spray for wet electronics?

[thistle]

Had a bit of a flood, and the PC for my cnc lathe got wet, dried it out, and it appears to run fine, but i wonder if there is something worth spraying on the contacts and boards to prevent corrosion and degradation.

thanks

[thistle]

any takers?

[macona]

I would rinse the boards out with reverse osmosis filtered deionized water. Keep it out of the mechanicals though. You could wash crud into places it shouldnt be.

[thistle]

having got everything apart -
luckily not a lot of water got on the board, about 3 table spoons ran down the wires , and across the board, most of the muck didnt make it inside and the mechanicals didnt see any water.


i cleaned it all up sat it all in the sun , for about 3 hours, everything is back together and has been running ok

thanks for the help!

[Paul Alciatore]

Water is not really bad for electronics. Pure water is even a pretty good insulator. It is the ions in impure water that allow it to become a conductor and cause damage to energized circuits. Also these impurities will be left behind when the water evaporates and can cause all kinds of trouble when they become moist from humidity or whatever.

The best thing for any electronic circuit board when it becomes wet is to turn power off as fast as you can and wash it down with pure water (distilled) followed by a rinse with pure alcohol (99% or better). Then let it dry. I have done this with many circuit boards just to clean them and never had a problem.

Cautions when doing this would include keyboards, and components like covered relays and switches that can hold the liquids captive inside them for a long time. Membrain eyboards have to be taken apart and each layer washed and dried separately, then reassembled. I have done this many times and never had trouble with them. Covered relays can be uncovered and washed. Switches are a problem as most can not be disassembled. Keep the water away from them and if they did become wet, rinse with the alcohol then place a heat lamp near them to aid in drying them out. Overnight at least.

If the boards are clean, there is no need for any protective coating. If they are not, it may not help.

With simple techniques like this I have salvaged complicated machines like video cameras and tape recorders that have been dropped in swamp water.

[Robo]

Might try hosing it with wd40....

[Tin Falcon]

I work as a scale tech the company sometimes uses a product called blue shower. this is made for cleaning boards. there is a post on the net that cautions BS3 may damage plastics but BS2 is ok .
Tin

[Steve Seebold]

I race remote control model boats and we use a product called Corrosion X. I have heard of someone spraying it on the electeonics in his TV set, then he threw it in his swimming pool, plugged it in and it played. I know I never have any problems with wet radio gear in my boats, and I run them in both fresh and salt water.

The only plase I know to get it is rossisales.com. They are out of Florida. Their phone is (407) 889-2283

[Groovy2]

you can us a product called LPS#1--
I have used it on all kinds of electronics--

I used to use it on the points of my motocross bike-
Before LPS one drop of water would kill the engine-

After LPS #1 I could squirt water hose on points
and the engine would not miss a beat --

LPS has several products and the ones I have used work Great-

LPS #1 is made specifically for electronics--
designed for use in missile electronics

You should be able to find at Ace Hardware on online--Jay--

[KiddZimaHater]

Electronic Contact Cleaner ??
.
http://www.skymartsales.com/lpslabs/images/00416_ECC-App.jpg

[lynnl]

That's a timely bit of info, for me, on the LPS 1 Groovy2, thanx.

I really like the LPS #3, and a couple of weeks ago saw 2 or 3 cases of LPS 1 at a local surplus merchandiser. Wasn't familiar with its purpose so I passed on it, but next time I'm there I'll get some.

[Metalmelter]

http://www.caig.com/

The company I work for has had VERY good luck with DeOxit D5 for years now.
The 5% spray works like a charm. The homepage link is above, and here's the link to the spray, but beware it's about $17 per small can yet it lasts a long time.

http://store.caig.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1602/.f?sc=2&category=188