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Can anyone tell me whether anti static foam cleaners are good for cleaning motherboards, RAMs, VGAs etc?

Also if it's good for that purpose would anyone know a good brand that sells overseas? Preferably with an ebay shop..

Thihara
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    What's wrong with compressed air? – HopelessN00b Aug 30 '12 at 04:42
  • I thought foam might do a better job than air.. – Thihara Aug 30 '12 at 04:47
  • You run the risk of doing mechanical damage by using any type of wipe on electronic components. Depending on the age of the hardware, you may also find your wipes contaminated by lead, requiring special disposal precautions. Compressed air is your friend...just don't let it overspeed any fans; they can be ruined by over-zealous air blowoff. – HikeOnPast Aug 30 '12 at 04:51
  • How clean do you need it? You're not eating off your RAM, are you? – HopelessN00b Aug 30 '12 at 04:51

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These cleaners are basically 2-BE, ethyl alcohol, and water. The only issue would be the water. If you find they dry quickly with no residue, it should be harmless so long as all of the cleaner remains on the surface.

Personally, however, I wouldn't do it. There's no advantage to getting things that clean -- they'll just get dirty again. And the risk of using a water-based cleaner doesn't seem worth it to me.

It's perfectly safe on external, non-porous surfaces that aren't near any actual electrical components.

David Schwartz
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  • What if theres a chance that dust may have been mixed with water vapors or something? We live close by the sea so that was one of my concerns.. – Thihara Aug 30 '12 at 04:56
  • I'm not sure I understand why you think that would be a problem. Your goal is to get the surface clean. The purpose of the cleaner is to loosen any dirt's grip on the surface. The water will evaporate rapidly because of the way water mixes with alcohol. The 2-BE is a no-residue surfactant which detaches dirt from a surface and makes greasy compounds soluable so they can be wiped off. – David Schwartz Aug 30 '12 at 05:05
  • No no dude, I mean since everyone recommends air, how appropriate would that be in my scenario? – Thihara Aug 30 '12 at 05:11
  • Just make sure the computer is dry before you use air on it. The idea is to get the dust blowing around and then most of it will wind up outside the computer. Trace amounts of dust won't really hurt a computer, it's the buildup that traps heat and moisture. – David Schwartz Aug 30 '12 at 05:24
  • OK. Air it is then... – Thihara Aug 30 '12 at 05:50
  • I used to work for a building firm and as such the pc's were often used on building sites and came back completely full of and covered in dirt. Compressed air was all I ever needed for the insides although I would carefully use foam cleaner on the outside to get the cases like new again. The only place I ever used it inside was on the blades of the fans, but then I would spray it on a tissue first then wipe the blades. – Robin Gill Aug 30 '12 at 09:25