Ask Lemmy

Extreme case story here..

I had a fella bring his computer into our shop for diagnostics and hopefully repair after a house fire. The case was originally light grey, but it was covered outside and even inside with nasty stinking black soot and the front panel was mostly melted.

We checked it out though, the PSU had failed. So we pulled out our test PSU and tried that, and the nasty stinking computer actually booted up!

Well, the boss didn't want to be responsible for this mess, so he told me I could take it as a side job if the customer really wanted it fixed. He already knew that I've successfully salvaged flood damage computers, so why not?

Anyways, I took the motherboard and expansion cards out and took them to our local car wash. I soaked the boards with tire/engine cleaner, then pressure washed the crud away with plain water. Then I used an air compressor to dry it as best as I could, and then left it on the roof of my car in the hot sun for like 4 hours.

Everything worked fine after all that, so I hooked him up with a spare computer case I had laying around to replace his nasty half melted case.

You can actually pressure wash the circuit boards as long as there's no power (do NOT pressure wash the PSU at all!), as long as the boards are completely dry and clean before reassembling and powering it back up. Just, be careful around any sensitive parts, and do not pressure wash the CPU socket, unless you like all your precious pins bent. Also, don't pressure wash the fans or mechanical drives or such.

This technique isn't for the faint of heart though, and I usually only reserve such drastic measures for boards that have already failed due to spill damage, corrosion, or other extremes where the board would otherwise end up in the scrap pile.

As bad as your computer looks your lungs are worse.

Isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush. Turn off power to the PC. Hold power button for a minute. Unplug and disassemble. Get one of those chemistry squirt bottles (google lab wash bottle) to put the alcohol in, squirt it on the place to clean, brush with the toothbrush. Repeat until at desired cleanliness. Then take canned air and spray out under all the parts. Allow to dry. It's dry when you can spray under the big components and not get any alcohol out.

I used to assemble, test, repair, and clean PCBs of all shapes and sizes. That's what we did when we had to spot clean a board after a repair.

The jankiest way I've cleaned a PCB was to run it through the dishwasher without detergent, then wash it down with RODI water to demineralize, then alcohol to displace the water. It works, but you gotta be damn sure that you've washed away any mineral deposits and given it plenty of time to dry.

Wow at this point id more seriously consider to quit smoking or at least stop doing it inside.

Absolutely no way.

It is dangerous to have a flammable, volatile chemical pooled up like that. It's a fire hazard, not to mention the fumes from it.

Just don't

Isopropyl alcohol damages certain plastics.

As far as the computer cleaning I have no advice. However, as a former smoker, I do have some other advice:

May I recommend vaping? Not as healthy as quitting nicotine entirely, but the lack of tar all over everything is SUCH A HUGE PERK over cigarettes. Also your lungs will thank you, it becomes so much easier to breathe after a few weeks of no smoke.

I don’t recommend the garbage at gas stations unless that’s your only choice, I recommend you find a local vape shop and let them set you up.

Also, if you learn to mix your own liquid (which is very easy) you can taper your nicotine if you ever decide to quit. Makes it much easier, just a slightly smaller dose each month or two until you’re at 0mg/ml of nicotine.

I wouldn't submerge them, but taking q-tips to it should be fine as long as you're careful and make sure it is fully dry before plugging everything back in.

When I worked at an eltronics recycling center (we repaired and resold PCs and printers) we used isopropyl alcohol in spray bottles to clean pc parts. It worked really well. Don't dunk anything! Just carefully disassemble, spray the part (let the run off fall onto a collection pad), and let it completely dry before reassembly. It may take a few rounds depending on how dirty the part is, resist any temptation to scrub off build up on electrical components. If contaminates absolutely will not come off use a circuit board cleaning "paint brush" with circuit board pcb cleaner to gently clear it or better yet, leave it be. The enemy of good is perfect.

WARNINGS: Wear gloves, eye protection, and a mask. Follow all ESD safety protocols to protect computer parts. If you disassemble the cpu add more thermal paste. DON'T SPRAY THE PSU, if necessary use alcohol on a wash cloth for the PSU exterior. You can speed up dry time by air blowing excess liquid off but be aware this may splatter dirty droplets around the space. Only clean your PC like this in a well ventilated space. Only attempt this if you are comfortable disassembling and reassembling your pc. However long YOU think your computer needs to be fully dry, double that time to be safe.

Also as a bonus. You can put non electric components in the dishwasher. No soap, no heat, as long as they fit and won't get dinged up by moving dishwasher parts. SERIOUSLY DO NOT HEAT DRY OR WASH ON HIGH HEAT.

I also throw my mechanical keyboards in there but there's always a chance they won't work after - so far tho it's been a success (obviously I make sure they are fully dry before I use them . If you attempt this - at your own risk.

Not to jump on the smoking hate train - I get it, smoking is very pleasurable and insanely addictive - but have you thought about just smoking outside?

I would never smoke in a room I spend any time in. It's a funny mindset, as I used to smoke inside in my 20s, but when the ban in bars came along it just sort of became second nature.

