Friends:
So I tried the experiment below. The board looked pristine when I set it out in
the sun to dry but one hour later it looks terrible! It is covered top and
bottom by a white, powdery residue. I'll get a photo up on my website.
But...... It works!!!! The inverter is cobbled together on my tailgate
quietly humming. Granted this problem has been intermittent all along so I am
still skeptical.
If I were to do it again I'd skip the alcohol and dry it slowly and carefully.
It is amazing how resilient electronics can be. I even laundered my Bluetooth.
I will let you know after I install it if it stop works.
William
On Aug 15, 2013, at 4:33 PM, Exeltech <exelt...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> William,
>
> Urine is conductive, and apparently has formed some unwanted electrical
> pathways between components. This conductivity could easily continue after
> the board has "dried" due to humidity in the air.
>
> If the need is dire, you can try the following:
>
> You will need two 9" x 12" ceramic ("Pyrex" etc.) cake pans (or of a size
> appropriate for the PCB); a gallon of *steam distilled* water (not
> de-ionized, not "purified", but >steam distilled<); and some 91% rubbing
> alcohol (the 70% variety has too much water content):
>
> 1) Remove the contaminated PC boards from the inverter.
>
> 2) If there are no water-sensitive components (where water ingress would be
> problematic), wash (agitate) the board gently in a ceramic pan filled with
> approx 1/2" to 1" of *steam distilled* water. Nothing less. Water depth
> should be adequate to submerge and cover the affected area. Do this for
> approximately 10 minutes. The objective is to dissolve the contaminants.
> This can take time, especially if in tight areas between components where
> water doesn't readily circulate.
>
> 3) Remove the PCB from the distilled water.
>
> 4) Gently rinse the PCB in another ceramic pan filled with sufficient alcohol
> to at least partially cover the PCB components. The objective here is to
> displace the distilled water.
>
> 5) Put the PCB in a *LIGHTLY* warm oven or a sunny warm location. Allow the
> alcohol to completely evaporate. This may take time (an hour or more), as
> the alcohol may have entered various tight areas on the PCB where air doesn't
> readily penetrate.
>
> 6) Once dry, reinstall the PCB in the inverter .. and hope.
>
> Follow normal precautions for work with AC power and for static electricity
> abatement. Be wary of any large high-voltage capacitors that may have
> retained some charge.
>
> Also .. more than one PCB may be affected.
>
>
> And as always .. do so at your own risk.
>
> Dan Lepinski
> Industry Veteran
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Thu, 8/15/13, Allan Sindelar <al...@positiveenergysolar.com> wrote:
>
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Mouse pee in the SW
> To: "RE-wrenches" <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Date: Thursday, August 15, 2013, 5:39 PM
>
>
> William,
>
> I don't have a definitive answer, but I doubt it's either display or chipset;
> more likely in the boards. The chips are EEPROMs that contain programming for
> the firmware; unless there's a bad socket connection from the pee, they won't
> be affected. The display is pretty much self-contained within its plastic
> case, and not where the corrosive pee is likely to end up. I'd more suspect
> circuit board troubles, but I can't tell you which ones.
>
> Allan
>
> Allan Sindelar
> al...@positiveenergysolar.com
> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional
> NABCEP Certified Technical Sales Professional
> New Mexico EE98J Journeyman Electrician
> Founder and Chief Technology Officer
> Positive Energy, Inc., a Certified B CorporationTM
> 3209 Richards Lane
> Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
> 505 424-1112 office 780-2738 cell
> www.positiveenergysolar.com
>
>
>
>
>
> On 8/15/2013 3:36 PM, William Miller wrote:
>
> Friends:
>
> I had a mouse take up residency in an SW inverter (SW4024).
>
> It peed on the top circuit board and chewed on one wire, at least that we
> found. We have had this happen before and solved the problem by cleaning and
> drying.
>
>
> This time the mouse pee was minimal and cleaned off easily and what appeared
> to be throughly. However we can't get the inverter to work reliably.
> Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. The overload light is solid
> and the error light flashes. The controls work on some menus and not on
> others. If I shut the inverter down it won't come back on.
>
> I take off the cover, look around, connect and disconnect ribon cables and it
> comes back on, only to go out a day later.
>
> I have a spare display and chipset. I am considering changing out one then
> the other.
>
> Any adivce would be appreciated.
>
> As always, I am very grateful to all of you. It seems I have been receiving
> more advice than I have been giving lately so I look forwards to the
> opportuntiy to reciprocate.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> William Miller
>
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