First of all YES.I DO use the soap pack lol.One tablet of course.
Here is how I do it (already for years):
-turn on the heating in the room (any room) and close it completely (doors,windows...etc)...
-also make sure that in that room you put clean towels on which you want to put your cleaned computer parts.How many towels to put depends on how many things you are going to wash...
-put all your computer hardware components in the dishwasher which you want to clean...
-put the dishwasher setting on the strongest one.I usually use the one which takes 2 hours on 60 - 70 degreese celzius...
NOTE: You cannot wash EVERYTHING of course lol.Below is a list of ALL hardware components which you CAN wash in a dishwasher without any permanent damage:
-computer cases
-computer case hatches
-power supplies/units (yes you can believe it or not)
-motherboards (it is recommended to maually remove the thermal paste first since it will have to be changed later anyway)
-processor chips (it is recommended to maually remove the thermal paste first since it will have to be changed later anyway)
-RAM chips
-graphic card chips
-wires
-switches
-leds
-all plastic parts
-all metal parts
-all type of chips
-coolers (it is recommended to maually remove the thermal paste first since it will have to be changed later anyway)
-fans/ventilators
-keyboards (do NOT wash the laptop keyboards)
-mouses (be sure to open them before)
-web cameras (be sure to open them before)
-extended power cables
Below is a list of ALL hardware components which you CANNOT wash in a dishwasher otherwise it will cause permanent damage:
-CD/DVD-ROM disk drives (you can however disengage it and wash all of it except the part where the lens is located.If you want to clean the lens,do it manually and gently with the proper fluid)
-hard disk drives
-floppy disk drives (you can however disengage it and wash all of it except the part where the lens is located.If you want to clean the lens,do it manually and gently with the proper fluid)
-Once you have put all of the things in the dishwasher which you want to clean completely,put the dishwasher soap tablet in the proper place,close the dishwasher door,put the washing setting to the strongest one (2 hours at least and 60 - 70 degreese celzius) and then turn on the dishwasher to start the cleaning process...
-After the cleaning process is finished,take out all of the hardware parts (one by one) and take it into your warmed room and put it on the towels in the right positions so all the water can squeeze properly...
-Once you have put all of the hardware parts in that warmed room on the towels in the right positions,make sure that the heating is on the maximum then close all the windows and doors of that room and do not open it for the next 72 hours minimum...
-After 72 hours or more,open the room and TADA!All the parts are clean like new and completely dried.You can now put them all back together and have a computer which will look like new and work a lot better since the temperatures will be lower and all the dust and dirt won't be there plus the airflow will be better since fans/ventilators are now clean and spin better
Of course if the operating system on the HDD is completely messed up and works like crap then you should reinstall that too.
-After you have finished the HARDWARE (washed and dried) and the SOFTWARE (fixed or reinstalled),your computer will work perfectly.
My computer is almost 15 years old and even today it still works so damn great and I would not change it for nothing.Wonder why?Read above!
So who says that very old computers are good only for the trash? =D
They are great if you know how to take them back to life =D
Cheers!