Immersion cleaning

[SgtM]

So I was chatting with my neighbor a few weeks ago, and she was telling me about how her dad would disassemble his home stereo and dunk it in the tub (with regular tap water) when it got dirty. I thought He was nuts!

I was looking around my case recently, and noticed my HDD and exhaust fans were dirrrrrrty. I thought.. eh what the hell? So tonight I took them out, took them apart, and dunked them in a bowl that I filled with tap water, bleach, and ajax dish soap. That guy might be crazy, but damnit, it works! The fans look brand new! I just reinstalled 1 fan, and the other is drying. I should have taken pictures.

I'm not crazy enough to try this with other equipment, but at least I have clean fans. And clean fans means better airflow.

BTW, I will not be held responsible if you try this and fry a fan. The ones I have cost a whopping $3 and I wouldn't have been heart broken if they fried.

edit: I should also mention that there are LED's in the fans too. Here's a pic of the clear one after I reinstalled it. The dead LED was like that before I did this.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/sgtm_usmc/fan1.jpg

[isunktheship]

Dipping a fan in water, when it's not plugged in, shouldn't be a problem. The way a computer fan works is through the use of a magnet/coiled wires that electricity passes over. As long as you unplug the fan, wash it, and let it dry before plugging it back in, you should be fine.

That's a cool idea.

[Zephik]

Reminds me of when you are testing a new H2O kit. You only send power to the kit and nothing else. That way if it leaks you won't have any problems.

I wonder about ?capacitors? though? Don't those "hold" electricity for a time?

[SgtM]

yes.. capacitors do hold a charge for a period of time. I would imagine that if one were to do this with a cap, they would want to make sure it was discharged first.

[Omega]

That's a good thing to know -- how do you dismantle a fan?

I have a 120mm that's real dirty and drawn on with highlighter that could probably use this treatment.

[SgtM]

All I had to do to get mine apart was take the sticker off, then there was a little plastic ring around the shaft that had to be removed. After that, I just slid the blades out. If you have bearing fans, the process will likely be different. Obviously, assembly was just the opposite.

[SgtM]

anyone dare me to try this with an old board? c'mon.. I want to do it anyway

[GT40_GearHead]

there is one big problem with this procedure:

it will ****up the sleeve bearing/ball bearing, the water will wash away the oil in the bearing

but you should be ok if after you wash them you put some oil in the bearings

[azminisk8r]

i take your dare, i have 3 spare mobos lying around so hell

[azminisk8r]

haha i have pics of the cleaning and it actually worked really well and i didnt die:)

[Mitternacht]

haha i have pics of the cleaning and it actually worked really well and i didnt die:)

haha, you're kidding...

[azminisk8r]

Before:
PSU:http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-899S.jpg

Mobo:http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-900S.jpg

All parts before cleaning:http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-901S.jpg



The dangerous parts in water:http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-903S.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-001S.jpg


Cpu after:http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-904S.jpg

All After:http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/azminisk8r/MVC-002S.jpg






I cant run it yet since im going to let th parts dry for a few hours

[Zephik]

Cool Cool. Make sure they dry REAL well. I got my stereo wet once and I let it dry over night but it still fried the next day in the morning. ><

[azminisk8r]

yeah im only waiting on mobo and psu, i think ill let them dry over night with a few fans blowing on them just for all the nooks and crannies

[Nick_Black]

I'm looking forward to seeing this :D

[SgtM]

azminisk8r - cool stuff d00d.. +rep

[azminisk8r]

it works!!! i had some pics but i lost my camera and with it went all the pics but it works!

[CanaBalistic]

You have to dry the parts really good. If water is left to sit on the contacts or anything metal, it will corode, causing shorts.

If i were to try this, i would use alcohol insted of water. Alcohol will clean better and faster with less effort. It also dries very fast.