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(From: Dr. Ludwig Steininger (drsteininger@t-online.de).)
Often I get defective monitors, which are more than 5 years old, and have been run in offices for 8 to 10 hours/day. So, their case and pcbs usually are very dirty and dusty.
What do I do (it's no joke!): After removing the case I carefully put them in a bath (on a flexible layer) and let them have a intensive shower of pure cold water (for 1 to 2 minutes). Additionally, the case is cleaned with soap or a detergent containing liquid (being careful, not to spill to much of it onto the PCBs). After rinsing with fresh clear water, dust and other kinds of dirt are removed and the monitors look new again. Then I allow all drops of water to run off. This can effectively be supported by turning the monitor on another side from time to time (duration: approximately 1 hour). Before turning on AC again, I let the wet monitor dry in ambient air for about 2 days (in the sunshine this can be finished in 1 day only).
This procedure has been applied for many monitors. I've never had any bad experiences (it's very important to wait, until the pcbs are really dry!). Considering this experience, I just can't imagine, that it might not be possible, to "save" a TV set or computer monitor, which has been drowned or some liquid has been spilled, and AC has been plugged off ASAP (although I've never had such a case). I think, that in such a case, it's important to have a rapid shower in order to prevent corrosion and deposits.
By the way: I know a German company, which uses water from cleaning PCBs of computer hardware for cleaning them after being contaminated by smoke from a fire.
So, in case of spillage, one has nothing to loose. Just try to shower your monitor or TV set!