Electronic Cleaner

Electronic Cleaner

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Improve PCB Reliability by Removing Corrosive Flux Residues

Chemtronics manufactures a wide range electronic cleaners.  From clean room cleaning supplies to production quantity flux removal or even blasting derbies from sensitive electronics with compression dusters we are your one-stop shop for the care of your electronic equipment.

Chemtronics® dusters are microscopically clean, oil and moisture free sources of "canned air" developed for applications where safe, ultra-pure cleaning is required.  Compact and portable, Chemtronics dusters deliver powerful jet action to instantly remove particles from even the most inaccessible areas.  Ultrajet® Dusters economize solvent usage by removing layers of dry particulate allowing the solvent to work immediately on encrusted soils. Ultrajet Dusters also accelerate surface drying when using slow evaporating cleaners.

Flux removal is critical to ensure reliable circuitry. Not only unsightly, some flux residue can promote short circuits and corrosion, degrading or destroying the printed circuit board. The type of flux to be removed, solvent compatibility and ease of application are all factors to consider when choosing a flux remover or electronic cleaner. Flux-Off® Flux Removers are specially formulated to remove all types of lead-free, rosin (types R, RA, and RMA), no-clean, water-soluble and synthetic (type SA) flux.

Electro-Wash® Cleaner Degreasers are engineered to clean a wide variety of soil, oil, grease, oxides and handling contamination, from equipment and assemblies.

Chemtronics Swabs and Applicators are engineered for use in a variety of environments and applications. They are ideal for use with our cleaner degreasers, head cleaners, flux removers and other solvents for fast, precision cleaning. From the innovative no-lint Chamois Tips Swab to the general purpose Cottontips Swab, Chemtronics has the right swab or applicator for your job.

Chempad Alcohol Wipes Chempad
Individually wrapped, presaturated lint-free isopropyl alcohol wipes
Chemswab Alcohol Swabs CS25 Chemswab
Foam swab presaturated with 91% isopropyl alcohol
Chemtronics ControlWipes Chemtronics ControlWipes
Solvent resistant highly absorbent wipe
CircuitWorks Flux Remover Pens flux remover pen
Pen for precise removal of flux from printed circuit boards
Electro-Wash CZ Degreaser Electro-Wash CZ
Non-ozone depleting, nonflammable electronic cleaner and degreaser safe for use on plastics
Electro-Wash Delta Cleaner Degreaser Electro-Wash Delta
Extra-strength, nonflammable electronic cleaner and degreaser
Electro-Wash MX Cleaner Degreaser Electro-Wash MX
Extra-strength, plastic safe universal cleaner with moderate evaporation time
Electro-Wash QD Degreaser DEL1608B
Fast drying, nonflammable electronics cleaner degreaser
Electro-Wash Tri-V Degreaser Electro-Wash Tri-V
Extra-strength, nonflammable electronics cleaner degreaser for replacing n-propyl bromide
Electro-Wash VZ Degreaser Electro-Wash VZ
Economical, non-ozone depleting, nonflammable universal cleaner degreaser
Flux-Off Aqueous Flux-Off Aqueous
Aqueous flux remover for use in ultrasonic cleaning systems
Flux-Off Complete Flux-Off Complete
Powerful, economical flux remover spray for cleaning no-clean flux
Flux-Off CZ Flux-Off CZ
Non-ozone depleting, nonflammable flux remover spray safe for use on plastics.
Flux-Off Delta Flux-Off Delta
Extra strength, nonflammable solvent that removes heavy and encrusted flux deposits
Flux-Off Heavy Duty Flux-Off Heavy Duty
Heavy-duty flux remover spray for removing encrusted no-clean and rosin flux
Flux-Off Lead Free Flux-Off Lead Free
Powerful flux remover for high temperature, lead-free flux removal
Flux-Off No Clean EXTRA
Low VOC extra-strength flux remover for cleaning no-clean flux
Flux-Off No Clean Plus Flux-Off No Clean Plus
Powerful economical flux remover for cleaning no-clean flux
Flux-Off Rosin Flux-Off Rosin
Plastic safe flux remover for cleaning all rosin and rosin-based no-clean flux
Flux-Off Tri-V Flux-Off Tri-V
Extra strength, nonflammable flux remover for replacing n-propyl bromide
Flux-Off VZ Flux-Off VZ
Economical, non-ozone depleting, nonflammable flux remover
Flux-Off Water Soluble Flux-Off Water Soluble
Plastic safe flux remover for cleaning water-soluble flux
Foamtip Swabs Chemtronics Foamtip Swabs
Highly absorbent precision foam swab with a wide variety of head sizes and shapes
IPA - Isopropyl Alcohol IPA - Isopropyl Alcohol-2
99.8% technical grade isopropyl alcohol
Isopropyl Alcohol Wipes SIP100P
Presaturated isopropyl alcohol wipes in a convenient dispenser
Max-Kleen Tri-V Max-Kleen Tri-V-2
Extra-strength, nonflammable heavy duty electronics cleaner for replacing n-propyl bromide
Typhoon Blast 70 Duster Typhoon Blast 70 Duster
Powerful and economical, ultra-low GWP duster with the BIGGER blast
Ultrajet Ultrajet
Duster with the BIGGEST blast to clean anything fast
Ultrajet 70 Ultrajet 70
Powerful, economical air duster with a BIGGER blast than competitive dusters
Ultrajet All-Way Ultrajet All-Way
Invertible duster with the BIGGEST blast to clean anything fast
Ultrajet Duster System ES1020K
Reusable compressed air can duster system with a precision chrome trigger valve

FAQ's

When should I clean off no-clean flux?

