Solvents and containers

I use steel-needle bottles made of LDPE.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Trained as follows:

Solvents for cleaning boards: isopropyl anhydrous Bottle: pump with concave metal cap and with hinged cover. Pump and get a puddle of solvent in cap.

Take a fresh KimWipe (every time) and put in puddle. KimWipe preferred since it leaves no fibers. Put wet KimWipe on flux area and brush on top of wipe with acid brush. Flux goes into KimWipe. Board is cleaned. One or more applications as needed.

Acid brush never goes into puddle, just fresh KimWipe. Can use back end of brush (metal handle) to push wipe into puddle on pump bottle.

Metal needle bottle is all that is used here for flux. It just works.

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I use poly squeeze bottles with screw-on pointy tapered spouts. I figure that you use so little flux, that one will never need to be refilled.

I like acetone for cleaning boards. Slightly less carcinogenic than MEK. I squirt a little on a wood-stick cotton swab, over the trash can to catch the drips.

The other, wooden end of the swab is a good flux applier.

I keep on the shelf above my workbench

Water for the soldering sponge Liquid flux IPA Acetone Freeze spray LPS spray lube Goo Gone Whiteboard cleaner A paper cup of wooden swabs My Keithley electrometer Ron Zacapa 23

Re: dripping bottles. I've got one of these that has a drip lock in the stem.

Spendy, but so far it works nicely.

I use flux pens sometimes for surface mount.

George H.

I don't know exactly your use-case, but organic chemists have traditionally used a "Pasteur pipette." These are glass tubes drawn down to a fine tip, and you put a rubber bulb on one end. You buy these in boxes of 500, and toss them often. The cat's meow, for the analytical chemist, is the precision automatic pipette. These have dials for exact dispensing volume, and disposable teflon/HDPE tips.

I'm just saying what chemists use. Several other items: An enclosed flask (erlenmyer/florence) or necked bottle can be left uncapped for many solvents, as it slows down evaporation due to it's geometry. A matter of degree.

Another point is if you are using solvents, simply blow a fan on yourself, preferably out the window. If you work in front of a fan in a window on exhaust mode, that's almost as good as a hood.

I've used polyethylene squeeze bottles from Harbor Freight - you need to invert them. The needle bottles sound like the best solution, never used them. The nice thing about the Harbor Fright squeeze bottles is you don't have to cap them. The evaporation rate is miniscule without the tip or needle capped. It just sits on table, ready to use.

The good old Menda dispenser. I've never tried super volatile stuff like acetone in them though- not sure how good they seal up for the stinky stuff.

That's a very clean procedure.

I remember those from my GenRad days, with alcohol in them.

Will they work for more viscous liquids? ...Jim Thompson

Never tried one with something thicker. How thick were you thinking compared to say dish detergent?

If you want a real laugh, look up how much those things cost these days.

Dish detergent viscosity is what I had in mind.

I know, I just looked them up. (I never knew what they were called :-) ...Jim Thompson

That may make the check valve stick.

Cheers

The only reasonable way i have ever found to dispense RMA is from paste form with toothpicks.

?-)

I've seen an advertisement on local TV for some sort of cleaning product in an oedinary pump bottle with a dish at the top instead of the normal spout,

those pumps can move hand-cleaner and other gels, viscous liquids should be no problem.

I use these:

I tried buying one of each similar item they sold, and this is the one that didn't leak from places it shouldn't. You have to make the hole in the tip yourself, which I do with a resistor wire heated by soldering iron.

Chris