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From: rolande@kuling.UUCP (Roland Eriksson)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: motherboards in the dishwasher?
Summary: WD-40 is great, watch out for the dishwashers
Message-ID: <2053@kuling.UUCP>
Date: 13 May 91 15:50:07 GMT
References: <0094836B.DA657A80@Eagle.oscs.montana.edu> <6a7gbs@rpi.edu>
Reply-To: rolande@kuling.UUCP (Roland Eriksson)
Followup-To: rolande@yyc.docs.uu.se
Organization: Dept. of Computer Systems, Uppsala University, Sweden
Lines: 25

>>Someone claimed that the best way to clean a contaminated (e.g. soda pop)
>>computer keyboard was to disconnect it and run it under tap water.  I thought
>>water was enough of a solvent to cause damage to circuit boards. Who's right?
I have never cleaned any keyboard (a pocket calculator though) under the tap,
but i have cleaned ceveral other electronic circuit boards under lukewarm
tap water. Afterwards i usually use a fan for drying (no heat). As long as
all IC cases are intact i think there should be no side-effects with the
above mentioned practice. I have never had any really bad cases of contaminated
circuits, but if you *MUST* use a detergent use the mildest you can get.
If the keyboard is of membrane type you may get some problems with water
"inside" the membrane.

>Although I've never tried this myself, a friend recommended WD-40 or silicone
>spray for gummed up keys.  I suggested it to another friend of mine and he
>said it worked great.
WD-40 if *GREAT* anything technical that is not working the way it should
works BETTER with a few drops :-). The ozone may go away or i might get
cancer or something, but i works wonder for any kind of contact problems.
It is good for old clocks too. And it smells nice too.

IMHO use water for cleaning the keyboard, and use WD-40 afterwards to fix
it if it does not work.

Good luck,
Roland Eriksson.