Thorough motherboard cleaning!

[bsullivan1983]

Hey everyone! As the title states, I'm interested in the best way to thoroughly clean an old (~5 years) motherboard. I just built a new rig and want to use my old one as a test bench for things I haven't tried yet in my 22 years of building. I have yet to delid a processor or run a custom loop - I'm not sure I'll waste the money to run the custom loop on this (i5-4670k, Maximus VI Hero), but I just ordered my Rockit 88 and some CLU to attempt my first delid. The plan is to completely disassemble the old comp, clean EVERYTHING to like-new condition, delid/relid the 4670k, put new thermal and thermal pads on the GTX 770 and use it as a Linux/VM box. I have read dozens of articles, watched dozens of videos, etc. I'd rather have a discussion here with user's actual experience and opinions. The board is not bad, but it's not great either. It's past the point of blowing everything off with my Metro Datavac. I'm currently considering the Hosa CAIG DeoxIT 5% Spray Contact Cleaner, WD-40 Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner and CRC QD Contact Cleaner. I would like the board to look as new as possible without having to use a brush on the PCB. I think a soft nylon brush will be okay for a few of the components but I'd rather not take a brush to much else. Does anyone have experience with any of these products? It seems simple enough - you get as much off as you can with air, then use contact cleaner to saturate the motherboard and let dry completely. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! One of the videos I watched, the guy was Australian and unfortunately I can't order what he used. He finished everything off with this board laquer that really made everything look like new. I can't find anything like it on Amazon. Hope to hear from you guys soon! Have a great day and Happy Mother's Day!

 

[Sam Hain]

https://www.amazon.com/Static-Cleaning-Brush-Motherboards-Keyboards/dp/B00KHV1T6Q is a safe bet for brushing away anything
'stubborn" on the board/components. Canned Spray-air is perfectly fine to use as well in conjunction with the brush.

I'd avoid WD-40 or any like cleaners that are aslo lubricants that can and will remain wet by design. CRC QD is KING! It may leave some residue in some areas (rare if applied evenly), but dries by design so be mindful of this and can be cleaned if it appears to happen and wipe away.

 

[bsullivan1983]

https://www.amazon.com/Static-Cleaning-Brush-Motherboards-Keyboards/dp/B00KHV1T6Q is a safe bet for brushing away anything
'stubborn" on the board/components. Canned Spray-air is perfectly fine to use as well in conjunction with the brush.

I'd avoid WD-40 or any like cleaners that are aslo lubricants that can and will remain wet by design. CRC QD is KING! It may leave some residue in some areas (rare if applied evenly), but dries by design so be mindful of this and can be cleaned if it appears to happen and wipe away.

WD-40 Specialist Contact Cleaner - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AF0OFVU/ref=ox_sc_...

It says it leaves no residue.... I imagine most of these cleaners leave at least a little something. Here is the CRC QD. Is this the right one, the one you have experience with?

CRC QD - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RY5D0G/ref=ox_sc_...

Also, what do you recommend to use for wiping the PCB/electrical components? I'd rather not use a paper towel or anything that will leave lint, but I'm not sure a coffee filter would work great either.

 

[bsullivan1983]

Well, I ordered the QD instead of the WD-40 Specialist. Hopefully it works well! I've read to leave the CPU in and remove everything else. Sound about right? Should I be careful and try to not spray directly into the DIMM/PCIe slots? I had planned on disassembling the GTX 770 in the build and cleaning it using the same method/product as well. Do you think that'd be safe? I didn't order any new thermal pads but I saw a disassembly video of an EVGA GTX 770 and it didn't have thermal pads on it... Guessing they didn't use them or they're just not needed. Wondering if I could use them anyway or if there's no point. I imagine if the heat was transferable they would have put thermal pads, no? Rockit 88 is here. So fortunate I have this old comp to practice delidding on so I don't screw up my new 8700k that has done pretty well in the silicon lottery thus far 4.9GHz stable, average idle temp 35C package, max load temp 82C package. That's on air, non-delidded. Ok, I'm just talking to my self now. Hopefully some others chime in. Have a great day, everyone!

 

[bsullivan1983]

Bump, any last advice/experience/opinions before I douse my old mobo and GTX 770 with this CRC QD?

 

[bsullivan1983]

https://www.amazon.com/Static-Cleaning-Brush-Motherboards-Keyboards/dp/B00KHV1T6Q is a safe bet for brushing away anything
'stubborn" on the board/components. Canned Spray-air is perfectly fine to use as well in conjunction with the brush.

I'd avoid WD-40 or any like cleaners that are aslo lubricants that can and will remain wet by design. CRC QD is KING! It may leave some residue in some areas (rare if applied evenly), but dries by design so be mindful of this and can be cleaned if it appears to happen and wipe away.

As it turns out, the PCB was flawless, even in a 5yo HAF case. Only some of the components were dusty. The brush worked amazingly well! Didn't even need the QD Used it on the PCB of the GTX 770 and it looks like new, although it wasn't bad to begin with. I completely disassembled the 770 and cleaned it, adding some Kryonaut in hopes that it will run a bit cooler. I'm not sure why I'm putting this much effort into cleaning my 5 year old backup PC, lol... I got my 4670k delidded before I realized that my CLLU hasn't come in yet... I just left it in the Rockit 88 in hopes that it will be fine by the time the liquid metal arrives. If all goes well and I get a clean boot I'll be removing my 8700k (scared!) soon and seeing what kind of temps I can get. Also, after literally making this Cooler Master HAF 912 like new, I've decided I just don't like it and am debating dumping more money into this backup PC and putting it into a new case. I can't really justify the cost, I just don't like the HAF 912 anymore.