Why doesn’t isopropyl alcohol damage electronics? Are there other liquids that also don’t do damage to electrical components?
In: Chemistry
If you use it while the power is off, it’s fine. It evaporates very quickly without leaving a residue so there’s no chance of it shorting anything out.
I can’t say for sure if its conductive while in liquid form, but it sure as hell **is** flammable!
it’s neither corrosive nor conductive, so it doesn’t dissolve or short anything. it also evaporates at low temperatures, so cleanup is a nonissue
candle wax shares the first 2 properties, but not the 3rd. this means letting a candle drip into your PC won’t destroy it, but requires careful cleaning as it traps heat
To answer your second question, oil is non-conductive as well. Back in the day before active cooling and radiators people used to fill their gaming rigs with cooking oil. Any liquid that is pure and contains no conductive properties will work.
Electronics are mostly plastic, copper, silicon, and solder. Alcohol neither corrode nor dissolves any of these things. It also evaporates without leaving harmful gunk. There are plenty of other liquids that won’t hurt electronics, some of which are used for things like cleaning.
plastics are very choosy about what they dissolve in. Almost no plastic dissolves in IPA, so it wont mark any surface. It also evaporates quickly and doesnt leave a residue, or corrode metal, doesnt smell bad, and is non-toxic. It is better at dissolving oils and fats and other organic stuff than say ethanol (normal alcohol), and so good for cleaning. Acetone is just as good as cleaning, but more plastics are soluble in acetone, so not used. Other possible fluids (petrol, kerosene, turps etc) either smell too bad or might slightly dissolve some plastics.
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