These days I rarely smoke, but vape more than I should. The vaping is starting to give me a dry tongue that feels like a fading pizza burn. I plan to stop... Soon....

You can even use water on most pc components and it will clean most residue- it's called the universal solvent for a reason. The reason isopropyl alcohol is popular is that it is still a decent solvent but also will evaporate quickly, which makes it safer.

People have put PC stuff into a dishwasher (without detergent, on cold) but that feels kind of crazy to me still.

I'd be more concerned about soaking components in alcohol. Lubricants, adhesives, etc would all be at risk of being worn away. Definitely don't do it to fans or anything else that moves. Pure hunks of metal (like a heatsink) or silicon are safer.

Lol smokers

I think alcohol may dissolve somethings that aren't supposed to be dissolved, I wouldn't risk it. If it's working don't fix it. But if you have to I would use contact spray instead, it's made to be nonconductive and noncorrosive.

I see lots of “brush it, it’s fine” posts, but if you want to dunk your components, that’s a whole different story. Alcohol is certainly going to dissolve something like TIM or thermal pads; that might not be a problem.

But it might?

One thing very oldschool PC builders did is submerge their PCs in mineral oil for cooling. This liquid is more innocuous, AFAIK.

So you could get some in a plastic tray and dunk your components in it. I have no advice for getting the oil off though.

Well, don't outright throw the parts in a bin with alcohol

If you want to be a bit safe:

• power off
• unplug PSU
• hold power button for 20 seconds (10 should do but id be extra careful) to drain capacitors (fans may spin up a bit, it's fine)
• separate all the components
• lay them all out on a table / work area
• soak in alcohol using a microfiber towel, or similar, only covering the areas that you can still see and wipe off from the outside, do NOT let alcohol run under the GPU heatsink (or any other heatsink - thermal pads is why), in slots, inside hard drive breather holes, avoid filling cable connectors
• let sit a bit
• wipe to remove gunk, consider using a stiff brush too, be careful not to rip shit off boards, especially connectors and retention tabs
• let dry for a few days to be sure
• reassemble

I wouldn't EVER use water. Water will leave mineral deposits (ever seen those dusty-looking, droplet shaped stains on glass? Those are mineral deposits from water) that will in time cause corrosion. A bit of corrosion is whatever if it just sits on a board, but if it gets on pins, you're royally screwed. All pins are vulnerable (PCI-E, CPU, RAM, cable connectors of ALL kinds).

Also DON'T for the love of god POWERWASH! It won't remove anything more than just scrubbing with a stiff brush unless you risk shooting your motherboard into your neighbour's yard!

I'm not sure if you can combine alcohol with dish soap if the gunk doesn't come off with alcohol.

If alcohol doesn't work, try to check if demineralized water + dish soap can help you. I'm not sure that's a safe combination but demi water should not leave deposits and dish soap should clean fucking anything. Check online first tho.

Good luck man.

I want to clean my PC thoroughly to buy it a few more years.

You can buy yourself and your electronics a lot of years by cutting the smoking :)

Technically you could submerge parts in isopropyl alcohol. The concern with liquid is primarily corrosion and causing shortages. If there is no stored electricity in the capacitors, the isopropyl alcohol shouldn't cause any corrosion. It would not be the best way to clean it, in reality, but you could probably do it. I would just spray some on and gently clean it with an old toothbrush.

Smoke, especially cigarette smoke, gets onto everything and is awful to try and clean. I won't buy used electronics used in a smokers home, or much of anything for that matter.

As a guy who's cleaned far too many smoker fucked PCs.

99% Isopropyl and a tooth brush is what you need. It won't be fast, but you need that kinda precision and attention to make sure you got everything.

You might also consider just replacing any fans. I don't know if you have a laptop or a desktop, but a laptop fan is a bitch to clean

Mostly just leave it be. The smoke is on the outside and as long as it's visually clean enough it'll be fine.

Make sure that ventilator fans still run smoothly, and as needed, replace those, as cooling is extremely important

No dunking, and make sure what you're buying is mostly alcohol (> 95%) and not water/alcohol mixtures often used for disinfection. Using in combination with e.g., a toothbrush is probably your best bet. IPA (and acetone) can strip some adhesives and cause certain kinds of electrical insulation to swell or dissolve, so a targeted approach is better. IPA is flammable (though less so than acetone), so be careful/well ventilated when allowing parts to dry, and ensure parts are fully dried before reconnecting to power.

IPA itself is only about twice as toxic as ethanol and certainly less problematic by inhalation than tar in the long run. I wouldn't bother with a mask mostly because it won't do shit unless it's a cartridge respirator. However, IPA can sometimes facilitate skin absorption. IDK specifically about tar buildup but recommend wearing gloves (disposable nitrile is fine).

I want to clean my PC thoroughly to buy it a few more years.

Is it not working in its present state?

If it's working all right, I'd just leave it be, and if you don't want tar buildup in your next case, get a case that has an air filter on it that you can replace, or run an air purifier with a filter in the room.

Alcohol will also damage some plastics; i used it to clean a keyboard and keycaps, the keycap stems slowly disintegrated and split apart over time.