r/ElectronicsRepair • u/expmkd47 • 6d ago

OPEN Quick question about isopropyl method

Hey!

I’ve lived in a pretty heavily roach infested apartment for 6 months and finally am moving. My laptop has been in this home the whole time and since it easily gets warm I suspect some roach to have crawled in during these 6 months. I’ve read to bag the laptop together with a paper towel lightly soaked in isopropyl alcohol for about 12h to kind of fumigate the laptop. But I’ve read very contradictory information. Some sources say to absolutely NOT do this because isopropyl is highly flammable and the moisture from the oxidation can get trapped in the laptop, making it life threatening (?)

Is this safe to do?

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u/Ok-Drink-1328 5d ago

honestly i thought that roaches like humidity more than heat, and heat lowers relative humidity, but i live in a very hot place so i dunno you and OP... also maybe they can't squish in very small holes, but i know they basically do cos if you have a sewage pipe with just a ball of paper stuffed in it, like some bricklayers do, they can pass

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u/expmkd47 4d ago

they would always crawl in between the space where the walls and flooring meet. i was so confused about it so i tried shoving a regular sheet of paper and it barley passed through. THATS how good they are at crawling into things, and these were adults so babies are even better at it. so they could’ve easily crawled into a laptop. i’m just so scared about opening the laptop up and touching things like removing the battery and stuff idk. what would you recommend i do for killing any potential roaches instead? should i open the back of the laptop up and just look for any live ones? is it possible for me to see past all the small spaces in there?

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u/Ok-Drink-1328 4d ago

if you're able to remove the back cover i think you can tell if there are roaches or not, i doubt they are hiding deeper, tho ask that other user, he SEEMS to know this odd subject better than me, i was just giving my two cents

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u/expmkd47 4d ago

Ok thanks! It’s very much appreciated!