In article ,
Bill Turner wrote:

On 27 Dec 2003 19:54:36 GMT, (Fred McKenzie) wrote:

Ordinary rubbing alcohol has 70% alcohol and 30% water in it. If you search,
some drug stores carry 90% isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

____________________

This stuff is getting pretty rare, but it would be preferable if you can
find it. I used to see 99% isopropyl alcohol but haven't found any for
years. I keep looking, though.

Rubbing alchohol contains goodies like lanoline or aloe which leaves a
residue. Most of the time it doen't matter, unless, of course you are
looking for high reliability. My local electronics store carries the
electronics grade of isopropanol.

What is weird about the electronics store is that it no longer carries
semiconductors except for LEDs, diodes and selected transistors. They
dropped the line as they said it was not selling and it had a huge
inventory cost. And this outfit is very busy as it sells to installers.
I think their biggest seller is cat-5 cable followed by the hardware
that goes with it. The repairmen have gone the way of the buggy whip
makers.

Al

--
There's never enough time to do it right the first time.......

What is weird about the electronics store is that it no longer carries
semiconductors except for LEDs, diodes and selected transistors. They
dropped the line as they said it was not selling and it had a huge
inventory cost. And this outfit is very busy as it sells to installers.
I think their biggest seller is cat-5 cable followed by the hardware
that goes with it. The repairmen have gone the way of the buggy whip
makers.

Most comsumer electronics have gone to the surface mounted devices and few
can work on them. The repair people will usually send off the whole board
for a replacement they get for a fixed price. Now each manufactor has their
own special IC to do the differant jobs. There is no subistution. About 15
to 20 years ago there were several makers of transistors that had the
universal replacements where a few devices could replace thousands of
differat types.

What is weird about the electronics store is that it no longer carries
semiconductors except for LEDs, diodes and selected transistors. They
dropped the line as they said it was not selling and it had a huge
inventory cost. And this outfit is very busy as it sells to installers.
I think their biggest seller is cat-5 cable followed by the hardware
that goes with it. The repairmen have gone the way of the buggy whip
makers.

Most comsumer electronics have gone to the surface mounted devices and few
can work on them. The repair people will usually send off the whole board
for a replacement they get for a fixed price. Now each manufactor has their
own special IC to do the differant jobs. There is no subistution. About 15
to 20 years ago there were several makers of transistors that had the
universal replacements where a few devices could replace thousands of
differat types.

Al wrote:


Rubbing alchohol contains goodies like lanoline or aloe which leaves a
residue. Most of the time it doen't matter, unless, of course you are
looking for high reliability. My local electronics store carries the
electronics grade of isopropanol.

Al

For some things I remove flux with a spray can of carburetor cleaner.
It is a mix of Toluene, Acetone and Methanol. I bough a bunch of cans at
a dollar store. There are other automotive cleaners that have more
alcohol in them. I think some brands of disk brake cleaner may be mostly
alcohol. I will have to dig into the stash in my shop to take a look the
next time I can spend some time there.

--
Merry Christmas!

Take care, and God bless.
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Al wrote:


Rubbing alchohol contains goodies like lanoline or aloe which leaves a
residue. Most of the time it doen't matter, unless, of course you are
looking for high reliability. My local electronics store carries the
electronics grade of isopropanol.

Al

For some things I remove flux with a spray can of carburetor cleaner.
It is a mix of Toluene, Acetone and Methanol. I bough a bunch of cans at
a dollar store. There are other automotive cleaners that have more
alcohol in them. I think some brands of disk brake cleaner may be mostly
alcohol. I will have to dig into the stash in my shop to take a look the
next time I can spend some time there.

--
Merry Christmas!

Take care, and God bless.
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

In article , Bill Turner
writes:

On 27 Dec 2003 19:54:36 GMT, (Fred McKenzie) wrote:

Ordinary rubbing alcohol has 70% alcohol and 30% water in it. If you
search,
some drug stores carry 90% isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

____________________

This stuff is getting pretty rare, but it would be preferable if you can
find it. I used to see 99% isopropyl alcohol but haven't found any for
years. I keep looking, though.

If you want high-proof isopropyl alcohol, you need "reagent grade"
stuff which is available from chemical supply businesses. Clean
room assembly places buy the stuff in bulk. Some medical supply
places have it, too.

When using isopropyl the next thing needed is cotton swabs...lots
of them (on wooden sticks), another expense item. :-)

Len Anderson
retired (from regular hours) electronic engineer person

In article , Bill Turner
writes:

On 27 Dec 2003 19:54:36 GMT, (Fred McKenzie) wrote:

Ordinary rubbing alcohol has 70% alcohol and 30% water in it. If you
search,
some drug stores carry 90% isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

____________________

This stuff is getting pretty rare, but it would be preferable if you can
find it. I used to see 99% isopropyl alcohol but haven't found any for
years. I keep looking, though.

If you want high-proof isopropyl alcohol, you need "reagent grade"
stuff which is available from chemical supply businesses. Clean
room assembly places buy the stuff in bulk. Some medical supply
places have it, too.

When using isopropyl the next thing needed is cotton swabs...lots
of them (on wooden sticks), another expense item. :-)

Len Anderson
retired (from regular hours) electronic engineer person

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 08:11:26 -0800, Bill Turner
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:25:15 GMT, Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote:

I went with the 70% IPA,
because the only other ingredient was water.

I wonder how you know the other ingredient is water? I have tried
unsuccessfully to find out the denaturant and have never had any luck.
Are they putting it on the list of ingredients now? The last time I
tried was a couple of years ago.

This brand did list the ingredients, although denaturing is not an
issue with IPA.

The ethanol had a number of ingredients, but no % breakdown except the
alcohol. Told me what I needed.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 08:11:26 -0800, Bill Turner
wrote:

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:25:15 GMT, Gary S. Idontwantspam@net wrote:

I went with the 70% IPA,
because the only other ingredient was water.

I wonder how you know the other ingredient is water? I have tried
unsuccessfully to find out the denaturant and have never had any luck.
Are they putting it on the list of ingredients now? The last time I
tried was a couple of years ago.

This brand did list the ingredients, although denaturing is not an
issue with IPA.

The ethanol had a number of ingredients, but no % breakdown except the
alcohol. Told me what I needed.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 17:03:08 GMT, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:

For some things I remove flux with a spray can of carburetor cleaner.
It is a mix of Toluene, Acetone and Methanol. I bough a bunch of cans at
a dollar store. There are other automotive cleaners that have more
alcohol in them. I think some brands of disk brake cleaner may be mostly
alcohol. I will have to dig into the stash in my shop to take a look the
next time I can spend some time there.

Careful. Many brake cleaners include lots of toluene and other
solvents which are extremely unhealthy for skin contact or breathing
fumes.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom