How do you make your PCB board with components look clean like commercial ones?

[canidoit]

I have soldered most of my components on my PCB board and I am using Flux and PCB cleaning spray. I can't seem to get rid of the dried up brown gunk on the solder joints and gunk that splashed onto the board from my iron.

I am using a toothbrush combined with my PCB cleaning board and it's not getting rid of the brown gunk and it also makes the board dry and streaky, sometimes sticky??? 

How should I aproach this to give my build a nice presentable finish internally?

Should I get some strong alcohol or cleaning solution? What are the pro's using?

 

[Andy Peters]

I have soldered most of my components on my PCB board and I am using Flux and PCB cleaning spray. I can't seem to get rid of the dried up brown gunk on the solder joints and gunk that splashed onto the board from my iron.

I am using a toothbrush combined with my PCB cleaning board and it's not getting rid of the brown gunk and it also makes the board dry and streaky, sometimes sticky??? 

How should I aproach this to give my build a nice presentable finish internally?

Should I get some strong alcohol or cleaning solution? What are the pro's using?

Don't use alcohol. It doesn't really work, and unless it's high-test it'll leave residue.

You need to use a proper low-foaming electronics cleaner. At the day-job we get gallon jugs of Detergent 8 and dilute according to the directions into those little squirt bottles. Just squirt the solution onto the PCB and scrub with a paintbrush that's had all but the last 1/4" of bristle cut off. Then rinse with distilled water. Dry it with shop air at about 30 psi.

-a

 

[audiox]

Use Multicore Crystal 400 solder (other manufacturers must have equivalent types). It leaves (crystal) clear residue that requires no cleaning.

 

[sintech]

When working building Bss outboard for a living, we used Arklone - EM cleaning solvent to clean the boards, done this with both a machine, also cold with a photographic developing tray and a toothbrush. I did some of my first DIY outboard this way... then didn't bother! heheheh

 

[Tubemooley]

We use 99% isopropyl alcohol. We use gallons of it. Different fluxes leave different kinds of crap. Rosin-based flux is an organic molecule. Organic residues require a solvent to loosen them and then wash them away. Ionic residues require water and/or a detergent. Washing again with distilled water after the alcohol is a good idea. No clean solder leaves it's own kind of residue. Luckily, it is non-conductive. But it does look crappy. Heavier solvents would be acetone, MEK or toluene. Toluene is hard to get these days...... Here's one trick I use. Scrub with the toothbrush and alcohol. Then rinse that off or blow it dry. Then completely wet the board again with alcohol. While it's wet, scrub it gently but briskly with a paper towel. The paper towel will get all shredded up and make quite a mess. But you're swabbing up the dirty alcohol while it's still wet and absorbing it into the paper towel. You're wiping and removing the gunk. This is what I do. DW.

 

[canidoit]

We use 99% isopropyl alcohol.

I used that and it left an oily residue? I dont know why. It's called Multicore X-33 Isopropy or Isopropynal. I thought it was Flux but it smells like nail polish remover.

I am getting mixed response about the alcohol. All I know is that currently my board has streaks on it, both whitish from the PCB board cleaner and also some oily residue from the X-33.

The paper towel thing is very annoying, I have bits of it at the bottom of the board and it's hard to remove. I also tried cotton buds. I may try a sponge later.

I will try the paint brush method and buy some dedicated flux remover aerosal.

 

[Walrus]

As far as I can Google, Multicore X33 is a liquid *flux*, and not a cleaner.

I use Isopropyl alcohol and a tothbrush. Works great.

 

[tv]

... I use Isopropyl alcohol and a tothbrush. Works great.

+1

 

[Kingston]

... I use Isopropyl alcohol and a tothbrush. Works great.

+1

that's great but since we're in a tip gathering mode, how do you guys get the flux to actually come off? my toothbrushing+Isopropyl experiments have mostly just spread the flux thin and all over the board (sometimes sticky like canidoit says).


I haven't bothered for a long while now.

