Safest Way to Clean the PCB?

[deazncy]

Hey guys, my brother spilled ejuice (for his vape) all over the right side of a custom Poker X that I let him use. I immediately disconnected it, flipped it over and left it on a towel so it wouldn't soak too much into the pcb. I'm hoping that I can get it back to working order, but I need to know the safest way to clean the pcb. It's sticky and is still in the keyboard and on some of the keycaps. I was thinking of using a wet towel to clean it after taking out the caps, but I wanted your inputs.

[Dreamre]

99% Isopropyl alcohol or distilled water.

[False_Dmitry_II]

If you're not worried about any kind of corrosion, then it doesn't matter what sort of water is used. The point of using distilled water is that it doesn't have any ions in solution, and it's the ions that conduct electricity. However it makes no difference, because as soon as the DI water hits the stuff you're cleaning off, now you've got ions in solution anyway. If you care about that, then what you do is clean it first, then rinse with distilled water.

But yes, some type of alcohol would be technically best. You should also take it out of the case and wash the case as well, because undoubtedly some will be underneath. I don't think it would actually soak into the PCB itself though, it should just be on the surface. If you're unlucky some may have gone into switches which may pose issues.

[pichu23]

What about air duster if I may add on ? Is it safe ?

[jabar]

The point of using distilled water is that it doesn't have any ions in solution, and it's the ions that conduct electricity. However it makes no difference, because as soon as the DI water hits the stuff you're cleaning off, now you've got ions in solution anyway. If you care about that, then what you do is clean it first, then rinse with distilled water.

Water naturally has ions at any pH sufficient to carry electrical current.

Rinsing the PCB with either an alcohol or water is fine as long as the viscous ejuice is completely removed and the PCB baked dry.

[False_Dmitry_II]

What? It has nothing to do with pH. I would expect a neutral pH of 7 for distilled water due to disassociation of water, but as is it would not conduct electricity. If I added a bunch of NaCl, the pH will not have changed however it certainly will go zap. Therefore I've no idea what you're on about.

I reiterate that people like talking about using distilled water on or around electronics in order to prevent shorts, but nearly always neglect to take into account that they will create the situation of water being able to conduct electricity due to dissolving materials. That said nothing can short when it is off, which is why I originally said it makes no difference.

[matt303]

The reason that distilled (or most often deionised) water is used for the final rinse stage when cleaning is because when the PCBs are dried it leaves very little residue on the boards. The aqueous PCB cleaning station at my work has 4 stages: Water based Flux removal solution -> Water rinse -> Deionised water rinse -> Hot air dryer. It's was a lot nicer to use than the CFC solvent baths some places had when I started work in the late 80's 

[False_Dmitry_II]

That's why I mentioned that if you're going to use that sort of water (which most don't have easy access to) then the only time to use it is as a final rinse, as that's the only time it would accomplish anything. For our purposes filtered would probably be good enough for that.

What sort of job is that?

[MOZ]

Why not just use 99% IPA as mentioned earlier?

[mashby]

The reason that distilled (or most often deionised) water is used for the final rinse stage when cleaning is because when the PCBs are dried it leaves very little residue on the boards. The aqueous PCB cleaning station at my work has 4 stages: Water based Flux removal solution -> Water rinse -> Deionised water rinse -> Hot air dryer. It's was a lot nicer to use than the CFC solvent baths some places had when I started work in the late 80's 

I'd love to see what that setup looks like.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Why not just use 99% IPA as mentioned earlier?

Expense. Totally a valid option. As long as you're not worried about what the poisons they add during "denaturing" possibly reacting in unexpected ways. Given what it says as your location you may not have denatured stuff as an issue. I don't know how widespread doing that is outside the US.

[matt303]

I'd love to see what that setup looks like.

It's not that impressive just a thing about the size of a desk, you put the boards in a cage and move them between stages, it's only used for stuff we make in-house or for repairs, a lot of our boards are outsourced to a local specialist PCB company.

[deazncy]

Sorry for the bump; but I still haven't gotten around the cleaning my Poker yet. Luckily, none of the keys feel sticky, but I'm still scared to plug it in because I know the juice is still dried on the pcb. I've finally made some time to take it apart and clean it. So far I've gotten recommendations on buying 99% Isopropyl alcohol and distilled water to clean the pcb, but still nothing on the way to clean it. Should I clean it with some qtips or would I be better off with a towel or paper towel? Also, should I hold the pcb over the sink and run the alcohol/distilled water over the pcb or wet something and wipe it down? And lastly, would it be necessary to remove the switches? Thanks again.

[tp4tissue]

Or.. idk.. throw it out... build an Ergodox...

[False_Dmitry_II]

Depends on your tolerance for how long this will take, as I was describing I don't think it matters.

[deazncy]

Depends on your tolerance for how long this will take, as I was describing I don't think it matters.

I guess I'll just get some alcohol on a towel, wipe the pcb down, and leave it to dry.

[larsjuhljensen]

I just looked up the contents of eJuice. All its major components are easily soluble in water. If you have the patience required, I would soak the whole keyboard in normal water long enough to be sure that all the nasty things from the eJuice have dissolved in the water. Next I would rinse with distilled or demineralized water to not have minerals be left behind once the water evaporates. After just wait to let it dry completely - that probably means waiting a couple of weeks to be on the safe side. This is the process I know people who have successfully used after spilling soft drinks into their keyboards.

If you do not have the patience to wait for a couple of weeks, you could finally rinse with isopropyl alcohol. Because it evaporates much faster than water, you would not have to wait nearly as long for it to dry.

[fknraiden]

I just looked up the contents of eJuice. All its major components are easily soluble in water. If you have the patience required, I would soak the whole keyboard in normal water long enough to be sure that all the nasty things from the eJuice have dissolved in the water. Next I would rinse with distilled or demineralized water to not have minerals be left behind once the water evaporates. After just wait to let it dry completely - that probably means waiting a couple of weeks to be on the safe side. This is the process I know people who have successfully used after spilling soft drinks into their keyboards.

If you do not have the patience to wait for a couple of weeks, you could finally rinse with isopropyl alcohol. Because it evaporates much faster than water, you would not have to wait nearly as long for it to dry.

i would not think that you would ever want to soak the switches.

[larsjuhljensen]

I just looked up the contents of eJuice. All its major components are easily soluble in water. If you have the patience required, I would soak the whole keyboard in normal water long enough to be sure that all the nasty things from the eJuice have dissolved in the water. Next I would rinse with distilled or demineralized water to not have minerals be left behind once the water evaporates. After just wait to let it dry completely - that probably means waiting a couple of weeks to be on the safe side. This is the process I know people who have successfully used after spilling soft drinks into their keyboards.

If you do not have the patience to wait for a couple of weeks, you could finally rinse with isopropyl alcohol. Because it evaporates much faster than water, you would not have to wait nearly as long for it to dry.

i would not think that you would ever want to soak the switches.

I am just thinking as a chemist here, and I fail to see what harm that could do, as long as you that give them enough time to dry completely. It would seem worse to me to risk having sticky residue left inside the switches.

In any case, it all depends on how much the eJuice got into the keyboard. If you got it into the switches, you obviously need to get it cleaned out of the switches. If it only got onto the surface of things, a surface cleaning should suffice. But I would personally be more worried about damaging something by mechanically rubbing it down than about water causing damage to a turned off keyboard.