Has anybody a good procedure to clean electronic boards' with all parts let on it. I have an ultrasonic cleaner top. Can I use it and which cleaner can be used for those bathtubs?
j.
electronic board cleaner.
Feb 05, 2008
2 Replies
3 parts of a good **Cleaning PCBs** thread:
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*-polar-and-nonpolar-solvents+toluene+*-white-residue+polystyrene+*-whose-solvency-you-don't-*+Isopropanol+slow+agitation+Saponifier+xylene+Warm-HIGH-PRESSURE-*-*+dishwasher+activator-salts+weeks-*+Abetic-Acid+*-lots+removed-first
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*-*-sump-resistivity-reaches-*-*-*-*+*-modified-*-*-dish-washer+zzz+corrode+qq+Over-washing+ww+QFP
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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-trouble-with-*-the-no-clean-type+dishwasher+only-*-the-final-*-rinse+*-flux-messed-*-the-potting-process+*-*-hides-*+*-*-*-*-contaminated-*-*-before-*-*-soldering+*-*-*-*-*-hour-*-*-in-near-boiling-*-*-*-distilled-water+Electrical-leakage+Milled-*+hygroscopic+dishwashers+isopropyl
Another thread:
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*-*-*+zzz+solvent+qq+never-use-a-no-wash-flux+then-expose-the-PCB-to-*-*-*+*-*-*-*-*-conformal-coatings-that-use-*+no-wash-fluxes-contain+ww-ww+yy+solvents
Those thread links given by JeffM are excellent if you find yourself in a position where you need to clean off no-clean (or no-wash) flux residue from boards.
"Cleanable" or "water soluble" flux is not a problem and you could maybe just put water or isopropyl alcohol in your ultrasonic cleaner.
For "no-clean" flux, it is inert and is not supposed to be cleaned off the board. If you do try, you end up with white residue which is difficult to remove. A poster in one of JeffM's links says " I have learned the hard way: never use a "no-wash" flux and then expose the PCB to any kind of solvent.". True!
However, one of the other threads gives the tip 30% mixture of isopropyl and
70% plain ordinary "lacquer thinner" (mainly toluene). Personally I have not tried that but it may be worth a try.I have also heard of using high pressure steam cleaning for removing flux residue but I don't have personal experience with that either.
Sometimes brushing in a solvent is more effective and quicker than ultrasonic cleaning. I made a video where I do that at
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Anthony Burch
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