toner cleaning

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Mon Jan 26 17:14:43 1998

At 08:47 AM 1/26/98 -0600, you wrote:
>
>
>> That's ok, old warnings from the past are hard to get rid of. One
>> that I heard just tonight was "if you aren't careful when you make your
>> own booze you can go blind". This came from the era when alcohol was
>> prohibited, and some unsavory people would repackage denatured alcohol
>> (ethanol with a percentage of methanol in it to render it poisonous so if
>> you drink it you will either go blind, or die, thus prevent you from
>> getting pleasure from UNTAXED alcohol). After a while, they switched to
>> formula 19 (methyl isobutyl ketone I think) as the denaturant so you don't
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Ok, so *thats* why modern denatured alcohol smells like that! I
>recently bought some from a hardware store to clean circuit boards,
>and it smelled very strange to me-- it had an MEK 'edge' to it. The
>last time I used denatured alcohol was almost twenty years ago-- I
>was un-aware that they had changed the 'formula'.
>
>Anyway, I'm seriously considering shelling out some real $$$ for
>ethanol-- this new denatured stuff leaves a residue which the old
>formula did not. (Anybody remember 'Zeracol' ?)
>
>Jeff
>
   Jeff,

   I don't know if it's true but I've been told that different companys use
different things to "denature" alcohol. I was told that they can use any
additive that makes the alcohol undrinkable and that one common addative is
kerosene. FWIW I usw A LOT of denatured alcohol for cleanning electronics
and the brand that I use does not seem to leave a resisdue. I've had no
problems using it. I can find the original can and get the brand name if
you like.

   Joe
Received on Mon Jan 26 1998 - 17:14:43 GMT