Well, it wouldn't be a Lab without chemicals...

I am really curious about what service chemicals folks are using, and which ones work best. I couldn't live without Deoxit D5, and Electrolube "Flu" flux remover, and of course isopropyl alcohol, and the Little bottle of oil that came with Studer tape machines.

I have yet to find a really Fascist adhesive though, one that sets fast and never lets go, regardless of what it is holding. Probably doesn't exist.
Some of those metal impregnated epoxy's are really good for fabricating broken parts from though.

A sink full of warm water and dishwashing detergent is handy when someone brings in a synthesiser that their cat has pissed in, although the smell remains a little no matter how hard you scrub, and hence kitty usually returns...

Isopropyl alcohol, as pure as you can get it. Years ago my brother went through the NASA soldering school and he taught me some things about soldering, many of the finer points I've since I've forgotten. But I did retain that I need to remove flux from all my solder joints using isoproply alcohol. Since then in companies I've worked for, I noticed all the "solder chicks" that work in the labs slinging solder for R&D teams all did it that way, using the pump bottles with the cheap clipped hard brissel brushes to get off the flux. To this day it's a pet peeve of mine to see a project with flux still on the joints. Adhesives I haven't a clue about. There is this great stuff for coating a heat sink to assure a better conducting of heat to help cool hot components.
Kelley

A pack of smokes and a cup of coffee.

I agree about removing solder flux from PCB's, I was wondering the other day how many people have built or repaired things like Urei 1176's that have high impedence FET circuits and have left all kinds of crud on the boards, so that every time the weather gets humid the unit starts drifting around due to leakage around the FET's. I regularly (every year or 2) clean the FET compressors in my studio with iso alcohol even though there are no smokers around here.

VSR Marking in Calif. makes something called "Reactivator"
It's like isopropyl on steroids, very clean, and very expensive!
40 dollars a quart.
cj

Yep,

Isoprop is the one. Other good stuff:

Foam cleanser (it's nice to clean chassis and cabinets before handing gear back!)
Can of compressed air.
Hellerine sleeving 'lube
Thin machine oil
Teflon-based oil
Nail varnish.....

No seriously, I always carry a bottle of black or red nail varnish for threadlock...nothing kinky!

Mark

I find a pot of coffee and a pack of American Spirit Light to be indispensible in my circuit development work...

[quote author="Mark Burnley"]Hellerine sleeving 'lube[/quote]

a must have when looming and preparing wires inside a box
PLUS the tool to go with it
goes under the brand name HELLERMANN TYTON ... $12.16 Aust.

and the FITTING TOOL SLEEVES 3 SIZES ... $135.44 Aust ... yes good tools are expensive.


why can't I get these pictures to link and display correctly ??

I use an acrylic thinners for flux removal, with folded paper towel as a scrubber.

I'm using Kontakt Chemie "Kontakt PCC" to clean boards.

It has a fairly stiff brush as part of the nozzle assembly, so the spray goes thro the brush, then scrub the board with the brush. Works excellently :green:

Cost R70 ($10 US) a can.

Peter

[quote author="Kev"] why can't I get these pictures to link and display correctly ?? [/quote]
Because the filenames do not have a recognizeable extention (.jpg, .gif etc.). If I click the links I get the images shown as text...

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen

Hey Kev, is the HELLERMANN system the rubbery tubing that you soak in some kind if oil and stretch over the connection with a special set of spreading pliers? If so I used it when doing some assembly work for Dave Peach and it was AWESOME - much cooler than heatshrink.

that's a Hellermann!!!! fuggin hell i've been trying to think of that name for over a year now...The 3 way spreader jaws that looks like the alien from Predator....and the little rubber bits sitting in a tin of lube....I had to use those when I was interning at Morin Heights and i've been trying to describe it to a tech buddy and knew it was 'H...something' and that's it. crap I was going crazy with it....whew glad that's over....been on the backburner too long!

Yep, Hellermann,
... this was the sort of stuff you found in Kev's favourites at ... :roll:
shut up Kev.

Hi Tungstengruvsten, I have been in the same boat - wanting to go buy all the bits but not remembering what it was called. Thanks Kev!

Solvents:
MG Chemicals super strength flux remover
Isopropyl, 99%+
Methanol
Methyl Ethyl Ketone (caution - hypergolic with oxidizing agents)
Methylene Chloride (caution - carcinogenic)
Acetone
Mineral spirits

Oily stuff:
Vacuum grease
WD-40
Contact cleaner
Sewing machine oil
5W30 oil
80 or 90 gearbox oil

Bonding stuff:
2-part epoxy
cyanoacrylate glue
CA debonder
CA accelerator
hot glue
Conductive epoxy
The ugliest nail polish I can find

Misc:
Heat shrink tubing