well, I suppose I can wash guitar amp. PCb board as well. Most today's guitar amp. based on vacuum tubes have PCBs. Not much P-P wiring any more unless it is boutique class high end stuff.
Over here it says 49,000 miles:
They point out the obvious, the closer you look, the longer the coast gets. Measure around each pebble and it gets really long.
The circuitry of that TV was mostly ICs with lots of legs. Water under an IC can take a long time to dry. Sometimes I use a little rubbing alcohol to help get the water out by lowering surface tension.
What can't be washed these days? I wash keyboards in the kitchen sink. I wouldn't want to get a relay wet.
This guy says he restored his Kindle by washing the circuitry with a Waterpik flosser.
When I worked in a repair shop (on PC boards for cash registers) we steam cleaned boards and dried them with compressed air. These were Cmos and Pmos design (Rockwell CPU's). I never had a problem with a board...and knew of no one else that had...
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