Motherboard cleaning help

[HizeraStone]

Hi everyone

I will try and keep this as short as possible but provide as much info as I can ><

Yesterday I got given a Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard which is great for me as I had a 4960X ES choip and not board to try it on ^^

Bad thing is the board came from a smokers home and it totally stinks even at a distance,
be it the rear I/O, PCI slots, RAM slots or Sata connections the entire things stinks.
I tried the old q-tip and isopropyl alcohol cleaning method but the amount of invisible gunk is impossible to remove with just q-tips.

How am I meant to clean the entire motherboard and remove the smell of cigarette smoke from my motherboard ?
I have been advised to either get electrical contact spray to clean it (can't find any locally) OR give the entire board a isopropyl alcoho bath 99.9% and lightly clean with a soft toothbrush.

Any help would be appreciated as a non smoker the smell is really not tolerable

 

[Anakey]

I would say that would be the best option, unless you know of anyone that has a large capacity ultrasonic bath that could be filled with a solvent and then use the ultrasonic pulses to loosen off any particles that are on the board. I picked up a small 1l sized one from lidl when they had them on for this purpose though obviously it is only good for cleaning small components, jewlery etc, usful also for cleaning dust filters from vacumns etc or anything that has lots of crevace's that are difficult to clean.

 

[Wraith]

You can do the alcohol bath method but you must be so so careful, I'd say if you were to go for a full clean using isopropyl rather than soaking the board use a spray bottle and toothbrush (soft brush), dab away the excess with kitchen towel.

Isopropyl can be damaging to some plastics so bare that in mind.

 

[HizeraStone]

You can do the alcohol bath method but you must be so so careful, I'd say if you were to go for a full clean using isopropyl rather than soaking the board use a spray bottle and toothbrush (soft brush), dab away the excess with kitchen towel.

Isopropyl can be damaging to some plastics so bare that in mind.

thank's for the warning Wraith the Isopropyl I have is 99.9% pure that according to other forums shouldn't react to any plastic used on motherboards.
I have already stripped the board of all its heatsinks to clean separately, once removed I noticed the thermal pads had been stained yellow at the edges so they will need replacing.

I am looking for a small soft brush/toothbrush to do the cleaning as well as a small paintbrush to get in those small areas, but with the amount of gunk I am removing with Q-tips alone I am unsure if spraying the board would do the job as the smell is really bad (Even the box needs a spray of febreze)

Something I am wondering though is once the cleaning is done would putting a bowl of baking soda (could be powder I can't remember) in a bowl next to board help remove any residual smell as it drys ?

 

[Mysterae]

I hate to say this but you'll never really get the smell out, it'll be baked on. I bought a used Titan cooler from ebay and it reeked the same. I was brutal when cleaning it and the smell still persisted if you got close enough.

The only suggestion I can give is to try and mask it. Get some strong aftershave or perfume and put it on components that get warm/hot (carefully, don't leave wet obviously). Alternatively stick an air freshener in your pc for a month.

 

[HizeraStone]

I hate to say this but you'll never really get the smell out, it'll be baked on. I bought a used Titan cooler from ebay and it reeked the same. I was brutal when cleaning it and the smell still persisted if you got close enough.

The only suggestion I can give is to try and mask it. Get some strong aftershave or perfume and put it on components that get warm/hot (carefully, don't leave wet obviously). Alternatively stick an air freshener in your pc for a month.

I always seam to pick the components that belong to smokers although I did buy a GameCube RGB scart cable for my N64 that reeked for weeks. Now though after a year or so there is no smell that I can tell.
Maybe I will get lucky again maybe not but if I can reduce the smell even a little while cleaning it I can live with it.

 

[Mysterae]

I always seam to pick the components that belong to smokers although I did buy a GameCube RGB scart cable for my N64 that reeked for weeks. Now though after a year or so there is no smell that I can tell.
Maybe I will get lucky again maybe not but if I can reduce the smell even a little while cleaning it I can live with it.

Yeah, unlucky!

I wasn't joking about putting an air fresher in your case. If your case has good positive air pressure it'll exhaust the preferable scent. Aromatherapy For The Gamers!

What's the bet that hardware manufacturers will have run out of ideas that this will become a thing?! #applyingforpatent

 

[HizeraStone]

Yeah, unlucky!

I wasn't joking about putting an air fresher in your case. If your case has good positive air pressure it'll exhaust the preferable scent. Aromatherapy For The Gamers!

What's the bet that hardware manufacturers will have run out of ideas that this will become a thing?! #applyingforpatent

Well with the stupid obsession with RGB righting I can bet they will implement a system where certain smells are released from your case depending on the colour right you have one.
Orange =...well orange
green = Pine / cut grass smell and so on XD

Soon all cases will have a fill port for new fragrances or some add-on.