How To Clean Gel Flux Residue From a Circuit Board After Hand Soldering a Quad Flat Pack

This article describes how to clean gel flux residue from a circuit board after hand soldering a quad flat pack component. The process involves full immersion cleaning, which means fully submersing the board into solvent while brushing in order to dislodge and dissolve as much of the flux residue as possible.

Start by putting on some "powder free latex gloves" to protect your hands. Also make sure that you are wearing safety glasses and that your work area is reasonably well ventilated.

Place the board on the bench. No solvents are used at this stage. I call this step "dry wiping". Get a small brush, such as a horse hair or small parts cleaning brush and simply run the brush along each edge to remove the bulk of the flux residue.

Wipe the brush on a tissue to get the flux residue off of the brush. The objective is just to remove the bulk of the flux residue before the full immersion cleaning process.

Next, place your circuit board into a plastic container with some methylated spirits (or "metho").

The plastic container can be a lunch box, a food container or an empty ice cream container. Choose the size of the container depending on how big your circuit boards are and how many you want to put in to wash or soak at one time.

Ensure that there is enough metho in the container to fully immerse the board, including the components.

Then simply brush around the edge of the chip where the flux residue is. Continue to brush around until it looks like most of the flux residue has come off.

Take the board out of the metho to get an idea of how you are going.

Blow off the metho with compressed air (a nozzle, moisture separator, air hose and air compressor). The compressed air also helps to dislodge the residue, especially some of the residue sitting behind the chip legs.

At this stage you will be able to see how much of the flux residue is left on the board. Put the board back into the metho and do some more brushing.

Take the board out again and blow off the metho and residue with the compressed air. Again, you will be able to see how much residue is left. The residue will look like a think sticky film. Put the board back in and give it another go.

Keep going until you are satisfied that you have removed as much of the flux residue as possible. You don't have to worry is there is a little bit of flux residue left on the board because the gel flux used is "no-clean" type, which is inert and non-corrosive.

That completes this article. We covered how to clean gel flux residue from a circuit board, including "dry brushing", full immersion cleaning, using compressed air to blow off solvent and dislodge residue, and inspection.

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PCB Prototyping Advantage

Advancement in technology and computerization paved way to convenience in mass production of PCB/s worldwide. Prototyping is a modern system used for cost effective manufacturing of PCB boards, primarily a main electronic component.

Being aggressively introduced to companies, prototyping machines are not ordinary commodity like a photocopy machine, which users can use at once with ease. PCB machines need careful study and training before it can take off for efficient use. As a modern, priced item and investment, it takes a lot of experience to judge the equipment before acquiring one.

The basics of PCB Prototyping

BENEFITS - If a business involves mass production, the first process is making master copies for checking before it can be carried over to the next step of producing millions. With PCB milling system, the tedious traditional process is lessened because of the speed of creating and testing is guaranteed.

CHEMICAL FREE - compared to chemical etching, PCB milling is cleanly done by subtractive method without involving the use of chemicals. Circuit boards are cut through to remove the copper portions. The speed in accomplishing the task is controlled by the user with great accuracy.

COMPACT - Imagine one machine handling the multiple complex tasks of milling, drilling, routing, and other special processes, where task are all done by prototyping machine to make PCB boards. The only additional item required for operating the equipment is backing it up with industrial vacuum cleaner for maintenance purposes. The compactness can be achieved in the setup process, which is also a part of training required in handling prototyping machines.

MECHANISM - PCB prototyping is a precision-controlled device that is highly mechanical in make. It involves drive systems fully manipulated by engineered assembly. Once put up, everything depends on the user and the integration of software coordinating the movement of the heads in its coordinates (x, y and z). It is computerized making repetitive process free of errors.

SAFE - designed for high sophistication with the use of small bits for routing, it has been customized for rigidity of application. However, for safety reasons, user is required to wear protection glasses for the eyes. Minute dusts emitted are required to be vacuumed off all the time.

Years of experience will be enough to efficiently use PCB prototyping machines. It made manufacturing safe, easy, productive and rewarding in general. It is best to get upgraded in technology especially with use of computerized equipments.

Low Jeremy maintains http://prototyping.articlesforreprint.com . This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included.