# My motherboard has shit on it



## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

Yessirree. There's a thin layer of thin, almost clear, sticky goop all over the back side of my motherboard. It looks like it was on the receiving end of a Peter North movie.

I replaced it at Fry's Electronics and the tech there said it looks like it's just "left over from the manufacturing process." Thpppbt. That's crap. Other Asus models don't have it, just mine. The replacement had it too, though, so he must be right.

I want to clean it off.

I was thinking a soft wipe (the kind you clean monitors with) with some water on it, or maybe some cleaning alcohol, but I don't know what'll damage a mobo and what won't.

What should I clean my mobo with?

I predict it'll be pretty difficult. This is sticky stuff, it's going to take some elbow grease. Please keep that in mind when suggesting safe cleaning substances.

If someone really wants to see the messy love spilled all over my motherboard I can take it out and take a picture, but I'll do so anyway when I clean it.


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## Dr Donut (Jan 31, 2008)

thats strange ive never heard of that before, i think that the best bet would be rubbing alchohol because it evaporates quickly


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## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

No corrosion/stuff shorting out/explosions with rubbing alcohol? I know it's ok for the tops of processors, but that's more of a heatsink type of surface.

I'm talking about the actual PCB and bus of the backside of the mobo.

Just trying to verify, this is risky business.


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## hermeslyre (Jan 31, 2008)

Rubbing alchohol sometimes has some weird shit in it, oils and the like, be careful. 90% or above Isopropyl alchohol will work completely fine on silicon though(anything beneath that as well, doesn't hurt to careful though). You can actually submerge your motherboard in that stuff, i got picture somewhere...


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## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

So that's 90+% Isopropyl alcohol in the pic there?


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## hermeslyre (Jan 31, 2008)

Yeah, I think it's slightly higher, %95-99 solution. You can do it with any non conductive liquid, even vegetable oil, oils leave a nasty residue though.


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## INTELCRAZY (Jan 31, 2008)

fortyways said:


> Yessirree. There's a thin layer of thin, almost clear, sticky goop all over the back side of my motherboard. It looks like it was on the receiving end of a Peter North movie.
> 
> I replaced it at Fry's Electronics and the tech there said it looks like it's just "left over from the manufacturing process." Thpppbt. That's crap. Other Asus models don't have it, just mine. The replacement had it too, though, so he must be right.
> 
> ...



Haha...I don't think anyone else caught that joke..

Anyway, as said above 90% rubbing alcohol and you may wanna whip out the Q-Tips...


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## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

Yeah, vegetable oil would leave me back where I started. I'll go to a couple stores tomorrow and see if I can find a nice high percentage of Isopoblahblahblah.


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## WhiteFireDragon (Jan 31, 2008)

fortyways said:


> It looks like it was on the receiving end of a Peter North movie.
> 
> If someone really wants to see the messy love spilled all over my motherboard I can take it out and take a picture



lol you must watch a decent amount of porn to know who he is 

anyways, you can use anything that is non conductive, including *distilled* water


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## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

How does one go about obtaining distilled water?


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## WhiteFireDragon (Jan 31, 2008)

i'm a chemistry major so i work in a lab all the time. distilled water is the standard solvent we use so i can "borrow" plenty. i really have no idea where anyone else would get some. maybe bought in a bottle at the store or ordered. if it were me though, i wouldn't trust those because it's not prepared fresh on the spot.

distilled water is prepared by taking the purest water you can get, then boiling it so that the liquid phase becomes vapor. the water vapor is then cooled to turn back into liquid water, and this resulting liquid is what they called distilled water. it is prepared this way because there is almost nowhere that you will find *PURE* water. there will always be some sort of dissolved particles or ions in there.

if you can't get your hands on distilled water, then whatever you do, do NOT use tap water. depending on which state you are from, there are tons of trace metals and other crap in the water. distilled water has almost zero conductivity, while tap water is VERY conductive


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## ashdavid (Jan 31, 2008)

Just go down to your nearest walmart and get one of these, that should fix you up.


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## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

Sounds like distilled water would be a big challenge. So assuming I don't find david's contraption at Wal-Mart, I'm going with the highest percentage of isopor-you know, that kind of alcohol. The one in the picture where the mobo is submerged.

Any objections?


