[schlockhausen]

Kidpix is great, and I wish I had it as a child - I just really shouldn't have left a 5-year-old with orange juice with my 15" AlBook unsupervised...

After the inevitable spill, I unplugged the power sources, left it to dry for a few days, and (thank God) the plastic dust shields between the palmrest/trackpad assembly and the guts of the powerbook stopped any liquid from getting in the logic board/HD/superdrive... SO:

I now have dry, sticky orange juice all over the underside of the palmrest/trackpad assembly. I've tried leaving it in an isopropyl alcohol bath overnight, but it's not dissolving the sugar. I was thinking of:
-washing it with dishwashing detergent and water
-rinsing it in water to get rid of the detergent
-rinsing it in isopropyl alcohol to get rid of any residue from the water.

Do you think this is safe?

[Eriamjh]

You can wash it with just about anything that is not corrosive as long as you DO NOT power it up wet. It must be dry completely when you fire it back up.

Be careful about anything that can leave a residue. Will electrical contact cleaner work or will it damage the plastic?

Maybe you should try running it throught he dishwasher?

[JKT]

From the manual:

Cleaning Your PowerBook - Follow these general rules when cleaning the outside of your computer and its components:
• Shut down your PowerBook and remove the battery.
• Use a damp, soft, lint-free cloth to clean the computer’s exterior. Avoid getting moisture in any openings. Do not spray liquid directly on the computer.
• Don’t use aerosol sprays, solvents, or abrasives.

Tips for Using the Trackpad - For best results when using the trackpad, keep in mind these tips:
• Use only one finger. Using more than one finger may cause erratic pointer behavior.
• Do not use a pen or any other object.
• Keep your finger and the trackpad dry. If the trackpad becomes moist from humidity or condensation, gently wipe it with a clean cloth before you use it.
• Never use any kind of cleaning solution on the trackpad.

Water will clean it fine. There is no need to use any detergent or solvent, especially on a trackpad!

[schlockhausen]

Thanks Eriamjh, I'm leaving it in the airing cupboard for a few days after the isopropyl rinse, just to make sure there isn't any moisture in it at all. I think since I rinsed thoroughly after using dishwasher detergent, I should be ok about leavind dried soap on it...

The soap seems to have completely destroyed the adhesive holding the plastic dust shields to the assembly though. There are screws that hold the two together though, so I'm not too worried, but I'm not sure how much of what I thought was stubborn orange juice was actually adhesive.

I heard the dishwasher suggestion on another board, someone was talking about cleaning PCBs. The idea frightens me a bit, since our dishwasher is about 10 years old and pretty violent...

I'll let you know how it goes. Fingers crossed!

[schlockhausen]

Thanks JKT, the problem is that I needed to clean the whole assembly (because of the surface under the keyboard). I was really reluctant to take the trackpad out while cleaning the rest of it because there's no obvious way of doing it. The trackpad seems to be pretty resilient though (it's survived 2 years of various bodily substances) so I hope it'll pull through.