Clean fingerprint off PC chip

[Wesley]

Can I clean a fingerprint off a Sound Card chip using Maplins Contact Cleaner sprayed onto a lint-free cloth? I haven't got any isopropyl alcohol.

[Bob Minchin]

I think you will find that switch cleaner will dry to leave a lubricating film. Got any meths?

[Ian Jackson]

Angle grinder?

[Jules Richardson]

[Wesley]

Needs to be at least 80% proof!

[Wesley]

According to the FAQ's on Maplin, it does not leave any residue.

[geoff]

In message , Wesley writes

80% or 80 proof - can't be both

as for

"s regards why - the grease from fingerprints heats up on top of the chip and eventually 'fries' the component! "

where does the heat come from ?

the chip

duh

[Andy Dingley]

Bollocks.

[Ian Jackson]

You only need to worry if the IC is so hot that, when you touch it, you leave the tip of your finger attached to it.

[Harry Bloomfield]

geoff brought next idea :

Skin oil from finger prints is supposed to damage T/Halogen lamps which run extremely hot, but I have never heard of that being a problem at the 60- 70 C temperatures that IC's run at.

[John Rumm]

Or make the mistake of checking for "warm" component with you finger, finding a rather too hot SM diode, going "ouch" and whipping you finger away, only to find the little begger bonded to the end of your finger and no longer attached to the board because it was 1) hot enough to reflow its solder, and 2) now melted into your finger tip. DAMHIK!

[John Rumm]

More to the point, most chips are not made of quartz glass anyway.

About the only "chip" I can see a fingerprint being a problem with would be a CCD or CMOS video sensor.

[Huge]

That's worth putting in the humour part of the wiki!

[Geo]

Yebbut - this is an /audio/ chip - you have no idea what a fingerprint does to the sound quality. Any cleaner must leave no oxygen-attracting residues.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Geo expressed precisely :

Guess the pcb tracks are made etched into oxygen free copper.

[John Rumm]

You are Russ Andrews and ICMFP!

[Bob Eager]

Of course, Russ .-)

[Andy Champ]

You mean "This turns out not to be the case".

Wes, forget it. Put it back in the machine. It'll be getting warm in a year or two - because of the dust.

You're more likely to damage it by static electricity from the rubbing.

Andy

[The Other Mike]

If they aren't I'm sure Russ Andrews has a magic potion that removes all the oxygen to leave pure copper behind for an optimum sound experience like no other.

[polygonum]

And listens in an oxygen-free room?