Chosen Solution
Bought a used laptop on craigslist, and a month later I find out it has liquid damage. I feel very stupid. Somehow everything works except one USB port. I attached some photos that the Apple technicians sent to me. https://www.flickr.com/photos/12147002@N… I’m wondering if I should just count myself lucky and keep running the laptop as is? Or should I try to clean some of that mold out? If I decide to clean it, how should I do it? Compressed air? Alcohol with a cotton swab? I don’t want to do any further damage to the machine. But I also don’t like the idea of mold growing inside my computer. Thanks in advance for your input.
Rob, My first thought is pray. Compressed air - not right away. Turn off the computer - disconnect the battery and power supply. Let it sit for a while and dissipate any charge in the system. I would remove the motherboard if possible from the machine. I would remove any daughter boards from the motherboard as well. Try 90 percent alcohol with coffee filters (they do not leave lint). Try to get up as much as physically possible. Take you time. Do not rub to hard. The idea is to get Make sure you use a fresh bottle of the alcohol. The alcohol should kill the mold. It is not conductive, but it will absorb water from the air. Once that is done, look at the board and see how clean it came out. There are electrical cleaners, but they may melt you PCB. They are good for cleaning any contacts. Take you time and a lot of care if you use these for cleaning. Once the junk is gone and the contacts are cleaned-up, you can begin to access your motherboards/computer’s condition. Pat
