Cleaning old computers

[motorollin]

Though this is not an Amiga query, I'm hoping someone who has experience of cleaning up old Amigas can help me.

I bought a Tatung Einstein from eBay for my other half for Christmas (it was his childhood computer and he always speaks fondly of it, so I found one for him). It is in average condition, with one crack in the case, but other than that ok. It's quite dusty, both inside the case and on the housing too. There's an accumulation of dust in the grooves of the ventilation, and the case and keyboard are generally quite mucky.

I'm thinking of getting some cotton buds to clean it up, and am wondering if there is a substance I can use to clean it safely? Something which would get most of the ingrained dirt and dust off without damaging the plastic.

TIA

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moto

[motorollin]

Thanks Damion. I will give that a try. I'm guessing a chemist will sell distilled water?

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moto

[motorollin]

Given the cold weather at the moment, I don't think it will rain enough between now and Christmas :-)

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moto

[motorollin]

Got a can of compressed air today to blow away what I thought was just dust on the PCB. Turned out to be grime stuck fast to the board! Is there anything I can do to remove this without damaging any components?

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moto

[motorollin]

Hi Marc, thanks for your suggestion (also others :-) )

I'm really nervous about soaking the PCB in anything, or spraying it with anything. The machine works, so I think I'll leave it alone :-)

I couldn't get any distilled water so I ended up using warm soapy water (used washing up liquid!) and scrubbed the case with a toothbrush. It is still a bit yellow, but I don't know what colour an Einstein is supposed to be. It's very clean now at least. I also removed all the keys from the keyboard and put them through the dishwasher, and they came out lovely!

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moto