 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : CMM2 circuit board cleaning
| Author | Message | ||||
Herry Senior Member  Joined: 31/05/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 261 |
On the Silicon Chip CMM2 kit, the motherboard has blue coating. The SC instructions include cleaning the board after populating, using circuit board cleaner. I found that both Servisol Circuit Board Cleaner and Isopropyl alcohol resulted in liquifying of the board coating and dried leaving the board very dirty. Senior?! Whatever it says, I'm a complete and utter beginner... |
||||
TassyJim Guru  Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6283 |
I usually use a toothbrush and rarely bother with any Isopropyl for newly soldered boards. I do use Isopropyl to clean up corroded boards, mouse pee etc. Jim VK7JH MMedit |
||||
Womble Senior Member Joined: 09/07/2020 Location: United KingdomPosts: 267 |
I used to use Maplin Aerosol Flux Cleaner ... until they went bust, and it became unobtaneum. On my CMM2 I used some "Brake and Clutch Cleaner" that I had in the workshop. Beware this can be a bit aggressive, depending on brand. Test on a scrap board first EDIT: I got the idea from Cheap Alternative Solvents For PCB Cleaning Edited 2020-08-17 10:20 by Womble |
||||
| HellbentHorse Regular Member  Joined: 08/07/2020 Location: AustraliaPosts: 55 |
I have the SC kit (yet to be built until my case arrives). I have a few different cleaner options at my disposal and will do a spot test and see how it goes. |
||||
| Herry Senior Member Joined: 31/05/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 261 |
If the quality of your SC kit is as good as mine, you will have an excellent experience. Watch out for too much solder on the SD card socket (I didn't!). You will also find the firmware already on the chips. Senior?! Whatever it says, I'm a complete and utter beginner... |
||||
bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2950 |
Hi Herry, IF you use a good quality/brand of solder you do not HAVE to clean the flux residue but honestly it looks terribly messy. I use a liquid flux cleaner I buy from Radio Parts Although it looks like they have changed the brand since I last bought one. This does a great job but leaves a stickiness after use.. I then clean that off with IsoPropyl Alchohol.. You end up with a perfectly clean circuit board.. Just be careful with sockets especially the SD card connector.. you don't want any ingress into them. Kind Regards Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
||||
Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9610 |
That is surprising and interesting. I also use cans of exactly the same Servisol stuff, and I have been using it to clean the flux residue off of all PCB's I build for YEARS now, along with a good scrub with an anti-static brush, and I have not had one single PCB have its soldermask(blue coating) 'Dissolve' cos of the PCB cleaner....  Perhaps SC got their boards made somewhere where they use a sub-standard soldermask or something, but I would not have thought SC would do that either, so this is interesting. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
||||
| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
Solvents (alcohol, petroleum distilates, methyl ethel ketone) dissolve cured carbohydrate based coatings (varnish, polyethelene, etc.). Emulsificants (soap, detergent) do not. Flux residue (carbonized resin) are very dry, crispified carbohydrates bound together with the remainder of the natural resins. A water solution of detergents or emulsifiers will soften most burned flux residue without softening the coatings. Mechanical scraping of the hardened flux residue will break it up and permit the water/detergent solution to flush it away. The guys in the Pan Am electronic shops favored the X Acto 3209 retractable knife which looked like a ball point pen for breaking up carborized flux residue. The Tektronix shops used to soak all incoming oscilloscopes in their repair shops in a bathtub full of soapy water for a half hour, then rinse them with tap water, then rinse them with distilled water, then bake them in an oven at 110°F for four hours. When this procedure was finished they would plug in the scope and see if it malfunctioned. 80% of the time it worked perfectly. They routinely fixed malfunctioning scopes by giving them a bath????!!!! Water doesn't hurt electronic gizmos. Firing it up while it is still wet hurts electronic gizmos. If it gets wet ...... MAKE SURE YOU DRY IT THOROUGHLY IN AN OVEN WHICH VENTS THE WATER VAPOR BEFORE YOU CRANK IT UP!!!! Paul in NY Edited 2020-08-20 04:49 by Paul_L |
||||
 Print this page |
 |
The Back Shed's forum code is written, and hosted, in Australia. | © JAQ Software 2025 |
