On Nov 5, 1:34 pm, Chris M <chrism3...@yahoo.com> wrote: > all of the leads on circuit boards are either plated if they're steel, or > copper (or gold). Water won't do anything to any board I've ever seen. It's > just a question of what good it will do.
All of these washing methods work fine, as evidenced by the dozens of folks who have reported them working over the years. Hot water spray will loosen and remove residues. Cold soapy water and a bit of toothbrush scrubbing works too. Solvents such as isopropyl alcohol (no colors nor moisturizers) or spray cans of flux remover or circuit board cleaner also work well. I'd be hesitant to use solvents I'm not familiar with, such as the aforementioned brake cleaner. It might harm plastic parts/connectors on the circuit board. The purpose in cleaning the board is to remove goo that will have leaked from old surface mount electrolytic capacitors. The goo that leaks out of them seems to be mildly conductive and can cause shorts. It is also corrosive and will destroy leads, traces, vias, and solder joints on the board if not removed. But the reason why cleaning sometimes provides a fix without replacing the caps is that it removes the goo which is causing shorts, I think. The long term fix is to replace the surface mount electrolytic caps (little round metal cans, like tiny fuel storage tanks) with surface mount tantalum capacitors which will last longer, not leak goo, and fit on the same size pads. Jeff Walther -- ----- You received this message because you are a member of the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to vintage-macs@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to vintage-macs+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/