If it is fully activated (brought up to solder temperature), it should not leave any ionic residue behind. You might have to clean if...
1. Flux is being used so liberally that it all isn’t being heated along with the solder.
or
2. The non-ionic residue can impede with the function of the devise either short-term or long-term.

How can you reduce chemical exposure?

Every organization using hazardous chemicals within their facility has the responsibility to equip their facility and personnel to maintain exposure levels below the TLV. Personal monitoring badges can be used to measure exposure of a specific material. Then, depending on the threshold limit and the application, exposure can be controlled with PPE like masks, face shields, respirators, and even coveralls. If they don’t reduce exposure below the recommended limit, you will need to consider a special ventilation hood or even containment booth. As you can see, as the exposure limit gets down to a certain level, the equipment required to safely use the solvent can get impractical. At that point, your best option is to consider a safer alternative.

How do you know the safe exposure limit of a degreaser, contact cleaner, or flux remover?

The personal hazard associated with a solvent is often defined using Threshold Limit Value (TLV), which is the recommended average exposure in an 8-hour day, 40 hour work week. The lower the TLV of a particular substance, the less a worker can be exposed to without harmful effects. TLV is stated on the SDS of chemical products, in additional to recommended personal protection equipment (or PPE). The threshold limit value of a solvent is generally set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). The unit of measure is Parts Per Million (PPM). 

Are swabs available for cleaning static sensitive electronics?

Yes, Chemtronics offers a full line of ESD swabs. They include foam, knit polyester, or knit microfiber heads with static dissipative handles. The proprietary handle material has surface resistivity of 1.0 x 10_10 ohms/sq, and will dissipate 99% of (5 kV) charge in 0.5 seconds. This avoids static generation, and can dissipate a charge when the user is grounded.

Is air duster (canned air) safe on my computer and other electronics?

Yes, air duster is generally designed for use on electronics. There are a few things to watch out for:

  1. Avoid spraying the refrigerant liquid, which can happen if you shake the can, or angle it too much. The refrigerant is very cold, so can damage some sensitive electronics.
  2. Avoid cheap retail dusters that contain bitterant. Many retail dusters have bitterant added to prevent huffing. When duster is used in the home, there is concern that the material will be purposely inhaled (called “huffing” or “dusting”) by minors, which can sometimes lead to tragic consequences. To avoid this, bitterant is added to make the duster taste bad. This same bitterant can lead to unwanted and potentially harmful residues on sensitive surfaces like electronic circuit boards.

Why is there white residue when I clean my PCB?

White residue is generally a symptom of ineffective PCB cleaning. Common conductive flux residues from the soldering process can include various unreacted activators, binders, rheology components, and saponifiers. Among these are numerous iterations of acids (abietic, adipic, succinic among others), highly basic ingredients (amino compounds), and even constituents found in “soaps” such as phosphate and sulfate ions. When a cleaner does not fully dissolve all the constituents, or the cleaner is not allowed to flow off the PCB, the remaining solvent can evaporate off and leave behind residue that is either white or like water spots.

How do you clean excess flux?

The most common way to clean flux residues from a repair area is to saturate a cotton or foam swab with isopropyl alcohol or another cleaning solvent, and rub it around the repair area. While this may be adequate for no-clean flux, where the goal is a visually clean PCB, this may not be clean enough when more heavily activated fluxes are involved, like RA or aqueous. The dirty little secret is that flux residues will not evaporate along with the solvent. You may dissolve the flux, and some of the residues will soak into the swab, but most of the residues will settle back onto the board surface. Many times these white residues are more difficult to remove than the original flux.

One quick and easy improvement to this process is to rinse the board after swabbing around the repair area. While the solvent is still wet, spray over the entire board with an aerosol flux cleaner. Hold the PCB at an angle to allow the solvent to flow over the board and run off, along with any residues that are picked up.

The straw attachment that comes with aerosol flux removers is a good way to increase the spray force and penetrate under the components.

Some aerosol flux removers come with a brush attachment. The cleaning solvent sprays through the brush, so agitation can be increased by scrubbing while spraying. To absorb the flux residues, a lint-free poly-cellulose wiper can be placed over the repair area, and the spraying and scrubbing can occur over the material. Then remove the wipe and brush attachment, and spray over the board for the final rinse.

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