Proper way to dry boards? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: reagle
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 02:16:01 am
content: Here is a questions for those building things at home- how do you dry boards after sodlering and washing them?I know how it's done in the industry- compressed air or special board washer/dryer systems, but what do you do at home?Suppose I use solder with water soluble flux, I wash the boards, they are nice and clean. If I just let them dry, I'll have all kinds of mineral deposits on them. I suppose, rinse with de-ionized/distilled water might help?Other options I know of are to use rosin core solder but that can still chew up copper after a while, or a no-clean one, if it will never get wet

author: Kiriakos-GR
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 02:32:03 am
content: I had never ever use water ..Only purified not colored alcohol.And it dry's in seconds by it self.Its very expensive , but worth's it.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 03:12:56 am
content: Quote from: reagle on May 24, 2011, 02:16:01 amif you want the proper way, its the same thing as in the industry, except on the small scale and diy levelcompressed air is the easiest. if you can buy $300 ee stuff, sure you can also get one cheapo compressor w acc.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 05:32:35 pm
content: I've always used soap and water, rinsed in clean water and dried with a hair dyerWhere I used to work, we rinsed with distilled water and dried with a heat gun set to low temperature.

author: johnmx
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 10:03:15 pm
content: I use acetone or flux remover like this one:http://pt.farnell.com/chemtronics/es835be/cleaner-flux-off-200ml/dp/860414?Ntt=ES835BEThen I apply some spray varnish (e.g. Plastik 70 from Kontakt Chemie).Be careful with the water, some components don’t like it (e.g. relays).

author: Kiriakos-GR
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 10:53:57 pm
content: Quote from: johnmx on May 24, 2011, 10:03:15 pmI love that stuff , many years back I was making some control panels.I use to paint the aluminum face , plus adding letters set on it as labels , and then some spray varnish " Plastik 70 " for protection.But the smell of it, before it gets dry , it can kill a horse ..

author: johnmx
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2011, 11:13:16 pm
content: Quote from: Kiriakos-GR on May 24, 2011, 10:53:57 pmI like that smell… and also the smell of diluent and gasoline

author: reagle
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 25, 2011, 12:04:48 am
content: Hey, trying to stay safe for a home use here

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2011, 03:20:39 am
content: Alcohol is good,I've used both surgical alcohol & the stuff we call Methylated spirits in Australia.The "Metho" does leave a white deposit,but it is fairly harmless,& if you use paper towels, Kimwipes or similar,you can wipe it off as you go.There is a product that RS Components sell in Aust,& probably the UK that comes in a pressure can & looks likeshaving cream. This is very effective,we used to spray it on,wait about 10 minutes & wash it off with water.We started off with Distilled Water,but after a while,we went with plain tap water with less critical circuits.We would then dry with compressed air, followed by a heat gun.It gets pretty hot in the summer here,so just leaving them out in the sun is another option.We did not experience any increase in failure rate using this method.Obviously,everybody wants to send their boards out in pristine condition,but you can go overboard with worry about "contamination". If you look at boards in service in industry,they will work OK,even with the most horrendous contamination due to the enviroment in which they operate.Even in fairly benign environments such as TV Studios,there was an amazing amount of crud on the boards.One warning about water use,if you have things like IF cans,etc,these things are only shielded for RF,they are not watertight.Most of the PCBs you will encounter will not use such devices,although maybe getting water & crud under large ICs might not be good.VK6ZGO

author: Zad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2011, 06:07:02 pm
content: Be extremely careful if you have any skeleton or trim-pots on the board. Some carbon traces can absorb liquid, and any invisible residue on the track can lead to the potentiometer wiper going open circuit.

author: reagle
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 26, 2011, 06:46:00 pm
content: Good point. Same with wires- they tend to wick moisture in and then corrode later on.Quote from: Zad on May 26, 2011, 06:07:02 pm

author: IanJ
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 03, 2011, 02:14:33 pm
content: Back in the day we used Freon in our ultrasonic cleaner and it evaporated in seconds afrer removing it from the tub.But nowadays we have to use distilled water to wash off the flux cleaner.........and we dry our boards using a heat gun a good distance away with the boards on a stand sitting vertically. Each side about 30mins then leave the board overnight before even thinking about powering up.Ian.