Mountain Biking - Cleaning your cyclocomputer

I don't know if anyone's covered this, but I just learned a neat new way to clean a really dirty computer:

If you just came back from a muddy excursion and your computer is so bugged up that the buttons don't work right (get stuck or whatever) ...

1. run some cold water over it
2. put it in the freezer for 20 mins
3. run some hot water while carefully pushing the buttons to clear the dirt

If your computer is not waterproof, then this is NOT your solution.

No computer is waterproof, most are water resistant.

Yeah i don't think I'll try it. I personally use a lightly damp cloth to clean, and a pin to unstick the buttons (rare).

Originally posted by Chuvak
No computer is waterproof, most are water resistant.

I stand corrected. :D

never should you run water oven a computer and put it in the frezzer!! go to radio shack and get some contact cleaner and blast away the dirt

Hey, it worked for me. I guess if you're not too comfortable with the quality of your computer then you shouldn't do it.

BTW, CatEye markets their computers as "waterproof."

Ummm... how should I phrase it....:D u can try that and tell us what results were...
I myself do the opposite - wait till the mud dries and try to pick it off... if all else fails u can always try the screwdriver solution



Luc

Originally posted by Chi
Hey, it worked for me. I guess if you're not too comfortable with the quality of your computer then you shouldn't do it.

BTW, CatEye markets their computers as "waterproof."
They do? MMmmmmm…. Let me go look for the package.

Well, if it didn't work, I wouldn't post it up. The CatEye Astrale computer involved in this deal works like new now ... whereas before, I couldn't get either button unseated.

I got CatEye, and i can say many things about it, but not that its waterproof. those buttons are a pain too, and every time i go on trail and get it dirty they get stuck. Hey, BTW, does yours reset too on occasion? cuz thats what irritates me most - i dont keep track of the distance, (some guys i know even have notebooks in which they write down distance, average speed, even calories, heh) so every time it resets or freezes i just want to rip it off my handlebar :D:crash:

i dont ride with a computer! I guess im not that hardcore! But i am an engineer and if you get moisture on the P C B in behind a capacitor and freeze it it could pop it from the board also extreme temp. changes are not good for any electronics, it is not the water that is bad, it is the freezer. When you run you computer under water its warm(cold water is warmer than frozen water) and this could/will expand the soildered pins on your computer, then you are puting it in the frezzer, this will shrink them. These will be slight movements but it will only happen a few times before your computer fails, im just saying you shouldnt put your computer in the freezer