Flux clean up after soldering boards?

[Jeff]

Hi, a simple question; what's the best method or material to clean off the
flux residue from boards. Using rosin core solder..

 

[Ross Mac]

"Jeff" <jeff@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9476B6748EEC2jeffnospamcom@199.45.49.11...

Hi, a simple question; what's the best method or material to clean off the
flux residue from boards. Using rosin core solder..

Denatured alcohol works well as does Everclear...(190 proof). There are some
nice spray on products if you go to google. If you have a some freon, that
works excellently but is no longer legal...good luck, Ross

 

[Louis Bybee]

"Ross Mac" <this.is.a.mung@example.invalid> wrote in message
newsxiPb.76106$6y6.1536864@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

"Jeff" <jeff@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9476B6748EEC2jeffnospamcom@199.45.49.11...
Hi, a simple question; what's the best method or material to clean off
the
flux residue from boards. Using rosin core solder..

Denatured alcohol works well as does Everclear...(190 proof). There are
some
nice spray on products if you go to google. If you have a some freon, that
works excellently but is no longer legal...good luck, Ross

What are the negative, and positive (if any) considerations for removing or
leaving flux deposits on the circuit board after soldering?

Thank you.

Louis

 

[Ross Mac]

"Louis Bybee" <louistroutbybee@comcasttrout.net> wrote in message
news:bgjPb.95251$nt4.249357@attbi_s51...

"Ross Mac" <this.is.a.mung@example.invalid> wrote in message
newsxiPb.76106$6y6.1536864@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

"Jeff" <jeff@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9476B6748EEC2jeffnospamcom@199.45.49.11...
Hi, a simple question; what's the best method or material to clean off
the
flux residue from boards. Using rosin core solder..

Denatured alcohol works well as does Everclear...(190 proof). There are
some
nice spray on products if you go to google. If you have a some freon,
that
works excellently but is no longer legal...good luck, Ross



What are the negative, and positive (if any) considerations for removing
or
leaving flux deposits on the circuit board after soldering?

Thank you.

Louis


I am probably not qualified to answer that question on a loaded board. The

suggestion was just for home brew type cards. In the type of work I did, it
never seemed to make much of a difference if the flux was cleaned or not.
Though we did it for cosmetic reasons. As for a bare industrial board, they
use a piece of equipment called a Sirometer to measure surface insulation
resistance that will vary according to contaminants left on the board. The
board is immersed into a 75/25 mixture of alcohol and water with a couple of
resin filters. Dependant on remaining contaminants, the SIR readings will
show in spec or not. There's a lot of info on Google on such devices, so I
won't drone on here. The piece of equipment I seem to remember is an
Omegameter. Hope this was of some help...if not....the price was
right!....Ross

 

[Fritz Oppliger]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:57:59 GMT, Louis Bybee
<louistroutbybee@comcasttrout.net> wrote:

What are the negative, and positive (if any) considerations for removing
or
leaving flux deposits on the circuit board after soldering?

Flux can grow moldy given the right temp/ humidity. Causes leakage
between traces... bad news for analog circuits, don't know about digital.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

 

[Ross Mac]

"Fritz Oppliger" <invalid@nospam.biz> wrote in message
news:d452e9016fee1c2db43a79b6c0618de3@news.teranews.com...

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:57:59 GMT, Louis Bybee
louistroutbybee@comcasttrout.net> wrote:


What are the negative, and positive (if any) considerations for removing
or
leaving flux deposits on the circuit board after soldering?


Flux can grow moldy given the right temp/ humidity. Causes leakage
between traces... bad news for analog circuits, don't know about digital.

--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/

Most of my electronic experience was in California where humidity was not an
issue...as I said..."in my experience"...perhaps a small window into the
world of electronics.....

 

[dB]

"Louis Bybee" <louistroutbybee@comcasttrout.net> wrote

What are the negative ..... considerations for removing or
leaving flux deposits on the circuit board after soldering?

Thank you.

Flux residue is hygroscopic (it absorbs moisture).