[Elecraft] Deflux?

[Don Brown]

Hi

Yes you are correct about the stuff you buy at the drug store. The other =
30% is water and it will not clean the board very well. When I worked at =
a PC board assembly house years ago we used Freon TF to clean boards it w=
as a blend of Freon and 99% isopropyl alcohol. When Freon was outlawed va=
rious forms of alcohol took its place. The 99% isopropyl may be hard to f=
ind but denatured alcohol is in every hardware store. It is pure grain al=
cohol (ethanol) with a small amount of wood alcohol (methanol) added to m=
ake it poisonous so you can't drink it. It will work as well as the isopr=
opyl and will not cause any problems. The white residue I was talking abo=
ut is the dissolved flux drying on the board not additives in the alcohol=
.

Don Brown
KD5NDB  =20

----- Original Message -----
From: John, KI6WX
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 4:20 PM
To: Elecraft Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Deflux?

Many alcohol products are not pure alcohol and may contain additives.  Th=
ese
additives will leave a residue on the board and may cause circuit failure=
s
at some point in the future.  For instance, the isopropyl alcohol you buy=
 in
the drugstore is generally only 70% pure.  If your alcohol container isn'=
t
labeled as to its purity, it probably contains additives and shouldn't be
used to clean electronic circuit boards.

The best alcohol to use to clean the flux off a circuit board is Anhydrou=
s
Isopropyl Alcohol which should be labeled as 99.9% pure.  This type of
alcohol will not leave any residue from the alcohol and easily dissolves
flux.  I would be very cautious about other cleaning products for the
boards; you will probably be better off not cleaning them rather than usi=
ng
the wrong cleaner, which is why Elecraft recommends not cleaning your
circuit boards.

-John
KI6WX

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Brown" <DolfinDon@msn.com>

I usually clean my boards with denatured alcohol. This will clean the boa=
rd
but will sometimes deposit a white residue. I have found by adding a squi=
rt
of WD-40 to the alcohol prevents this and makes it clean better.  I use a=
 1
inch paint brush with the bristles cut to about 3/4 inch long to scrub th=
e
board. Then blow the board off with an air gun or hair dryer. I have been
using this technique for many years and it works very well.




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