flux removal

[george & lorraine]

The standard flux removal process in the industry for as long as i can
remember was by the use of (shame on me for uttering their name!)
chlorinated, solvents such as trichloroethane,trichloroethelene.These
"TRIKE" based products are now considered very unfreindly (cfc's
,carcinogenic and all that).The best known of these in my experience was
ARKLONE"P" manufactured by ICI.This had the capability of being boiled
(40deg C), the vapour, washing the most tenacious deposits off board's.That
aside,the electronics industry has now been forced to adopt alternative
method's of flux removal. The company i work for have evaluated a miriad of
alternative safe alcohol and water based solvents, including at least two
based on orange juice (so pineapple juice and gasoline may not be far from
useable!).A water based product we now use as a near standard is SAFEWASH
2000 ,i could not tell you who manufactures it but it is available in
quantities down to aerosol cans,in britain,from Radio Spares,Maplin
etc.This does need carefull rinseing in distilled water and hot air
drying.One thing to point out is that in the industry,as at home,components
that trap water(relays,preset's,pots etc)must be soldered then cleaned
locally afterward's.To be honest i think they are crap, and have tried
washing-up liquid at home with better result's.Something worth mentioning
is refrain from using compressed air to dry boards,the air moving over the
board can create huge static charges due to ionisation.I have no idea what
cocktail of stuff is used in fluxes but have tried several solder's from
Multicore.Synalow and a few other's that are now producing" no clean"
product's which do seem pretty good.That's it!, find a supply of cfc's or
use washing up liquid perhaps?.On a final note, i am not aware of pcb
coating's vaporising during soldering, but industrial soldering station's
are required to have extraction fitted by law in GB as the actual fluxes
can be quite toxic.May i say i do not endorse any of the products mentioned
above and if anyone reading this boil's their son or daughter in solvent
and ionises them with compressed air it was not my fault!!.
live long and proper

george