You can see the mess it is in, and using a sponge or towel to clean the circuit board will only make things worse. This is a PCB from a Western Digital hard drive that had been left outside in the wind and rain. Case Study – Cleaning a Dirty Hard Drive Circuit Board It is generally safe to clean most electronic components ultrasonically and approximately 20 minutes is enough to loosen and remove most of the grime and oxidation from the affected part. Cavitation takes place wherever the liquid comes into contact with the object being cleaned.
As these cavities collapse, high temperatures and large forces are generated in the localised area and the cumulative effect of millions of these cavities forming and collapsing simultaneously is responsible for the cleaning action. Sound waves stretch and compress liquid resulting in negative pressure which in turn creates the cavities in the water. The ultrasonic cleaning process produces a physical effect known as “acoustic cavitation” which form when ultrasonic waves travel through liquid. This is the same circuit board after an ultrasonic clean. It’s possible to restore parts to a ‘like new’ condition with the right detergent/solvent without damaging the part. We have had great results using ultrasonic cleaning techniques to bring both phones and hard drives back to life so we can recover the information on them. Ultrasonically cleaning the components is a great way of removing all the dirt, grime and oxidation that builds up. This process causes all sorts of electrical issues and prevents the device from functioning. As the phone / hard drive begins to dry out, this dirt and grime sticks to the electronic components which are now also oxidising. Furthermore, if the liquid involved is dirty (for example a phone has been dropped into a muddy puddle), dirt and grime will also contaminate the device. Moreover, oxidisation begins immediately which attacks the components and circuit board. When this happens, the device switches off instantly and access to the data stored on it is lost.
Perhaps the device has been dropped into a puddle, been submerged in water, or has had a liquid spilt over it.Ĭommon mishaps such as dropping a phone into water, or spilling liquid onto a hard drive will often cause the device to short circuit. Sometimes before we can begin to extract the data from a broken phone or hard drive, it’s necessary to physically clean the device and remove the grime and grit that has caked itself onto various components and circuits – this is particularly true when liquids (water, coffee, wine, fruit drinks etc) are involved. This a circuit board from a hard drive that had been left out in the rain.