Not really, but you can use alcohol instead, if you want to.

>>902042
in an industrial setting PCBs are actually washed in baths of soap and other funky stuff so it's not a troll
however, you have to consider that soap leaves residues
not really a problem if you have one of those chemicals that is specifically meant to remove soap residue from surfaces
or distilled water to wash it down after the soap does it's stuff
or just use isopropanol, ethanol or any other readily available alcohol instead and call it a day
hell, i've even used acetone.. after convincing myself there was no plastic do be damaged by it..

>>902043
>>902045

Thanks, I'll have to look into this. Using water, soap and electronics flya in the face of everything I've been taught.

>>902045
I honestly thought ethanol would fry/short things

>>902051
pure alcohol evaporates leaving no trace hence there can be no shorts
the only way i can conceive that would leave a possible short is if your mechanical procedure like scrubbing or what not leaves a large blob of dirt between some SMD component legs with ultra fine pitch

if you're worried that there's still some residual alcohol on the board before anxiously applying the voltage then just heat it up a little bit with and hasten the evaporation

actually this might not be a bad idea for connectors which tend to pool the washing liquids even after surfaces have cleared...

>>902059
*with a hairdrier or in an oven or... use your imagination

>>902059
I'd feel more comfortable with the evaporation method mentioned. Many thanks

>>902049
yeah, uh, it's not powered on while you're cleaning it. You might wanna think about it for a minute.

Pure water doesn't harm electronics, but tapwater has lime and all kinds of other things that leave residues. Obviously the board has to dry out afterwards.

Some people clean electronics in the dishwasher, without detergent, but I've never tried.

>>902067
I get that.

>>902069
Works wonders for keyboards. But make sure the water temp is not set to hot. I lost a few working keys on a mech that way.

>>902045
I worked for a place that rebuilt controller boards for lifts, washing the boards in dish-soap and rinsing with distilled water was SOP.

>>902051
It may if you were dumb enough to douse the PCB while it was plugged in.

I've done a lot of pcb production, and I've washed thousands of boards with soap and water. It really comes down to what you are trying to remove though. For example, if you used water soluble flux, just a high pressure hot water bath with di water is enough. If you're trying to remove no clean, alcohol is your best bet.

Just remember to cover and/or seal connectors and whatnot. The water won't damage most smt parts, but if it gets in to connectors or certian other components, there may be corrosion down the road.

I found a computer on a riverbank half buried in sand once. It still had the memory So I looked closer. Battery was in backwards.

Brought it home and cleaned it out with a garden hose, and did a final rinse with distilled water. Let it dry overnight.

Hooked it up to another power supply and surprisingly, even the processor fan still worked. I used that motherboard for a couple years.

>>902070
What do you not understand?
Board is not powered, shorts caused by water is not a problem.
Ensure water is removed from board before powering on. No shorts, no problem.

>>902042

compressed air and alcohol cu-tip

everything else is a meme

>>902042
I have always used brake clean and compressed air or isopropyl alcohol and compressed air.
Although you could use water i would not personally do it unless i had a baking oven to dry the PCB properly especially if the PCB is used on mains.