Toughbook Cleaning
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:05 pm
Over the past year, I've bought and sold a few toughbooks on eBay- 28's and 29's. And everyone I get is totally filthy. I have a bit of OCD and am kind of a clean freak, so naturally these things have to be cleaned to my factory-fresh standards before I'll consider using them.
They all get disassembled. All of the port covers and parts that unbolt go in the dishwasher for a cycle or two. Good old hot water and dish detergent gets them pretty clean.
Then I use a Sonic Scrubber (http://www.sonicscrubber.com/) to go over the little areas, places I can't get in with a regular cleaning rag- like along the cover parts where they latch, hinges, etc. I use some mild dish soap and lots of water.
Keyboards also get the sonic scrubber with less water, and a few shots of air from my air compressor. Don't get too into it and rip off keys with either the sonic scrubber or compressed air. Don't get too crazy with the sonic scrubber on the lettering, I just use it in between the keys.
I'm not afraid to completely take these things apart- especially removing the LCD from both the main cabinet, and removing the LCD itself from the top lid and getting in there and cleaning out the crap.
We know these things are not always used in nice clean conditions like how I usually use them, they are abused by employees who don't care and when they spill their crap on them, they don't bother with it because the computers are "tough".
Every one I've sold has been cleaned like this- much better than how they came to me. I don't buy and sell very much, I have a spare 29 I'm hanging onto for a backup for now, but I just wanted to share my cleaning experiences and solicit any other cleaning methods.
They all get disassembled. All of the port covers and parts that unbolt go in the dishwasher for a cycle or two. Good old hot water and dish detergent gets them pretty clean.
Then I use a Sonic Scrubber (http://www.sonicscrubber.com/) to go over the little areas, places I can't get in with a regular cleaning rag- like along the cover parts where they latch, hinges, etc. I use some mild dish soap and lots of water.
Keyboards also get the sonic scrubber with less water, and a few shots of air from my air compressor. Don't get too into it and rip off keys with either the sonic scrubber or compressed air. Don't get too crazy with the sonic scrubber on the lettering, I just use it in between the keys.
I'm not afraid to completely take these things apart- especially removing the LCD from both the main cabinet, and removing the LCD itself from the top lid and getting in there and cleaning out the crap.
We know these things are not always used in nice clean conditions like how I usually use them, they are abused by employees who don't care and when they spill their crap on them, they don't bother with it because the computers are "tough".
Every one I've sold has been cleaned like this- much better than how they came to me. I don't buy and sell very much, I have a spare 29 I'm hanging onto for a backup for now, but I just wanted to share my cleaning experiences and solicit any other cleaning methods.