Aqueous inline defluxing remains a popular method for the effective removal of all types of flux residues (RMA, RA, No Clean, OA and Water Soluble) from electronics. The large footprint (13-24 feet) of the traditional washers employed in this cleaning process has prevented its installation in numerous facilities. Austin America Technology
Figure 1
recently introduced to the marketplace the NanoJet Inline Electronics Cleaning System which has a significantly smaller footprint (6-8 feet) thus making aqueous inline defluxing an option for those facilities where space is at a premium.
A global supplier of powertrain sensors and actuators to automotive, construction, heavy/medium trucking, marine,and other industrial markets was very interested in the NanoJet cleaning system. They were concerned that the heavy flux loading on their parts ( see Figure 1) would require extremely slow belt speeds to facilitate the complete removal of the flux residues. Slow belt speeds would not be acceptable since they would limit the number of parts that could be delivered to their customers. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the NanoJet cleaning system, AAT carried out evaluations using a number of aqueous defluxing products from leading suppliers. Unfortunately, the fears of the customer became reality as most defluxers gave inadequate cleaning results even when the belt speeds were as low as 0.5 fpm (feet per minute). However, one cleaning product, BIOACT EC-88 High-Performance Inline Defluxer from Petroferm, was found to offer complete flux removal at belt speeds as fast as 2.0 fpm.
Two sets of process conditions were evaluated:
Process 1:
Belt Speed: 1.0 fpm
Wash Conditions: BIOACT EC-88 (13.9%); 65 ⁰C; Upper Pressure 40 psi; Lower Pressure 25 psi
Rinse Conditions: DI Water (18MΩ); 60 ⁰C; Upper Pressure 35 psi; Lower Pressure 25 psi
Dry: Forced Ambient Air
Process 2:
Belt Speed: 2.0 fpm
Wash Conditions: BIOACT EC-88 (13.9%); 65 ⁰C; Upper Pressure 40 psi; Lower Pressure 25 psi
Rinse Conditions: DI Water (18MΩ); 60 ⁰C; Upper Pressure 35 psi; Lower Pressure 25 psi
Dry: Forced Ambient Air
All flux residues and debris were removed from the assembled printed circuit board (PCB). This is yet another instance where the superior performance and high-quality cleaning that is obtained using BIOACT EC-88 High-Performance Inline Defluxer outpaces
Figure 2
the cleaning results from leading aqueous defluxers. It is important to note that the cleaning results obtained using BIOACT EC-88 High Performance Inline Defluxer in the NanoJet Inline Electronics Cleaning Systems would correlate to effective flux residue removal at belt speeds of 2.0-4.0 fpm
BIOACT EC-88 is a powerful cleaning solution that is capable of outperforming competitive products leaving customers extremely satisfied with a cleaned assembled printed circuit board. The benefits of BIOACT EC-88 include:
- Cleaning of a wide range of flux residues after reflow
- High flux loading capacity
- Non-foaming
- Requires no additional additives to maintain performance
