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I spilled Isopropyl on my motherboard

post #1 of 12
11/17/07 at 12:15pm
Thread Starter 
So I was appying AS5 onto my processor and trying to clean things up and get a good application (Right now i'm overclocked to 2.8 and it says I'm 37 C) So I'm glad that it worked out.

But anyways I accidently knocked over my bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol 91% onto my motherboard and the left hand corner of it got about 3-4 tablespoons worth. and I think it might have gotten into the socket board. I was worried as I should be. But cloth dryed all of it and then put it back together and it wouldn't boot up. Just the Green Light Flash.

So I then re-opened it and let it air dry for a few mins and tried my best to clean out the entire motherboard and then I booted it up again, and it worked.

So I suppose I was very lucky, but I'm curious as to how close to disaster was I? and should I be using 100% Isopropyl?

The m1710 is now running great, and with this CPU upgrade I think I'm going to keep my M1710 for a little longer, I really like it.
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post #2 of 12
11/17/07 at 12:41pm
You won't find 100%, but you can get 99%. It is volatile so it would have disappeared from your computer without you wiping it off. However, it is widely used to remove thermal paste from CPUs, so even though probably nothing happened since you also have to rub it off, I would check to make sure that it's still intact. Unless there's no change in your CPU temperature, in which case you shouldn't mess with it any further.
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post #3 of 12
11/17/07 at 12:45pm
thats why I use whiskey to do mine, id never spill the nectar, just a wee drop on a coffee filter

lol
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post #4 of 12
11/17/07 at 9:04pm
What I did with keyboards when I doused them in coffee/water, was to leave them to dry overnight upside down. A hot fan nearby also helps.

I certainly wouldn't boot it up straight after a spill, could cause a short circuit if there's enough water in there.
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post #5 of 12
11/18/07 at 2:53am
Isopropyl will evaporate quite quickly as it is alcohol (and pure/clean alcohol at that)
Since you had the 91% Isopropyl that means 9% is water thus some drying time is needed.

It is best to use 99% Isopropyl as spillage leaves almost no water and will evaporate quickly, but even with 91% if you give it an hour just to be safe you should be good.
You really shouldn't have to worry about corrosion or anything.. but I would keep an eye out just in case (mainly because you didn't give it enough time between spillage and powering on the first time)

D.
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post #6 of 12
11/18/07 at 9:31am
Well, it's not all water, it also has denaturants, perfume oils, and maybe coloring. Also, since the water is uniformly located on the spill, it's much like a very fine mist of water spraying on your motherboard vice a small spill 9% of the size of the original. Considering the temperatures in there that water probably spends less than a few seconds on the board, and doesn't account for much more than normal air humidity in a hot Houston day. I hate Houston.
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post #7 of 12
11/18/07 at 9:41am
Well, I guess it depends on the brand of Isopropyl.
The stuff I use (99% Isopropyl) does contain a little denaturant but so small as to be insignificant.
There are no extra oils (perfume or otherwise) and no coloring (Isopropyl should not be colored anyways as it is supposed to be 'pure' alcohol for appllication to wounds etc..).

Then again, I do get my Isopropyl from my lab so perhaps the stuff you buy from the local store is a bit different.

Either way, to OP, you should be fine as the contact duration was minimal.

Plus, in the past I have used Isopropyl to clean off my MB when there had been some slight corrosion (this was an old AMD K-2 MB I took out of storage from when I was a kid) and it removed the corrosion and left no 'noticeable/harmful' residue.

D.
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post #8 of 12
11/19/07 at 6:04am
The best stuff I have used is called"PROCLEAN"that I used in my previous job where we made fully populated pcb circuit board assemblies and that was a industrial strength Isopropy.I think 99%.It was in a compressed aerosol dispensed can along with KIMWIPE pcb board dry wipes.


Regards,

Ko


(A Former unemployed Electronics Final Quality Auditor thanks to Kimball Electronics Group)
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post #9 of 12
11/19/07 at 2:49pm
Isopropyl is usually used to clean solder joints of excess flux. I used to use it all the time at work on electrical switches. You just shoot some compressed air at it and it evaporates, but if you wait awhile it will do the same. It's not harmful to electronics.
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post #10 of 12
11/19/07 at 9:37pm
What kind of CPU did you upgrade to? Oh, and are the E1705 procs removable, like the M1710's?

I don't think isopropyl will harm electronics...
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post #11 of 12
11/19/07 at 10:28pm
Yes you can easily change CPU and GPU's on the E1705

And 90+ % isopropyl is fine as long as the unit is not powered
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post #12 of 12
11/19/07 at 11:30pm
Couple of questions:

Is the C2D T7200 a socket M [PGA 478]? Can I just buy a socket M mobile proc [Merom, etc.] and pop it in?

Answer me this: Why are the Socket P [incompatible, Santa Rosa, newer] CPUs so much cheaper than the older Socket Ms?
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