At 11:01 -0700 10/23/09, Andrew Jung wrote: >Isn't that "gunk" hazardous and would I be wanting to stick something >like that in the dishwasher where things that I eat off often end up >for cleaning in washes afterwards? My concern is that some of the >residual whatever-it-is will remain and get on my dishes after. >Obviously I know I'd have to wash it separately. >
The gunk is almost surely to be sulfuric acid which is commonly used for anodizing aluminum. That's the process of creating a thin aluminum oxide layer on the aluminum foil that the capacitor is made of. Hot water will completely rinse off that acid which is no stronger than the hydrochloric acid in your stomach. Older Macs probably have tin-lead solder that holds parts to the board. That has been illegal in Europe for almost a decade but it's still legal in the US of A where Apple makes almost nothing. Reference: RoHS, reduction of hazardous substances. Lead is poisonous, especially to small children. I would liken washing a circuit board to washing some Chinese toys with lead-based paint on them. If your house was built before about 1980 it likely has tin-lead solder holding your pipes together. Most soaps are not good for circuit boards. During manufacture boards are exposed to soldering temperature of a little less than 200 C and they are also washed with water to remove soldering flux. The dishwasher without soap is not going to do damage anything except possibly to something like an inspection label, cable, or battery that you should remove. Little Johnny's dead We n'ere shall see him more For what he took for H20 Was H2SO4. But that's for chemistry labs with 5 pint bottles of acid on the shelf. -- --> From the U S of A, the only socialist country that refuses to admit it. <-- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are a member of the Vintage Macs group. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vintage-macs Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
