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General discussion

Anyone else ever "wash" a laptop like it was a dish?

Jan 5, 2015 11:22AM PST

Well, I put a laptop motherboard through treatment that is normally reserved for dirty dishes and bakery goods this weekend. I was amazed it came through this and that this worked. I am curious if anyone else has performed the following successfully? This was an HP Intel-based Core i5 Sandy Bridge again.

I was given a laptop that something had been spilled on and was used around cigarette smokers quite a bit. It was said to turn on, post, and boot to the OS but none of the inputs worked. The USB ports were also dead. It was basically a working laptop but with no way to be used.

I talked to some friends and one of them had actually washed computer hardware in his kitchen sink and the dishwasher as though it were a dish. He told me to make a sink of sudsy water, scrub the laptop motherboard with a brush, rinse with tap water, and then rinse with 91% rubbing alcohol. He then said to bake it in my oven on the lowest setting and let it sit in there an hour or so.

I took the laptop apart and the motherboard, fan, and such were caked in like 1/4 inch of cigarette residue. You could also see where moisture had spilled and all the crud was concentrated where it dried out. I removed the CMOS battery and proceeded with the following.

I then did the initial rinse with tapwater as it was so nasty. I then made a sink of soapy water with dish soap and gently scrubbed the motherboard. I then rinsed with tap water for several minutes and then added another step above and beyond what had been suggested. I got out a baking pan which was just the right size and filled it with distilled water. I gave it a good rinse and then repeated this. Then I gave it a good rinse with 91% rubbing alcohol.

The next stage of this culinary computer adventure moved from the kitchen sink to the oven which had been preheating to 170 degrees. I placed the motherboard on a cardboard box flat and left it for an hour while checking on it to make sure something didn't catch fire.

I removed it from the oven, then re-inserted the CMOS battery and began the rest of the re-assembly. I pressed the power button and figured nothing would happen but it posted, booted, and I had the keyboard, touchpad, and all USB ports and such working.

I figured all this was a long shot but was amazed it actually worked. Only time will tell but it has been working like 3 days with absolutely no glitches. I even ran a BIOS update without issues. After the initial test showed it had promise, I cranked the temp up on the oven and proceeded to cook a pizza!

I just thought this whole thing was funny and that people would enjoy hearing about it. Obviously some of these electronics which I view as being ultra-delicate can take a little more abuse than I would have thought.

Discussion is locked

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My friends in sales and repair counters appreciate this post
Jan 5, 2015 11:57PM PST

We need more folk to try this.
Bob

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you should have also left the oven door cracked
Jan 6, 2015 12:04AM PST

Helps get the moisture out. Any smoke can escape later.

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I thought people would enjoy this!
Jan 6, 2015 1:44AM PST

I felt really strange doing this myself. So far no smoke has escaped so I suspect this one may be in it for the long haul. I wouldn't do it to a perfectly good board but if you have nothing to lose, you might actually win some of the time. I have had this one on for several days straight since the washing and baking.

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my daughter
Jan 6, 2015 2:46PM PST

after I'd told her several times to quit putting a vase with flowers on top of TV, finally had one fall over backwards, wet the inside through the vent holes, shorted it out. We propped it so one corner was down and slanted to the back for maximum drain, then later with back off put 20" fan on it all night. We let it dry a couple more days and tried it. Worked. Worked for years and still was working when SA got it later on.