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## Dr Donut (Jan 31, 2008)

that will work fine, i started using it after i found out you can clean out old cartridge games with it


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## JLV2k5 (Jan 31, 2008)

fortyways said:


> Sounds like distilled water would be a big challenge.... Any objections?




No, you can buy distilled water at most grocery stores by the gallon. Just do that.


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## massahwahl (Jan 31, 2008)

I know CVS pharmacy caries it in the baby isle of all places. I also believe wal-mart and such will carry it.


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## hermeslyre (Jan 31, 2008)

Yeah but you can find a couple different uses for the alcohol, what are you going to do with distilled water afterwards? Besides, I don't know that water would be the best option for cleaning that residue, ever tried? It just smears. (probably)


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## sniperchang (Jan 31, 2008)

WhiteFireDragon said:


> [...] distilled water has almost zero conductivity, while tap water is VERY conductive



Hold on, if someone pours distilled water on their motherboard, it should be fine, as long as the water is relatively pure. However, couldn't the water dissolve impurities (infact is this not the purpose?) and become conductive?

On second thought, it doesn't matter if it's conductive or not, cause who's gonna clean a motherboard while it's powered? I think I heard something like this before: 





> You can clean motherboards with small amounts of water. Besure that's it's fully dried before pluging it back in.



In other words, just wipe it with a damp cloth. Don't submerge it in water; well I wouldn't.


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## Michael (Jan 31, 2008)

hermeslyre said:


> Yeah but you can find a couple different uses for the alcohol, what are you going to do with distilled water afterwards?



I use distilled water for cooking, and I drink it.. I don't see what the issue is here with distilled water? 

I buy it by the gallon at Cub Foods for 89 cents per.. 

-mak


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## WhiteFireDragon (Jan 31, 2008)

yeah if they poured distilled water on their mobo, it would be fine. many people that water cool their components use distilled water because it has a lower conductivity coefficient than the UV solutions sold for like $10/liter. in case there is a spill, your fragile hardware would not be damaged. i didn't know they just sold it at stores this easily. i always wondered where people got these to water cool since they most people do not work i labs.


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## hermeslyre (Jan 31, 2008)

makmillion said:


> I use distilled water for cooking, and I drink it.. I don't see what the issue is here with distilled water?
> 
> I buy it by the gallon at Cub Foods for 89 cents per..
> 
> -mak



No issue. Second point though, I've tried cleaning thermal paste with water, different stuff, nevertheless it was hard and it never truly cleaned up. I used some Isopropyl and it worked like a charm. If water will cut through that oil, then do it, distilled water is cheaper and you can chug it.


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## Michael (Jan 31, 2008)

I actually meant; where's the issue with _getting_ the distilled water.. I've no experience with cleaning off computer parts with it


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## fortyways (Jan 31, 2008)

Obviously I won't be cleaning it while it's receiving power. Does this mean I can use whatever I want as long as it's dry before I boot it up?


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## Michael (Jan 31, 2008)

fortyways said:


> Obviously I won't be cleaning it while it's receiving power. Does this mean I can use whatever I want as long as it's dry before I boot it up?



No, because some liquids leave residue behind, even when you can't see it, that can corrode the electrical connections on your board.

90% or better isopropyl alcohol should be fine, though..

-mak


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## Vestitor (Feb 1, 2008)

makmillion said:


> I use distilled water for cooking, and I drink it.. I don't see what the issue is here with distilled water?
> 
> I buy it by the gallon at Cub Foods for 89 cents per..
> 
> -mak



...hmm I learned in my Bio 2 class that distilled water is very bad for the human body, something about the digestion process.


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## reddevil6 (Feb 1, 2008)

idk supermarket, hardware store might sell it


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## WhiteFireDragon (Feb 1, 2008)

Vestitor said:


> ...hmm I learned in my Bio 2 class that distilled water is very bad for the human body, something about the digestion process.



because it lacks some of the ions. trace elements and ions from your body will equilibrate with the water so you will lose some of these electrolytes to the water. also distilled water not freshly prepared on the spot will absorb carbon dioxide from the air to make it slightly acidic. when you drink it, it will lower the overall pH of your body

i'm not sure the "distilled" water you buy at the store is truly distilled. there is a difference between tap water, bottled drinking water, and distilled water. most of the "pure" water bought at the stores that can be used for drinking is purified by reverse osmosis, where as distilled water is purified by boiling and condensing vapor water. reverse osmosis is a cheaper process but still leaves ions in the water. this is for improved water quality and taste. true distilled water is mostly used for chemical purposes.

