Help cleaning roaches and dirt of motherboard. No joke.

[zeturi]

Yeah... this is the last time I meet in a dark alleyway to buy a system.

For $20, I bought an original xbox, complete with three controllers and three games. The games ended up scratched as Heck, the controllers didn't work (but my original does), and to top it off, there were roughly a dozen live roaches in the console, and about fifty or so dead ones. There is also tons of dirt and filth on the board. Amazingly, is does work.

But before I unseal this unholy roach-infested board onto my work desk, I want to know: What works best for cleaning motherboards? What about hard drives or disk drives? I've done most standard disassembly, except for the drives.

 

[snowpenguin]

Oh

My

God

You're going to release live roaches onto your workspace?

EWWWWWWWWWW

 

[nobble]

Get a vacuum and suck the *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ers up.

 

[XCVG]

Acetone, paint thinner, varsol, any flammable solvent will work. Pour it all over and light it on fire.

In all seriousness, I recommend a shot of Raid first, before cleaning.

 

[zeturi]

No, I didn't know about it at first. I took off the lid and saw one of the *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ers staring at me. So I took the system outside, and tore it apart. I cleaned all the roaches out, and most of the filth.

I hate roaches probably as much as you do, snow. But I figured, I wasted $20 if I throw it all away. The motherboard is fully working, and so are the parts. I just need to really clean it.

Can you guys think of anything good to disinfect my mobo with? Like alcohol?

 

[zeturi]

I feel very tempted to just throw it the *Can'tSayThisOnTV* away now. Imma just steal its ram and samsung drive, and try to use them.

Even though I've cleaned the board to near perfection, I cannot sleep in the same room with it. Likewise, I will never love a completed project that has a motherboard that roaches nested in.

No, screw the drives, too. I'll just salvage the ram and chuck everything else. I'm stupid for buying it in the first place.

Well... do you guys think the ram is okay? I'm starting to get sick thinking about it. I want the ram. Cockroaches are disgusting. Improved emulator performance. Roach flax. Bragging rights. flaxty ram. (Literally.) SMD soldering experience. Roach ram. ARRRRRGGGHH! :evil: :evil:

 

[XCVG]

Just use the *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ing thing. If you don't want it, sell it to someone here.

 

[QuickSkop3]

You could call it the "RoachBox"

Also, just use it, and sell it.

 

[Basement_Modder]

Holy flax, man!

Just clean the mobo off a ton and soak the case in soapy water for a few hours, then let it dry for a day or two.

 

[Kyo]

soapy water? you mad?

Use something nonconductive

 

[J.D]

Find a way to throw that system to Heck.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Idea: Soak the board in warm, soapy water for a few minutes and scrub all the gunk off with an old toothbrush. Rinse with water, then rubbing alcohol, 91% if you can get it. Let it dry for a few days. Alcohol will evaporate much more quickly than water, so rinsing the board with it will not only disinfect it, but it'll also make it dry out much better when you're done, reducing any risk of damage to components. There you go, a nice, clean, sterilized motherboard and no more cockroach... stuff. For the case, do the soapy water treatment again, but rinse with normal water and dry it thouroughly with a towel.

If you still can't stand it after a comprehensive cleaning like that, give it to Goodwill or something, don't just throw it away. They don't need to know its history, after all. Besides, someone else can use it then.

 

[XCVG]

Wear rubber gloves too, for some pretty obvious reasons.

 

[ShockSlayer]

I recommend after doing what T_W said, that you get like, an air compresser and blow the thing off, or a vaccuum or something, to completely make sure all water is removed.

SS

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Wear rubber gloves too, for some pretty obvious reasons.

Yes, a good idea.

I recommend after doing what T_W said, that you get like, an air compresser and blow the thing off, or a vaccuum or something, to completely make sure all water is removed.

SS

Another good idea.

Seriously, zeturi, you've already cleaned the cockroaches out, why stop there? Why not finish the job?(On a side note, thank God I live in Nevada. Too dry for roaches. )

 

[Kyo]

Sounds like the whole system was in some moisture place to me.