Have you ever removed grease from components?

[K.Mandla]

I have a line on some old Pentium II machines that were in use in a auto garage. Several of them have machine grease on them, and one was used with the case open and has grease on internal components.

Anyone ever cleaned grease or a similar substance from a circuit board? I have heard that, provided it's not a hard drive or something like that, you can submerge a board in alcohol and hopefully dissolve the gunk. So long as it's completely dry before electricity is reapplied, it should be O.K.

Is that true? Anyone have experience with something like this? Thanks in advance.

[antmenj]

You may do better with some form of hydrocarbon rather than alcohol.

Common hydrocarbon mixes: petrol/gasoline, kero/parifin, white gas/shellite/colman fuel etc etc

Just stay well away for gas pilot lights/sparks etc & clean out side with a very soft brush

Test it first on a junked board to make sure it dosn't make the plastics melt / crack etc.

Unless its got metel shavings, loads of dust etc in the grease you could always leave it there.

Edit also check that it dosn't take the insulation off enameled wire. Most electric motors are not to be washed in hyrocarbons.

Limit the exposure time...

[Flying caveman]

I would try WD-40. or some citrus type cleaner.

getting liquid on a motherboard thats unplugged should be no problem, make sure you hit the power button to drain any power stored in the capacitors. Then make sure everything is dry before you plug it back in. A hair dryer works good for drying things off.

[JBAlaska]

Try HFE Solvent 100% non-flammable, zero toxicity, safe on plastics. Cleans energized circuits, contacts, motors and other electronic equipment. A TF Solvent replacement. Approved by SNAP without restrictions. Excellent for use with Vapor Degreasers and Ultrasonics. Extra effective with the use of M.G. Chemicals

No need to power down your machine, just spray it on a live MB. Kinda spendy though, 10.6 oz. aerosol fot $29.00us.

http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/1682

Or the Extremely Flammable, very conductive, damn toxic..but very low price SuperWash. 16oz. $13.00us

http://www.web-tronics.com/406b-450g.html

Let your pocketbook be your guide lol.

[Presto123]

Don't use the gasoline...will melt most plastics. I would stick with alcohol b/c it dries quickly, but I don't know how well it would remove the grease. I would also go with what that guy has posted above.

[~LoKe]

Distilled water and scrub.

[Whiffle]

Grease laughs at water.

I'd probably go for WD-40 actually, or maybe Simple Green if you had time to let things dry out real well.

[~LoKe]

Grease laughs at water.

I'd probably go for WD-40 actually, or maybe Simple Green if you had time to let things dry out real well.

Deionized water is pretty much the only liquid that you can pour onto a motherboard and not damage anything when powering up. If drying time isn't an issue, anything can be used.

[Whiffle]

Right, but have you ever tried cleaning automotive grease with water? You may as well just wipe it with a dry rag because the water will just run off.

And actually, if you filled your case with oil, you could run your computer with it covered in oil. Thats how they keep transformers cool.

[~LoKe]

Right, but have you ever tried cleaning automotive grease with water? You may as well just wipe it with a dry rag because the water will just run off.

And actually, if you filled your case with oil, you could run your computer with it covered in oil. Thats how they keep transformers cool.

Yep, oil works too. I avoided that one because oil vs grease is...well...o_O

[Fred_E _krugar]

you could use some of that electric motor spray cleaner even if was plugged in and running, it is a non-conductor and it cleans off grease and oil very good.

also electrical contact cleaner works good.

[Spike-X]

You must be really desperate for these parts!

[Frak]

I've experience with this. Make sure all of your capacitors are drained, then either use Alcohol, WD-40, or Jigaloo on it. WD-40 did the best IMHO. Oil is a non-polar, water-fearing Hydrocarbon, so water won't do anything.

[HermanAB]

Since Freon is hard to get nowadays, your best bet is to use a Citrus oil based cleaner. Circuit boards are washed in an industrial dish washer with orange juice as cleaner in the factories. You can do the same.

[kvonb]

-

[steveneddy]

I'm in the automotive business and I can tell youthe best thing to use will be Simple Green or Purple Power. Dilute in a 10 to one mixture, spray on board and scrub with soft bristle brush like a tooth brush. Rinse with warm water, repeat if necessary and don't go over a 25-30% mixture or it may etch the MB (Purple Power, that is).

Alcohol won't do very well, straight water is useless.

Go to an auto supply parts store and try some brake parts cleaner and some auto supply stores actually sell a spray that is designed to clean electrical parts of grease. CRC electrical parts cleaner is you can find it. Look at NAPA if there is one close.

[K.Mandla]

Thanks very much for all the replies.

I actually decided to pass on the machines, partly because they were so dirty, but also because they were in poor shape and not really worth the effort. I don't like to see computers thrown into a trash heap, but these might have not have been worth salvaging. In all I probably would have come up with a rather random desktop machine and a half-working laptop.

But thanks again for all the ideas. Cheers! ;)