Washing a PCB

I had an accident this morning with some milk spilling on one of my Arduinos. I tried to mop up most of the milk with a towel, but I think theres a bit of residue on the board still. Can anyone suggest what to do? I thought it might be ok to wash it with DI water, but I couldnt find any at the local store, so instead I turned to Distilled water. Should I be doing something special to it? I dont want to kill my rather new Arduino.

I use regular rubbing alcohol that you get for less than a dollar along with a tooth brush. It dries quick and leaves no residue.

codlink:
I use regular rubbing alcohol that you get for less than a dollar along with a tooth brush. It dries quick and leaves no residue.

I used 91% before, but it always turns out to be a massive hassle to use that brush with alcohol, and it still leaves residues on the PCB. How about the Distilled vs DI water?

Never used Distilled TBO. As long as it doesn’t leave residue and you let it dry completely then I don’t see an issue.

How long does it usually take to dry? I think I’ll try using a hair dryer to accelerate the process. Dunno if I can use a heat gun to accelerate the drying even more or would that much heat damage parts?

If using water, just use a hair dryer. A heat gun could potentially melt the solder and parts start falling off. :shock:

Alcohol dries within minutes.

Put it somewhere warm (boiler cupboard etc) and leave it for a day or so too.

codlink:
If using water, just use a hair dryer. A heat gun could potentially melt the solder and parts start falling off. :shock:

Alcohol dries within minutes.

ok thanks.

I’ve always used a mixture of half IPA and half Windex and scrubbed the board with a toothbrush. Then I either hot gun it or use canned air to dry the board.

Really works to get the flux off the board along with any other impurities.

EDIT: To clarify, the hot gun I’m referring to is like a blow dryer for shrink wrap, not a rework heat gun.