for your case, depending on what the stuff on your mobo is, distilled water might not clean it off because water and that stuff on you mobo might be different polarity. this is where other stuff would be used to clean, but i would try the water first


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## fortyways (Feb 1, 2008)

WhiteFireDragon said:


> because it lacks some of the ions. trace elements and ions from your body will equilibrate with the water so you will lose some of these electrolytes to the water. also distilled water not freshly prepared on the spot will absorb carbon dioxide from the air to make it slightly acidic. when you drink it, it will lower the overall pH of your body
> 
> i'm not sure the "distilled" water you buy at the store is truly distilled. there is a difference between tap water, bottled drinking water, and distilled water. most of the "pure" water bought at the stores that can be used for drinking is purified by reverse osmosis, where as distilled water is purified by boiling and condensing vapor water. reverse osmosis is a cheaper process but still leaves ions in the water. this is for improved water quality and taste. true distilled water is mostly used for chemical purposes.
> 
> for your case, depending on what the stuff on your mobo is, distilled water might not clean it off because water and that stuff on you mobo might be different polarity. this is where other stuff would be used to clean, *but i would try the water first*



But didn't you just say I can't get true distilled water locally? Do you mean the drinkable version?


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## jacklazara (Feb 1, 2008)

mb try somesort of wet wipes for lcd's ? )


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## cobber187 (Feb 2, 2008)

definitely do the isopropyl alcohol, water and oil does not mix will and will not clean it as well as the alcohol.  also, if you use water you'll have to worry about drying every last drop of water off your mobo whereas with alcohol it'll air dry quickly and can put back in your computer quickly.  I would suggest using q-tips to make sure you get off every bit of that gunk.  have you taken a pic yet?


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## Michael (Feb 2, 2008)

WhiteFireDragon said:


> i'm not sure the "distilled" water you buy at the store is truly distilled. there is a difference between tap water, bottled drinking water, and distilled water. most of the "pure" water bought at the stores that can be used for drinking is purified by reverse osmosis, where as distilled water is purified by boiling and condensing vapor water. reverse osmosis is a cheaper process but still leaves ions in the water. this is for improved water quality and taste. true distilled water is mostly used for chemical purposes.



I go to the grocery store, pick up the bottle that reads 'Distilled Drinking Water' and I buy it.. there's no room for error on my part, and the bottle can't lie 

Although, the rest of your statement has checked out.. I'm merely pointing out that I'm not mistaken by which type of water I've been buying for years.


Curious about whether or not the water I've been drinking and using for cooking was the same water we're talking about, I picked up a new jug of it today while shopping;







It appears to be 'real' distilled water. (Please ignore the time stamp, my camera won't keep the correct time/date because I never keep batteries in it)


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## fortyways (Feb 2, 2008)

So.

The operation wasn't a huge success.

I'll post pics after I finish installing Photoshop on this new computer.

With this new motherboard.


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## fortyways (Feb 3, 2008)

Here's one picture, with both before and after. I circled what I thought to be the most prominent examples. In yellow is how the motherboard - and the one I exchanged - both came out of the package, apparently straight from the factory. There's basically a trail of it between every point of interest on the backside, and some messier, blotchy parts that don't show up well in photographs.

In red is that substance after having mixed with 91% isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol evaporates but leaves the substance behind. I tried several times to pick it up quickly with the dry end of the que-tip (sp?) but no luck.

I paid 96 bucks for the Gigabyte board I replaced it with, which I'm in love with. It's just designed and built better. I worked through a hundred issues with the Asus. The only problem I have here is that it won't read core temperatures, but I believe that has something to do with the 45nm processor I put in it.


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## hermeslyre (Feb 3, 2008)

Strange. I wouldn't have used a q-tip, not very easy to clean with those things. Plus they're very shoddy, that residue could've grabbed the lint and made it look worse. Something like lint-free polishing cloth would work, but that's getting too elaborate and fussy. rag would've worked, providing you didn't scrub like maniac.

This is just rhetorical now. Have fun with that new board!


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## cobber187 (Feb 3, 2008)

i like the lint free rag idea dipped in alcohol.  that could've been the problem, you didn't have enough alcohol to clean it.  glad you like your new mobo, though.


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