Electronics > Repair
Cleaning smoke affected equipment
jpanhalt:
Long-term experience removing smoke residue is probably a small niche. Long-term experience using water based flux removers (e.g., Kesters 5768) is a much bigger audience. I have been using a similar formula for only 2 or 3 years as a hobbyist, but the fact that Kester promotes it is evidence it works well. DI or distilled water for rinse is cheap. Kester 5768 was introduced by Kester in 2019 according to Google AI. Is that long-term?
A problem with alcohols is that they are poor solvents for inorganic materials, and while absolute versions will dissolve grease and fat, a little water changes that dramatically. Most people do not use absolute IPA or ethanol.
Swake:
Post clean experience:
- Measurement instruments (not only electronics, all of it): calibration and certification. I pushed for several certifications with some months in between to rebuild the trust in the equipment, but that didn't fly with the bean-counters.
- Calibrate the probes too, verify they remain in spec long term.
- Anything that measures with an orifice (things like gas analyzers, pressure probes, pH testers, ) : change the probe, don't clean, it is messed up and you'll never have a reliable measurement anymore, cleaned or not.
- Filters: Replace them, also the metal washable types.
- Reference speakers: sell them, especially so if they have a bass reflex port or something equivalent.
- Most medical gear: trash it, it cannot be trusted anymore. I think that is a rule anyway, but that gear is also used in different (non-human) contexts such as veterinary or in labs.
- Anything 'safety': radio wave protection, beam protection, thermal/electric insulation or detection: replace, you don't play with your own health.
Optics: I have no idea.
On another level: do not trust the insurance company when they state 'it is clean now and good for use'. Have it verified independently.
David Aurora:
So I've done a few spot tests with various cleaners/techniques now and the water based flux cleaner suggestion is actually pretty amazing for getting the sooty residue off, thanks for the tip. I've ended up putting some in a foaming dispenser which makes it easier to get good coverage between components without having to absolutely bathe the boards in it (which in turn makes cleanup of the cleaner itself far easier).
Will test more as I go today but so far this is the winner
jpanhalt:
It's a great solvent mixture. That's why it is so ubiquitous in cleaning products. Rather than buy from Kester, I get the formula-equivalent thing from ZEP as its heavy duty acryic floor stipper. ZEP may not marketed in Australia.
It works fine with manual methods. I use an ultrasonic (60 seconds). One can do parts of a board at a time if the whole board won't fit. On my first use, I was amazed during rinse that water didn't stick. Solder resist is also water resist, and when its clean and rinsed, the boards are almost dry. Of course components may be wet and have water underneath them, so I blow that out with air. If retained water is a real problem, I would finish with aqueous alcohol and dry. (Aqueous alcohols mix faster and more freely with water than neat alcohols do.)
Simmed:
looks like i have to try ZEP next time
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