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Motherboard/Socket cleaning

J

JDT

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
564
Location
Cicero, NY
Could any offer some advice on cleaning a motherboard (from an IBM 5150) I "wiped" it clean with a rag and alcahol, but in trying to get the 256K of onboard RAM to work by reseating it, it looks as if the RAM chip sockets are tarnished or dusty.. so.. how should I go about cleaning them? The whole board could use a good cleaning really. Thanks.
 
You probably aren't going to believe this, but, if you have a dishwasher, place the entire board, populated, chip side down in it for about 5 minutes and then take it out , give it a good shake and then place it, again, chip side down, on an absorbant towel for for a few hours, then stand it on one of the edges for a few more hours.

This will remove all the dust, dirt and all or most of the corrosion. Any remaining corrosion can be taken care of with some non-lubricating contact cleaner and a soft-bristle brass brush and/or a firm toothbrush whose bristles have been cut down to about 5mms.

I've recovered a lot of boards and cards this way and have never lost a single one.
 
Druid6900 said:
You probably aren't going to believe this, but, if you have a dishwasher, place the entire board, populated, chip side down in it for about 5 minutes and then take it out , give it a good shake and then place it, again, chip side down, on an absorbant towel for for a few hours, then stand it on one of the edges for a few more hours.

This will remove all the dust, dirt and all or most of the corrosion. Any remaining corrosion can be taken care of with some non-lubricating contact cleaner and a soft-bristle brass brush and/or a firm toothbrush whose bristles have been cut down to about 5mms.

I've recovered a lot of boards and cards this way and have never lost a single one.
Click to expand...

I do believe it, but unfortunatly *I AM* the dishwasher ;) Any other suggestions?
 
Yes, but not very much soap. Rinse with distilled water. Let dry thoroughly. Inspect. And possibly repeat.
 
ahm said:
Yes, but not very much soap. Rinse with distilled water. Let dry thoroughly. Inspect. And possibly repeat.
Click to expand...

perhaps a dumb question... rubbing alcahol? instead of water, as it evaporates?
 
Dish soap, any kind, as it is formulated to leave no residue.

I'd hate to think what laundry soap would do.

You can just let it drip-dry as in the dish-washer instructions, just make sure you rinse it thoroughly and place it in the positions I mentioned to drain all the water out of sockets and other cavities.

Normal hot tap water shouldn't hurt the G10 epoxy the board is made out of.
 
Druid6900 said:
Dish soap, any kind, as it is formulated to leave no residue.

I'd hate to think what laundry soap would do.

You can just let it drip-dry as in the dish-washer instructions, just make sure you rinse it thoroughly and place it in the positions I mentioned to drain all the water out of sockets and other cavities.

Normal hot tap water shouldn't hurt the G10 epoxy the board is made out of.
Click to expand...

I used warm water and toothbrush, waiting for it to dry, i cleaned the whole board, every chip was removed. The board will sit in front of a fan over night, at least.
 
JDT said:
perhaps a dumb question... rubbing alcahol? instead of water, as it evaporates?
Click to expand...

I've found that alcohol is okay for small cleanups, but it tends to dry out the plastics and things that need that little bit of moisture. I guess you mean dunking the whole thing in alcohol? That's what I was thinking.

Nathan
 
NathanAllan said:
I've found that alcohol is okay for small cleanups, but it tends to dry out the plastics and things that need that little bit of moisture. I guess you mean dunking the whole thing in alcohol? That's what I was thinking.

Nathan
Click to expand...

No, I just meant using it with the toothbrush as I did the water.. got a LOT of crap off the motherboard today, Im hoping that helps with the RAM issue, it wont recognize anything in banks 1, 2 or 3... but the soldered on RAM worked fine...
 
Seriously? This thread was just getting juicy and WHAM! End of it. What ever happened to that board? Did it live to see another day outside of the local dump? By the way, if you don't have a dishwasher, you could fill the sink with hot water and some dishsoap(out dishsoap in while filling, make it all bubbly) and fill the sink up to the top with really hot water. Then, while holding the board with a nice grip, put the top portion in the water. Shake vigorously for 5 minutes, getting as little as possible water on the top. Take it out, drain the water, procede with draining.

I just HAD to bring the thread back before it died.

--Ryan
 
I am thinking to try cleaning an old 386 motherboard which I just purchased from Ebay, using Druid's described method above.

I had a couple of questions before I proceed though:
1. The motherboard contains populated system ram and CPU; do I need to take them out before cleaning it in the dishwasher? I know I can leave the cache memory inside, as Druid suggested.
2. Is it advised to use dishwashing liquid when using the dishwasher, or just simple water?

Thanks for all the help!
 
I haven't found that leaving the board populated causes any damage. Component side down is the best position.

I also usually uses a few drops of dish washing detergent (as opposed to dishwasher detergent) as the former doesn't leave any residues. Not too much though as that stuff foams up pretty damn good and has a nasty habit of coming out the steam exhaust vent of the dishwasher. 1/2 a dozen drops should do a good job.

One wash cycle and one rinse cycle should be the extent of the process though, then a good shake back and forth (again, component side down) and a few hours on each of the edges as close to vertical as possible.
 
Druid6900 said:
I also usually uses a few drops of dish washing detergent (as opposed to dishwasher detergent) as the former doesn't leave any residues. Not too much though as that stuff foams up pretty damn good and has a nasty habit of coming out the steam exhaust vent of the dishwasher. 1/2 a dozen drops should do a good job.
Click to expand...

Yes, a little too much and you'll rapidly bury your entire kitchen in suds. Cascade or Jet Dry helps with the residue problem as well.

--T
 
Thank you all, I appreciate your inputs. I will do my best to carefully clean the motherboard, and hope it will work afterwards.
 
another motherboard cleaning question...

another motherboard cleaning question...

Since we're on the topic. Over the years I've come across quite a few boards that had soldered-on NiCads. Now, of course replacing them is no big deal, but what is the best way to neutralize and completely remove the corrosion on the ones that didn't have the batteries clipped before long term storage (i.e., almost all of them)? I've seen '386's where there is a bit of the blue and white fuzz (crystalization) on the battery and board, where the through-hole is, but then it seems to seep, insidiously along the traces, visible only by a slight discoloration, finally popping back up again in the first 10 or 20 contacts of the first few ISA slots. Older boards get hit, too; I had a 8-bit Six-Pack that had a similar problem; the corrosion appeared to travel along the wires between the board and the external battery pack, emerging on the connector and pins of the board.

The best I've been able to come up with is a weak bicarb solution followed by lots of brushing with distilled water, but this only takes care of the surface. Any ideas? Are these boards doomed? It's not just non-vintage boards although even the '386's will someday be collected and cherished by someone...if they survive!
 
I've found that a thick paste of baking soda and water, slathered on and left to dry will follow the sulphite trail and then brushing it off with a brass-bristle brush and several applications of denatured alcohol over the affected area.
 
Hi
Make sure it is dry after cleaning. Put a little DoweCorning #4 grease
on the pins. If the sockets aren't brocken inside ( common for may of
the older ones with the bent clips ).
I also used automotive silicone grease but the DC#4 is better quality
and cost about the same.
Dwight
 
In case anyone is interested, today I ran 2 IBM model M keyboards and 5 AT/XT switchable keyboards through the dishwasher (process described above and in about 3 other threads) and not only did they come out squeaky clean, they all worked perfectly with no lose of decals or anything.

Water temperature was 110F and cleaning agent was ordinary dish washing detergent.
 
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