Hacking a PCB: How to Remove Coating

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

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| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Reply to
Jim Thompson
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Hacking a Park-Zone POS to make it work accurately, I find the PCB has a relatively thick clear coating.

What's the best way to remove the coating without damaging components?

Thanks! ...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, CTO | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

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| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Reply to
Jim Thompson

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

I've used lacquer thinner with success on the red conformal coating. The only thing is that it will attack some plastics and wipe the numbers off of glass diodes.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

Try acetone. IIRC it doesn't touch most electronics components, but it does dissolve conformal coat.

'course, if that clear coating doesn't come off with it, it's no help.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook.
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook.
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground?

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Coating is clear. Looks like it was just poured over areas with semiconductors. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

It may be Humiseal

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But there are others, and they come in different chemistries, Acrylic, Polyurethane, Silicone, UV cure

Try Acetone or Lacquer thinner in a corner and see if it softens it up. Hopefully it's not the UV cure.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

This was poured on _after_ soldering, which was done by hand, in China, natch.

So such a clear coat is safe to clear with an iron?

(You're right, I'm only tacking in a few extra connections, and cutting a few traces.) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

It decomposes at soldering temperatures, allowing local probing and repair with a soldering iron. It's clear, so you shouldn't have to remove it entirely, to do what you're trying to do.

RL

Reply to
legg

I can cut it with an X-acto knife, with a slight "rubbery" feel, so it's hard to scrape right down to a trace. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

Haven't been to the hardware store yet, but tried some Xylene I had on hand... just puddles up and does nothing. I _can_ dent it _slightly_ with my fingernail.

I can get Acetone or MEK or Lacquer thinner at the hardware store. Any ideas which to try? ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

I'd try the laquer thinner first as it is a witches brew of chemicals.

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Art

Reply to
Artemus

message

NO SOLVENTS!

Fix ONLY the area where the repair is needed to be performed.

You ask for severe headaches if you use solvents.

Reply to
Chieftain of the Carpet Crawlers

You're not supposed to be inhaling that much of the solvents!

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Inhalation Acute Exposure Effects: Vapor harmful. May cause dizziness; headache..

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

He's not tying to repair it.

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Reply to
Jasen Betts

Those are not the headaches to which I refer, toot boy.

Reply to
SoothSayer

You'll have to burn through with a hot tinned iron tip and tin the intended contact with pre-fluxed solder. The tinning slakes off local residue.

Once you start burning, the opacity of the film will degrade locally, so make as many observations and notes as is possible prior to the slash and burn.

RL

Reply to
legg

Another possibility you could try is an (appropriate) abrasive tool. If all you need is to open up some solder blobs so you can unsolder parts, you might be able to use a Dremel tool and a "grinding wheel" made of that nylon-like material used in kitchen scrubbing pads. The trick, of course, would be to find a suitable abrasive that would remove the conformal coating but only polish the solder and copper.

Come to think of it, you could just try a couple of different scrubbing pads to see if they do what you want. ... Oh. One old ex-VHS PC board I found lying around, two different plastic scrubbing pads, several minutes of effort: no observable difference.

Can anyone suggest any improvements along these lines? An electric pencil eraser, perhaps?

Frank McKenney

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Reply to
Frnak McKenney

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