Mike Knudsen wrote:
In article , Chuck Harris
writes:

That is the new (10 years old - new) almost environmentally correct
solder flux. It is citrus based (IIRC) and is meant to be washed off
the board with hot water and detergent. Do that and it is the simplest
stuff to use.

I knew it had to do with defluxing in a less polluting way. I had heard back
then at Bell Labs that someone had come up with a citrus-based defluxing agent
that worked on the usual rosin flux, but I must have heard it wrong.

Someone has. We use it at work, and it's okay. It's nowhere near as
effective as the fluorocarbon stuff. It's definitely more effective than
isopropanol.

I don't normally mind defluxing with isopropanol, although it can take a
lot of elbow grease. But it can be a problem for very-high-Z stuff like
condenser mike front ends, and of course it's impossible in a production
environment.

Surely you're not saying one should deflux a tube socket, wired chassis solder
joint? I can see defluxing PC boards, but I've never heard of defluxing a BA
style solder joint, and it would be downright near impossible. Well, maybe
with a dozen Q-Tips and an hour of work. Did factories deflux BA chassis?

Not often, but sometimes you will see terminal board construction that has
been defluxed, especially on old military radios which would be used in
wet environments. They used to have dip tanks for the job, although today
a spray can of Flux-Off would do the job nicely.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."