User avatar
Crispy
Sunhillow

Posted Tue Oct 19, 2021 2:59 pm

...when you leave rubber feet inside your A2000 for thirty years.
A2000_mb.jpg

The problem started here, in between the A2630 accelerator and the DKB 2632 memory expansion.
A2630_feet.jpg

And, voila, the rubber turned to goop, and dripped onto the motherboard in two places. It's not hurting anything, but it is an ugly, sticky mess.
A2000_goop_mid.jpg
A2000_goop_back.jpg

So now I have what looks like a long messy job of trying to clean this rubber goop off of three circuit boards. I think I'm going to start by trying some 99% alcohol on a little section of one of the boards, and see how it works.

Do any of you have experience with this sort of thing, and if so what's the best way to proceed?

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Wed Oct 20, 2021 12:12 pm

Alcohol, or Isopropanol, could make the mess larger. Try to remove as much from the substance as possible physically.

If that’s not feasible, try a small spot and see what happens.

I’d try Isopropanol first.

User avatar
fxgogo
Twickenham , U.K.

Posted Wed Oct 20, 2021 5:44 pm

What an oily goop. Yeah, sounds like a slow delicate process of removing excess along with a bit of IPA to loosen it will work.

User avatar
JoeUser
Dallas, TX

Posted Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:22 am

I've had some success with cleaning using DeOxit, but not sure if it will help dissolve or dislodge melted plastic. Might try the lift-slightly method, spray underneath, set for a while, and repeat. Eventually lifting it cleanly off the board, maybe...

https://www.amazon.com/DeOxit-Cleaning- ... B0002BBV4G

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:37 am

Plenty of good ideas here. However since we're talking about sticky goo, honestly I'd try (maybe on one of those cards first) the citrus-based Goo Gone which is typically not harmful to surfaces in any way shape or form. I will often use Goo Gone - the type you pour, not spray - on tape adhesive residue and similar gunk and it does a nice job. Often when I'm done removing sticky stuff I'll still need to go back and clean it with something else like glass cleaner because it kind of stays wet for a while. But a dab of that stuff on a Q-tip or soft rag can go a long way and is specifically made to remove "goo," which you seem to be suffering from pretty badly. :)

User avatar
Zippy Zapp
CA, USA

Posted Thu Oct 21, 2021 2:05 pm

+1 on the Goo Gone. I use it followed by IPA to get rid of the residue Goo Gone leaves behind. And it has a nice orangey scent. ;-)

User avatar
obitus1990
USA

Posted Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:23 pm

You know, the first A2000 I picked up about 6 years ago had something like this on the motherboard when I opened the machine up. It was located along the lines of resistors and ceramic caps, I think, if memory serves me right, on the far left side of the motherboard near the slots. I wonder if that was from the same thing. Regardless, I let some 99% isopropanol soaked paper towels sit on the involved areas of board for a while (maybe 30 mins or so), which broke it down a bit, then I used some acetone and a toothbrush to scrub it loose, followed by a wash with Dawn dish soap and a toothbrush and a deionized water rinse. A perfectly clean board was the result.

Remember that old rule of chemistry... like dissolves like. So you'll need organic solvents to remove the rubber (alcohol, acetone, others), then a detergent, which is bipolar and attaches to both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules (organics and water) simultaneously, which allows the deionized water to float the dissolved rubber/solvent conglomeration and their residues away after the cleanup.

User avatar
Crispy
Sunhillow

Posted Tue Oct 26, 2021 2:43 pm

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions. A careful and thorough cleaning with 99% isopropyl alcohol did the trick.
clean_acc.jpg
clean_mb.jpg





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