Foaming electronics-safe spray cleaner

[Alex Eisenhut]

as seen here
https://youtu.be/4dSBP1dQSdo?t=433
I have some higher end Wurth glass cleaner, designed to remove bugs from windshields, that foams up and dissolves like that but I don't think it's safe to use on electronics.
What's that blue can?

[abeyer]

I think it's Servisol Foam 30, or something like that. However, I also think it's out of production now. There are some similar things from other vendors, though.

[Alex Eisenhut]

OK thanks.

[David Aurora]

as seen here
https://youtu.be/4dSBP1dQSdo?t=433
I have some higher end Wurth glass cleaner, designed to remove bugs from windshields, that foams up and dissolves like that but I don't think it's safe to use on electronics.
What's that blue can?

Damn that looks like it would make my life MUCH easier sometimes

[factory]

I think it's Servisol Foam 30, or something like that. However, I also think it's out of production now. There are some similar things from other vendors, though.

Servisol were a brand of Ambersil, both are now part of CRC, the most recent safety data sheets I can find, seem to suggest Ambersil Amberclens (edit: still available) & Servisol 30 are the same product.

David

[Alex Eisenhut]

I was hoping to make cleaning my vintage smoker's CRT a bit easier, everything's covered in dusty greasy stuff. Even the screws that keep the case together have brown heads...

[jpanhalt]

How about a water-based flux remover?  They are generally "non-ionic."  I use diluted acrylic floor wax remove -- same basic composition with a glycol ether.

[feedback.loop]

There is something by 3M:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgbjw471223/

[jpanhalt]

The most active ingredient is just butoxyethanol (attachment) -- a glycol ether -- and the very same thing is in the flux removers previously mentioned.  They also contain a small amount of ethanol amine, which helps.  3M makes good stuff, but it is expensive.  Does an aerosol matter?

[factory]

The 90% water content concerns me more, especially with vintage electronics, I've got enough problems with corrosion/rust without adding more water, thankfully the Ambersil Amberclens is still made.

David

[David Aurora]

I think it's Servisol Foam 30, or something like that. However, I also think it's out of production now. There are some similar things from other vendors, though.

Servisol were a brand of Ambersil, both are now part of CRC, the most recent safety data sheets I can find, seem to suggest Ambersil Amberclens (edit: still available) & Servisol 30 are the same product.

David

So I finally managed to get hold of this Amberclens stuff (kind of). For love or money I couldn't get the aerosol version here in Australia, but I managed to get the trigger bottle stuff.

Seems to work pretty well but I'm kind of cautious with it so far given it's not the foamy aerosol spray, it comes out as a pretty thick liquid. Very different to what I saw in the video above, it hangs around unless you really make the effort to scrub and rinse it off.

Anyone know if there are certain materials to absolutely avoid with this stuff or is it generally pretty safe for cleaning the guts of things?

[vk6zgo]

Back in the 1990s, At the TV Studio, we bought the stuff showed in the original video from RS Components.
It worked well, but the downside was that you had to wash the foam off after use, supposedly with Distilled water, but I used ordinary water on most non-critical boards with no ill effect.
It removed most gunk & excess flux very efficiently.

[factory]

I think it's Servisol Foam 30, or something like that. However, I also think it's out of production now. There are some similar things from other vendors, though.

Servisol were a brand of Ambersil, both are now part of CRC, the most recent safety data sheets I can find, seem to suggest Ambersil Amberclens (edit: still available) & Servisol 30 are the same product.

David

So I finally managed to get hold of this Amberclens stuff (kind of). For love or money I couldn't get the aerosol version here in Australia, but I managed to get the trigger bottle stuff.

Seems to work pretty well but I'm kind of cautious with it so far given it's not the foamy aerosol spray, it comes out as a pretty thick liquid. Very different to what I saw in the video above, it hangs around unless you really make the effort to scrub and rinse it off.

Anyone know if there are certain materials to absolutely avoid with this stuff or is it generally pretty safe for cleaning the guts of things?

Amberclens Trigger seems a slightly different formulation & water based?

Only things I can think of when cleaning cases, is to avoid any paper labels you want to preserve, also avoid non-laminated plastic or foil labels, as sometimes it will clean the print off.

David

[tooki]

FWIW, Electrolube Safewash Super (SWAS) works really well. It was available as a foaming aerosol can until about a year or two ago but is now discontinued. However, a coworker, who swears by the stuff, solved the problem by buying the 5 liter canister (now the smallest option) and using a foaming hand soap dispenser. It lathers it up just like the old aerosol cans did!

[David Aurora]

I think it's Servisol Foam 30, or something like that. However, I also think it's out of production now. There are some similar things from other vendors, though.

Servisol were a brand of Ambersil, both are now part of CRC, the most recent safety data sheets I can find, seem to suggest Ambersil Amberclens (edit: still available) & Servisol 30 are the same product.

David

So I finally managed to get hold of this Amberclens stuff (kind of). For love or money I couldn't get the aerosol version here in Australia, but I managed to get the trigger bottle stuff.

Seems to work pretty well but I'm kind of cautious with it so far given it's not the foamy aerosol spray, it comes out as a pretty thick liquid. Very different to what I saw in the video above, it hangs around unless you really make the effort to scrub and rinse it off.

Anyone know if there are certain materials to absolutely avoid with this stuff or is it generally pretty safe for cleaning the guts of things?

Amberclens Trigger seems a slightly different formulation & water based?

Only things I can think of when cleaning cases, is to avoid any paper labels you want to preserve, also avoid non-laminated plastic or foil labels, as sometimes it will clean the print off.

David

Is it different though? I thought the only difference was supposed to be the propellent?

http://www.crceurope.com/wwwcrc/tds/TAI3%20Amberclens.pdf