Soot Removal

[ivor]

Hi,

Anybody got any thoughts on removing soot from an electronic circuit board?  I have an XBox that was in a fire.  I'm pretty sure it's toast but some of the parts might sell as-is if I could get the soot off.  I Googled it but nuffin really caught my attention.

MB

[Aggie]

Bulk soot should wipe off without cleaners, if it's deposited by smoke, in my experience. Since you're asking, I guess it's not the easy-to-wipe kind.  The greasier stuff.... hmm.  Depends on whether the parts are metal or plastic.  I'd try a citrus-based cleaner on metal parts, perhaps (up to and including straight orange oil) but that stuff eats plastic.

I assume you've tried plain old dish detergent and warm water - that's the first and best thing to try for general cleaning.  The first solvent I usually reach for is high-percentage rubbing alcohol (or Everclear) as it's relatively non-toxic and will dissolve some organic* compounds. It generally doesn't eat hard plastic, either.  You could try acetone (nail polish remover, check that it's acetone based), but that DOES eat many types of plastic.

Good thread about cleaning circuit boards here, that seems to back this up:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/car-audio/182275-circuit-board-cleaning.html

BTW, soot's full of nasty PAHs and solvents will strip the oils out of your skin, so I recommend wearing chemical-proof gloves.  Google 'soot wart' if you want a really good reason for minimizing soot exposure. 

_{*In the chemical, hydrocarbon sense, not the natural-food sense.}

[ivor]

Awesome!  Thanks duje!  Yeah... It's stuck on there perdy good...

[Griffin NoName]

Google 'soot wart' if you want a really good reason for minimizing soot exposure. 

soot wart sounds like something out of Harry Potter