My cat puked on my iPod Touch Dock Connector to USB Cable. Right on the connector plug, of course. Can I wash it off?
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M$4 Answers
You can wash your dock connector, there is no need to be shy about it and you do not need to use any cleaning solvents to do it... You could even stick it in a dishwasher or washing machine - as long as you don't use any soap. You can get the cable as wet as you want as long as it is completely dry before you use it again.
The actual connectors are pretty delicate, so they shouldn't be treated roughly, but water won't hurt them as long as they don't stay wet. They don't contain electronics, just wires, and they are sealed up enough, with plenty of insulation that drying them won't be an issue.
More memory sticks than I care to remember have gone into the wash in my pockets and I have managed to keep each one in perfect working order.
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M$
1. Make sure the cable is not connected to any electronics.
2. Using an old toothbrush, damp with iso-propyl alcohol, gently brush outward anything you can to remove the majority of foreign material.
3. Using a lint-less paper (e.g. dryer sheet), wet with a bit of iso-propyl alcohol clean the surface completely.
4. Allow the isopropyl alcohol to evaporate for a few minutes until the contacts are dry.
After that you should be good to go.
- quote (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol ) -
Isopropyl alcohol is readily available. Like acetone, it dissolves a wide range of nonpolar compounds. It is also relatively non-toxic and evaporates quickly. Thus it is used widely as a solvent and as a cleaning fluid, especially for dissolving lipophilic contaminants such as oil. Examples include cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins (like those on ROM cartridges), magnetic tape and disk heads (such as those in audio and video tape recorders and floppy disk drives), the lenses of lasers in optical disc drives (e.g. CD, DVD) and removing thermal paste from IC packages (such as CPUs.)
- end quote -
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M$
There must be a cat puke epidemic. I am trying this! Thanks!
Q-tips are a bad idea, they readily leave bits of themselves on things. You really want to go for something that wont leave anything. A nice stiff toothbrush like Opher suggested is the best bet.
The USB standard is quite harsh, the connectors are built very touch and can survive a suprising amount of abuse from what I've seen.
Opher has a great answer here, just a couple things I want to add. Let the cat puke dry completely before trying to remove it. Also, you can use a can of compressed air to remove the little bits that stay in the connector.
Check this page out too, it has some related stuff: How to clean an iPhone
you very well may still have water damage (puke damage) but this way you have a better chance of getting some of the stuff out, because when everything is frozen it's easier to take it out and knock the frozen puke bits off than trying to toothbrush and smushing it down in there even further.
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M$
Experince
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I would agree with you except for the fact that the iPod Touch will probably be long dead before water screws up the contacts and cat puke is definitely A LOT more corrosive than water, hard or soft.
The problem with water (especially hard water) is that it may leave residue behind which would increase the resistance. It might also cause the contacts to corrode. This is not guaranteed to be a problem, but using water to clean contacts is not the best method.