cleaning qbus enclosures

From: Richard W. Schauer <rws_at_enteract.com>
Date: Thu Aug 2 21:39:02 2001

On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, Dave McGuire wrote:

> On August 2, Bill Bradford wrote:
> > Did you just tell me to put CIRCUIT BOARDS in the *DISHWASHER*? Or
> > do I still have a fever and am delirious.. ?
>
> I've never been able to bring myself to do that myself, but I know
> of several people who swear by that method.

Guys, check out a board stuffing house or someplace that has a PCB
assembly line sometime. Now that the EPA has regulated volatile organic
compound-based fluxes and solvents (like alcohol), most places use a
water-based flux. A couple of years ago a place I worked at changed over
to a lemon juice-based flux. It worked just as well as the propan-2-ol
stuff and smelled better. But, it was conductive. So, we went out and
bought a Frigidaire dishwasher and put it at the end of the line, just
after the wave solder pot. After the boards came out of the pot, they
went into the cooling racks, then right into the dishwasher for a hot
cycle, no soap. And when we had a company dinner (it was a small
company), I'd get stuck cleaning out the wire ends and odd resistors and
capacitors that didn't solder out of the bottom before we put the
dishes in. Never had a problem. The only things you need to look out for
are electromechanical items that are not washable- some switches,
speakers, potentiometers, and such. Those things tend to trap or absorb
water.

Richard Schauer
rws_at_enteract.com
Received on Thu Aug 02 2001 - 21:39:02 BST