CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Gary M.]

I have a question for anyone out there

what is the best way to clean PCB boards, I don't just mean the contacts I mean the entire thing

neck cards, Power supply boards, video boards etc. all of them

some people say to use soap and water on them, I don't like the sound of that to be honest

alcohol of some kind? with a very soft tooth brush maybe

after cleaning I am going to follow up with contact cleaning(detoxit) and maybe a protectant as a final, any recommendations for these stages is appreciated

thanks

-Gary

[jkruger]

Blow the dust out with compressed air, wipe down anything else with a damp cloth.

[Nashou66]

Gary get some denatured alcohol from the local hardware store , look in the paint section. I use a soft tooth brush and soak it a cup of the alcohol and scrub it.
then i rinse it with fresh alcohol and set it vertical on a towel to dry and in a few hours go back with compressed air to blow out the residue from under chips.
let dry some more then use the deoxit on the connectors and follow with the deoxit protectant.

Athanasios

[larryk]

Here is the stuff to use for the final application of all contacts within your PJ. It is used on much of the criitical systems in aviation for the military where you need first time every time perfect operation. A small $38.00 bottle of Stabilant22 will do up to two projectors. Make sure you get every connector including the grounds but do not use it on the high voltage connectors leading to the tubes. It will give you a connection equivilent to a soldered connection but with no cross talk.

http://www.stabilant.com/

Edit} I should also let you know that you should use Stabilant 22A This is the version that has been diluted with 99% Isopropal alcohol. You can also get a bottle of 22 then cut it yourself and save a bit of money but you won't need that much unless you plan to use it on a number of projects.

[kschmit2]

yup, Stabilant 22 or 22A is by far the best thing you can use.

Make sure you read the application notes on the website, btw.

[Cousin.It]

I also use denatured alcohol for the cleaning, but from a small spray bottle so I can spritz what I'm working on and then use a small brush. I wouldn't dunk anything, but spritzing where it can run off freely works for me - especially after soldering when I want to clean up remaining flux.

Mark

[Nashou66]

There used to be a product called O2 Blocker, I had that stuff and tried it and it did work great for stopping oxidation. i did the test they did in Stereophile, i put the O2 blocker on a old PCB board and then i had one not treated. Then I left them outside for a month in the winter, rain snow etc. The O2 blocker one after i rinsed the grim off it was nice and clean the one not treated would not even rinse clean and there was massive corrosion on the exposed solder and it began to lift the traces off the board. I wish I could find this stuff again. But I thinkt hey sold the technology, maybe its now stabilant22?

Athanasios

[perisoft]

[NewbieDAN]

No ones going to suggest just using a dishwasher?

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[larryk]

Stabilant 22 is not an O2 blocker it is a contact enhancer. You still have to clean the contacts prior to using it.