[Matt-Matt]

So I bought a used Z87x-OC and the previous owner had been using it for LN2/Dice benching/overclocking.

It still has some vaseline on it; What is the best way to clean it off? I've seen so far..

• Degreaser + wash it off
• Dishwasher/Sink washing (Obviously not "drying it" in the dishwasher due to heat)
• Heating the board and the vaseline will come off?

Another thing is, if I decide to go the dishwasher/degreaser route, do i need to keep the socket cover on or off?

TIA.

 

[Blameless]

If you feel the need to remove it, degreaser, followed by dish soap and hot water, then air dry it for a few days (or use a blow dryer).

Petroleum jelly isn't just going to evaporate with heat, not at reasonable temperatures; it's boiling point is over 340C. It does melt at low temperature and heat will often help with cleaning it up.

 

[Matt-Matt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blameless

If you feel the need to remove it, degreaser, followed by dish soap and hot water, then air dry it for a few days (or use a blow dryer).

Petroleum jelly isn't just going to evaporate with heat, not at reasonable temperatures; it's boiling point is over 340C. It does melt at low temperature and heat will often help with cleaning it up.

Awesome, I've got some degreaser in the shed. It's really dirty so I will be cleaning it, especially as it's not for me.

It's not going to be used at all for at least 5 days because my housemate that bought it hasn't moved in yet and I don't even have a socket 1150 chip to test it with.

EDIT: Also thanks for the advice.

One of the most uneasy things I've done, I felt less uneasy de-lidding my 3570k..

 

[Sin0822]

i would use a heatgun/hairdryer and let it like pool off the board, it takes time but you don't need to dry it.

You also can just do nothing, it wont affect anything at all, I have run boards with grease on them, and as long as the quality of the board is fine then the heat you think might get trapped will still get dispersed through the PCB.

I have used a dishwasher before(no need for soap tho), but one word of advisc, deff use the socket cover, and deff run the dishwasher maybe once or twice to get all those tiny food particles out first, or else they WILL get stuck in the socket pins, and that is fun, getting food out of those gold pins

I also let the dishwasher dry it, there are some spots that need a lot of heat to dry, such as the backpanel connectors(they trap water really well), same as in the socket. Some people also put boards in the oven to dry, but i would be too scared the oven's temperature swings might melt stuff, usually the DIMM locks have the lowest melting point, so what to see if they are melting.

 

[Matt-Matt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sin0822

i would use a heatgun/hairdryer and let it like pool off the board, it takes time but you don't need to dry it.

You also can just do nothing, it wont affect anything at all, I have run boards with grease on them, and as long as the quality of the board is fine then the heat you think might get trapped will still get dispersed through the PCB.

I have used a dishwasher before(no need for soap tho), but one word of advisc, deff use the socket cover, and deff run the dishwasher maybe once or twice to get all those tiny food particles out first, or else they WILL get stuck in the socket pins, and that is fun, getting food out of those gold pins

I also let the dishwasher dry it, there are some spots that need a lot of heat to dry, such as the backpanel connectors(they trap water really well), same as in the socket. Some people also put boards in the oven to dry, but i would be too scared the oven's temperature swings might melt stuff, usually the DIMM locks have the lowest melting point, so what to see if they are melting.

Thanks +rep

I've already washed it as you can see, it's been sitting on the sink for half a day now and it's pretty much surface dry and soon I'll bring it back down to my PC room to further dry.

I had the socket cover on while it was getting washed, and completely pulled the socket latch off to wipe around the socket easier and let the socket dry easier too. Right now It's got a bit of water still in the PCI-E voltage plug? - First time I've ever had a high end board.

Someone else suggested metho, because it will mix with the water and evaporate faster.

Also if i was going to do the dishwasher method I'd NEVER run it through the dry cycle as it surely wouldn't be good for it?

 

[Sin0822]

Yea i am sure you will be fine, I think the dry cycle would be okay but only because I let it go through once, but the safest way might be not to do it.

You can also put the board in a bag with uncooked rice, the rice will absorb moisture.

 

[Matt-Matt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sin0822

Yea i am sure you will be fine, I think the dry cycle would be okay but only because I let it go through once, but the safest way might be not to do it.

You can also put the board in a bag with uncooked rice, the rice will absorb moisture.

Yep, the rice idea is great. Never done it myself but yeah I may do that and just get my mate to pay me back for the rice because you can't eat it afterwards haha.

 

[mothman]

Your best bet is to get some aerosol 'Contact Cleaner' like this...............http://www.crcindustries.com/ei/product_detail.aspx?id=03070...........it's fast drying, safe for plastics and will definitely remove the vaseline and clean the rest of the board without the risk of running water.

 

[XAslanX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt-Matt

Awesome, I've got some degreaser in the shed. It's really dirty so I will be cleaning it, especially as it's not for me.

It's not going to be used at all for at least 5 days because my housemate that bought it hasn't moved in yet and I don't even have a socket 1150 chip to test it with.

EDIT: Also thanks for the advice.

One of the most uneasy things I've done, I felt less uneasy de-lidding my 3570k..

I would take all the heatsinks off the board as well as anything else that can be removed as water will get trapped under them.

 

[Matt-Matt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XAslanX

I would take all the heatsinks off the board as well as anything else that can be removed as water will get trapped under them.

Sure, I'll do that later tonight before I go to sleep.

Thanks for all the help guys, +Rep where possible.

To add this board won't be used for a few more days still. It's going to have plenty of time to dry out nicely.

Oh and the link you linked me mothman was to a product not found?

 

[mothman]

Sorry about that. You can get CRC Contact Cleaner at your local Home Depot or Lowes.................................http://www.amazon.com/CRC-Electrical-Contact-Cleaner-Aerosol/dp/B003NTQCA2

 

[Matt-Matt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mothman

Sorry about that. You can get CRC Contact Cleaner at your local Home Depot or Lowes.................................http://www.amazon.com/CRC-Electrical-Contact-Cleaner-Aerosol/dp/B003NTQCA2

I already have carby cleaner, I assume that would work too? I used it on the Idle Control Valve (ICV) in my Audi to clean it and fixed some idle/stalling issues.

I pulled the heatsinks off last night too; Happy I did because under the southbridge/PLX chip? there was a quite a bit of water and i got a bit of paper towel to wipe it up.

It's been sitting upside down for a day roughly since then. I think it's going to need another day or two and it'll be fine however.