Re: Laptop spill, whats best for cleaning the motherboard?

On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 21:52:46 -0000, "smeggedd" <me@xxxxxx> wrote:

Im trying to clean an acer laptop that someone has spilt whisky and coke
into.. powers then goes off..

Need to have a go at cleaning it..

Any advice.???

TIA.


I have successfully cleaned one (black coffee and sugar) using
dishsoap and distilled water.
After disassembling the laptop (I took digital photos of every single
disassembly step. Priceless to put it back together) I soaked solid
state components only in a very weak solution of clear dishsoap and
distilled water.

I used a soft paint brush to wash some stubborn areas.

Then I rinsed everything in distilled water a few times and let it to
dry in a clean, well ventilated airing cupboard.

The keyboard was a Colossal PITA.

I took it all apart, removed the acetate membrane, washed inside the
membrane with brush and dishwater solution, rinsed it and rinsed it
and rinsed it in distilled water, let it to dry and reassembled.

All in all it would have been cheaper (at my hourly rates) to buy a
new one, but it was therapeutic and it gave me a tremendous feeling of
satisfaction when the thing started working again.


HIH

Lorenz

PS Keep the HD safe. You can't wash that. If all else fails, you can
just stick it somewhere else and recover the data.

PPS It really takes longer to dry than you think.

[L.]
.