EYE on NPI – MicroCare TidyPen 2 #EyeOnNPI #DigiKey #Adafruit  @MicroCareNews @DigiKey @Adafruit
Channel: Adafruit Industries
Date: 10/12/2020

In keeping with the holiday themes for EYE on NPI, this week we've picked up some MicroCare TidyPen 2's (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/m/microcare/tidypen-2) - great for removing sticky residue on PCBs from protective tapes or adhesives, or even price-tags from gifts! These are great for rework desks, crafting, or prototyping when you have a sticker you've removed and it left some gunk on the PCB. Works a lot better than Isopropyl Alcohol (that just seems to smear the glue around) and comes in a handy little pen.

Since we use no-clean flux solder, sometimes we have some flux deposits left over after through hole soldering. This works pretty well there as well. If you really just want a flux remover pen, and not for general adhesives, there's a special product they make just for that (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/microcare-corporation/MCC-DC1PEN/12749775)
We especially like the solid felted nib, you can press it down to get some more fluid into the tip, and its firm enough to act like a little scrubber brush.  After wetting the area and giving it a little scrub, I use a dry tissue to wipe it clean. You can also order more nibs  (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/microcare-corporation/MCC-P40C/13534656) if they get kinda dirty or smooshed, although i think you could probably cut the nib with diagonal cutters to get a fresh tip. It's kind of magical, we had waaay too much fun cleaning off sticky tools like our scissors, that have a bit of goo left over from cutting some tape.

Applications:

- Dissolves and lifts away labels, glues and adhesives of all kinds
Great on almost any sticky residue
- Zips away adhesives, tape residue and pressure sensitive marking tags
- Works on paper labels, stickers, EPROM labels, Kapton® tape residue, barcode labels, chewing gum, tar and price tags
- Removes corrosion from the gold fingers of PCBs 
- Compliant in all 50 US States

The TidyPen 2 is available right now at Digi-Key (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/m/microcare/tidypen-2) in single pieces (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/m/microcare/tidypen-2) and multipacks (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/microcare-corporation/MCC-PEN2/13534653), toss it into your cart and next time you get your order in, you'll thank yourself for the gift.

Digi-Key short link: https://www.digikey.com/short/zv1rmp