mwillegal wrote:
If you want to be more aggressive you can try any number of things that don't leave behind residue. My solvent of choice for such applications happens to be 97% isopropyl alcohol. It is also known as rubbing alcohol and is not the same as acetone. Acetone is far too aggressive for this application. Isopropyl alcohol evaporates quickly leaving little to no residue, though it can strip some kinds of paint, if left on too long.
Many brands of "Rubbing Alcohol" are only 50%-70% isopropyl alcohol, with some oil added to counteract skin drying. You can also find 90%-95% "Isopropyl Alcohol" or "Isopropanol" in many drugstores, which leaves no residue and is preferred for cleaning. This is one of many cases where it's important to read the label. ;-) ...but to reiterate, I've *very* seldom found it necessary to use any liquid in cleaning dust and dirt from a PC board. This is not a good application for obsessive-compulsive cleaning techniques. The purpose of a PC board is to work, not to be used to eat food. ;-) -michael NadaNet 3.0 for Apple II parallel computing! Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon/ "The wastebasket is our most important design tool--and it's seriously underused."