Salt Air and Electronics

I recently returned to Colombia after spending around 3 months on the Ecuador and Peruvian coast. Locals I spoke to commented on the short lived electronics life. TVs and computers seemed to be the most frequently mentioned items, but I also heard mention of a refrigerator and air conditioners.

So this morning I gingerly opened my HP laptop. Its about 2 years old and about 6 months ago I opened it just to blow it out with compressed air. It looked to be in good shape and really didn't have much to see other than slight dust.

Well this morning it was a different story. Three months really made the inside a mess. I spend about 2 hours with Q-Tips and Isopropyl Alcohol cleaning things out. I would have liked to take it apart more in depth but wasn't comfortable taking more apart. Surprisingly there was little coronation yet. The only rust I saw was the hinge mounts made from steel. Anyone that has spent much time on the coast knows there seems to be a damp film in the mornings on anything outside. While I never used my laptop outside, I think the fan drew in humidity and then dirt and dust stuck to it. Anyway I am happy I took it apart and looked. From what I saw after 3 months, I would be checking laptops more frequently living on the coast. I was thinking of rubbing a light coating of oil on the hinge mounts but figured dust would really stick worse then.