| Electronics > Repair |
| Restoring dried solder flux paste |
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| Alex Eisenhut:
And if you get enough of it it's time to boil some potatoes in it. |
| SilverSolder:
I didn't have very good results thinning flux paste with either isopropyl alcohol or "regular" alcohol - the product became grainy and opaque, and the alcohol evaporates out of the mix relatively quickly, leaving you back where you started (paste too thick) in short order. The liquid fluxes made by the 'Big Flux' companies contain different/additional chemicals that provides desirable properties in addition to thinning the flux, such as longevity and (hopefully) safety! And it works so well for thinning paste: a few ml to do a whole tin. |
| David Hess:
--- Quote from: SilverSolder on February 05, 2021, 05:21:21 pm ---I didn't have very good results thinning flux paste with either isopropyl alcohol or "regular" alcohol - the product became grainy and opaque, and the alcohol evaporates out of the mix relatively quickly, leaving you back where you started (paste too thick) in short order. The liquid fluxes made by the 'Big Flux' companies contain different/additional chemicals that provides desirable properties in addition to thinning the flux, such as longevity and (hopefully) safety! And it works so well for thinning paste: a few ml to do a whole tin. --- End quote --- Ethylene glycol comes to mind as an additive but I do not remember if that is what they use. The flux thinner I have commonly seen for liquid fluxes is 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and toluene. Since Kester no longer provides flux or other chemicals in smaller packages, I would not mind learning how to process raw rosin into RA and RMA flux. |
| SilverSolder:
--- Quote from: David Hess on February 12, 2021, 09:11:23 pm --- --- Quote from: SilverSolder on February 05, 2021, 05:21:21 pm ---I didn't have very good results thinning flux paste with either isopropyl alcohol or "regular" alcohol - the product became grainy and opaque, and the alcohol evaporates out of the mix relatively quickly, leaving you back where you started (paste too thick) in short order. The liquid fluxes made by the 'Big Flux' companies contain different/additional chemicals that provides desirable properties in addition to thinning the flux, such as longevity and (hopefully) safety! And it works so well for thinning paste: a few ml to do a whole tin. --- End quote --- Ethylene glycol comes to mind as an additive but I do not remember if that is what they use. The flux thinner I have commonly seen for liquid fluxes is 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and toluene. Since Kester no longer provides flux or other chemicals in smaller packages, I would not mind learning how to process raw rosin into RA and RMA flux. --- End quote --- The MG Chemicals product uses 2-Butanol and Ethanol, it seems to me the 2-Butanol is the "secret sauce" to getting a professional result. I wonder if you could just dissolve raw rosin in the MG Chemicals' liquid flux, to thicken it up? |
| jpanhalt:
I have used a lot of butanol in my days and can't stand its smell. There are many alternative solvents with little or no smell: 1) Glycol ethers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycol_ethers) 2) Low molecular weight Cellosolves (e.g., ethyl or methyl cellosolve) 3) Diacetone alcohol, which is odorless to most people. Of those three, diacetone alcohol is probably the weakest solvent, but it may still work. It is used in "whiteboard" markers because it's a decent solvent and doesn't have a strong "chemical" smell that some people object to. |
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