How to wash and dry a dirty console board

This is part 1 of my next project, after the N64 one (and maybe a GP2x mod too) - the Multi-System console which will incorporate several consoles into one integrated unit. It will be a "definitive" system, in ways that will become apparent over time as the system is made...

Anyway, over time, and neglect, a console board can get very dirty and dusty indeed. This video shows how to give it a good scrub and clean it again. This mod isn't just cosmetic, it would also be useful to make games run better, as muck and debris get into the game cart port easily.

 

Intresting video, I did not know that you could wash PCB's in this fashion. Is it alright to with all PCB's or would it only be worth risking on old PCB's?

 

In the old PC magazine article I read a while back, they were doing this technique with computer motherboards, graphic cards, memory cards, etc.

Only thing they did say, is that you can put a computer keyboard into a dishwasher, but be easy on the chemicals (ie one that won't harm plastic) and 30 degrees celcius or the plastic keyboard might deform. Motherboards etc should be fine about 40 degrees celcius, after all, chips get far hotter in operation than that.

As with any mods, always best to do them on items that if they break or don't work afterwards you think "meh, I have others, wasn't worth much anyway" rather than "ouch, that's a weeks wages". My view on the SMS board was that I bought one with about 12 games and 2 controllers for £10 and also another console (the one in the video) for £1 or £2, so if it didn't work, so what, I have another... (as it turned out, the board probably didn't work well before I modded it).

The SMS can be audio modded, composite or RGB modded and run happily off 7.4v (probably 5v actually); quite a good console to make into a handheld, were I not going to implement it into an integrated multi-console system with several systems (detailed on my site, see sig). It will be a massive project, probably take about 2 years to complete...

 

Well ... it's a matter of *what* you can put on the washer.

Please don't put the hard drive, CD/DVD ROM or floppy drives there... :thumbsup:

Oh and it will run fine from 5v if you bypass the LM7805

 

Indeed, you wouldn't put drives in there, only mother boards, daughter boards, etc.

Indeed, the SMS will run off 5v as the voltage goes into a 7805 which means an output of 5v to feed the system. It is amazing that so many old consoles run off 5v, yet the manufacturers insisted on supplying different power adaptors for 7.5v - 12v, and in the case of the SNES, AC at 9v (yes, AC, not DC) - when all the power did was go to a 7805 (in the case of the SNES, a small board circuit to presumably convert the AC to DC first!!

If they standardised with the same power supply, it would surely have been cheaper to make and sell them!

 

I take it boards with integrated PSUs wouldn't be a good idea to wash?

 

I usually remove large inductors and heatsinks from power supplies before washing

And I only wash the power supplies when there's electrolytic fluid leaks from faulty capacitors.

I once washed a XBOX motherboard (Classic XBOX) to get rid of cockroaches shit. The board worked wonderfully after tidied up and re-assembled (I advice you to aways remove large heatsinks before washing motherboards) :thumbsup:

 

I have heard of people putting there arcade boards into the dishwasher, minus the soap of course then letting it dry. I've never tried it though.

 

what other op amps we can use any idea

 

I stick with Ethanol. Dries much faster than water and you can also drink it

 

I generally use an air compressor after washing like this to blow excess water out before letting it set to air dry.