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Alcohol % for cleaning?

Astroboy907

Astroboy907

macrumors 65816
Original poster
I am taking apart my new macbook tomorrow and am going to have to clean a lot of it (part of the logic board, half the keyboard, cd drive slot <(how do I clean that? Its nasty and hard), etc etc...)

What is the best cleaning solution to use? I have 70% alcohol, but I hear 90% is better. I can stop by a drugstore and see if they have some in (I am 15 though... would I run into legality issues?), but I am assuming they will not. Any tips?


Also, what would be a good place for looking for blue cellophane? I want to color my keyboard backlight as well as my logo.
 
Why do you need to clean a new MacBook and its generally not a good idea to expose your logic board to any liquids, alcohol based or not.
 
By new, I mean new to me. Right side if keyboard is sticky, andthere might be slight damage on the logic bard below the keyboard. Ill make sure to remove the battery and unplug any power source 😉
!

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psykick5 said:
Jack Daniels.
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That might be easier to get where I live 🙂
 
Use 100 % isopropyl alcohol, it contains no water and can be used for cleaning electronics. You can get it at Wal-Mart, there are no legal issues it is an over the counter medication common in most families first aid kit.
 
The people that service our $20,000 (per unit) survey instruments (essentially a mobile computer) use 100 % isopropyl alcohol. You decide........
 
100% isopropyl. Just don't use it to clean the LCD. If you want to use it to clean the LCD it should be heavily diluted.
 
astroboy907 said:
I am taking apart my new macbook tomorrow and am going to have to clean a lot of it (part of the logic board, half the keyboard, cd drive slot <(how do I clean that? Its nasty and hard), etc etc...)

What is the best cleaning solution to use? I have 70% alcohol, but I hear 90% is better. I can stop by a drugstore and see if they have some in (I am 15 though... would I run into legality issues?), but I am assuming they will not. Any tips?


Also, what would be a good place for looking for blue cellophane? I want to color my keyboard backlight as well as my logo.
Click to expand...

Why? Just use a spray duster and it should be enough.
 
alphaod said:
Deionized water is the best thing for cleaning.
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I'm not familiar with cleaning electronics, admittedly, but I can't even imagine using 18 megohm ultra pure water on my electronics. 100% ethanol or methanol I can imagine, for some reason.
 
bausch and lomb cleaner is what is recommended by the mac store reps and its what they sell and use when you take your mac in to be cleaned or serviced.
 
alphaod said:
Deionized water is the best thing for cleaning.
Click to expand...

Yep. This is really all you need. You can submerge circuit boards in deionized water and scrub them with a toothbrush for a "deep cleaning" as long as you let it dry sufficiently afterwards.
 
prisstratton said:
Use 100 % isopropyl alcohol, it contains no water and can be used for cleaning electronics. You can get it at Wal-Mart, there are no legal issues it is an over the counter medication common in most families first aid kit.
Click to expand...

I don't know what Wal Mart you are shopping at as no one can get that pure of an amount of IPA. I used to work in semi-conductor and the best we could get was five 9 purity (99.999%) and we had to buy it from a chemical manufacturer. The stuff available over the counter will be no where near that quoted purity of 100% (just read the labels and buy the largest percentage available and you will be fine.

If you are talking about just straight out if the bottle, I agree (just now it is not 100% and if you go to Drug stores they will usually have different percentages available as well).
 
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