On 23/09/08 00:22 -0400, Jeremy Bongio wrote: > Couldn't alcohol be used to clean rather than water? > -Jeremy
Sure could. Here are the things to keep in mind: The benefit of using isopropol over water is a faster drying time and potentially cleaner result. (Actually, isopropol joins with water in an azeotrope. If I understand the chemistry correctly, it'll effectively "suck up" the water and carry it away when it evaporates) If you go buy isopropol, one of the things listed on the bottle is the percentage. What aint isopropol aint going to evaporate... at least as easy. To clean fiber tips, we tend to use 98%. The average supermarket wont have more than 85% available. Get the highest you can. Also, its worth noting that "rubbing alcohol" or even "isopropol rubbing alcohol" actually contains no isopropol at all (as mandated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). It may still work for your use however. Isopropol is dangerous. It smells strong, and the vapors wont do you any favors. Its flamable, borderline explosive. The aforementioned fiber optics isopropol is typically kept in small 3-5 oz bottles for safety. (Side funny: one of the ways to destroy a fiber is to run a laser through it before the isopropol is evaporated. It will actually burn and destroy the tip. Supposedly it makes an audible 'pop!'.) Air out the lappy very very well before attempting to start it up. I'd do all the cleaning outdoors without the battery attached and leave it outdoors for a good hour or three before bringing it inside to wait another hour or three in front of a fan. I may not be normal. -porkchop _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Sep 3 - Porkchop - The Areas of My Expertise Oct 1 - Ubikeys Oct 4 - Linux Fest Nov 5 - Releasing Open Source Software Dec 3 - TBD