 

[okgb]

I dunno , with the quality of plating from most people these days
and a decent solder i don't feel the need to clean at all , looks good to me

 

[peterc]

I dont often clean PCB's but  when I do a commercial board I use this stuff

http://kontaktspray.hu/en/?Products:Cleaners_and_contact_maintainers:Kontakt_PCC_printed_circuit_board_cleaner

Needs a rinse after wards, I use water with an old toothbrush, works very well

Peter

 

[rodabod]

I used that and it left an oily residue?

That may be a small residue of the flux after it has formed a weak solution with the alcohol and then dried. After scrubbing and dripping, I usually got for another spray and soak off the solution with a towel or tissue paper quickly. I'd say that more important than this though is that your joints are wet and shiny.

 

[Kingston]

I dunno , with the quality of plating from most people these days
and a decent solder i don't feel the need to clean at all , looks good to me

my experience as well. Solder clean, accurately and fast, and it looks fine most of the time.

but I keep reading that flux is corrosive and can cause problems. None of my builds are old enough and there's no corrosion yet. But I'm still slightly worried.

 

[SSLtech]

The majority of Fluxes which I see bought in the US for through-hole soldering are NO-CLEAN fluxes. This means that they are free from the old corrosive fluxes, and there's NO NEED to clean them up.

If I really feel the need to do a bullshit-sparkle job, I use a dental pick or similar rather than dissolve large amounts which will only re-settle as a wider film when the solvent evaporates. -This is BY FAR the most important step. -Then a toothbrush-and-solvent for the last remaining hold-outs...

But that being said, it really DOESN'T MATTER, if you're using a no-clean solder.

Most "professional" through-hole PCBs were soldered on a wave-flow solder machine, and therefore there's no soldering iron used, and no 'spot-by-spot' flux buildup. -On my old Soldermatic Wave flow machine, there were three steps; a flux-wash, a solder wave and a solvent wash. -That was using a corrosive flux, so it was important to get it clean, but that's all; -and the solder wave used to burn most (almost all) of it off, anyhow.

Keith

 

[Kingston]

well rosin core (60/40 or similar) is corrosive. That's probably the best behaving and most used solder+flux used around here. I only use that as well.

I would like to know just how bad the corrosion can get.

 

[SSLtech]

well rosin core (60/40 or similar) is corrosive.

Absolutely not necessarily at all.

60/40 is just the tin/lead percentage. Rosin flux is available in both corrosive and no-clean variants.

Here, for example is a link to 60/40 no-clean, non-corrosive solder.

Keith

 

[Kingston]

oh, I didn't know that there we more than one type of rosin flux. I'll have to see what kind my stash is.

 

[Jonte Knif]

I use 2% silver loaded non-lead-free solder. I don't know the rosin composition of it but speaking about clean and shiny solder joints this stuff is great. It is extremely easy to use too. Only when there is a need to fill big cavities like octal sockets on PCB the rosin can sometimes accumulate on the surface and be visible, and then it is fairly easy to scratch off if it bothers. Solder fast and keep the iron _clean_.
Staff at the PCB fab house I use told me that at least the circuit boards will take any rosin residues without problems. About components I don't know too much.

I've been wondering if anyone has ever cleaned rosin from point to point projects or even more difficult structures? Would be fun to know why and when. How was it in the fifties? Sometimes when repairing vintage gear I have the feeling that some very thin wires show corrosion and are prone to break.(a KM54 last week)  Am I just paranoid? Perhaps it was the coffee that had been poured over the mike

 

[s2udio]

This works well if you need that "sparkle" finish
Flux Off
http://www.chemtronics.com/products/product.asp?r=1&m=2&id=9

 

[Svart]

Acetone or alcohol.

Use a stiff brush, pig hair works well.

Then use a lint-free wipe to soak it up while it's still wet.  Rinse with more fresh alcohol and soak again.

That's how the pros do it by hand.

Machines do it with harsher chemicals.