I clear thick areas of flux build up with a careful and gentle scraping with the back edge of the pointy end of a #11 Xacto blade.?
Then a very used, old soft toothbrush to brush way the flux crumbs.
I follow that with frequently changed Q-Tips, one end only soaked in 99% IPA ( yes, ninety nine percent) and swiped clean with the dry end. I look for fiber wisps and take care of those.?
I clean periodically as I go, taking the time to inspect joints and touch up soldering where necessary.?
Then 99% IPA and a new, clean, cut down acid brush in sort of broader areas followed by pressing and wiping gently with cut up pieces of micro fiber cloth; also frequently changed until the IPA flashes off quickly leaving no smears.?
I do all of this over my grounded (1 M ohm) static safe building board,? wearing a proper static control wrist strap that plugs into a barrel ended alligator clip that is joined to the? board. I use that same static control setup while handling ANYTHING at any time, that includes static sensitive components while inspecting, sorting, installing components and calibrating procedures that involve touching any component. And static safe soldering irons too.
GREG
On Sun, Sep 22, 2024 at 9:34 PM, Robert AD6XJ
<91710robert@...> wrote:
I've been using no clean flux on my QMX+ and using 91% isopropyl UNSUCCESSFULLY. A friend recommended a product called "flux off" but it costs $30 a can (too much for me). I don't remember my old solder leaving so much gunk behind ?. I do have an ultra-sonic tank I'm willing to try, but I do agree fully that the point-by-point cleaning process is also a good inspection opportunity. The cotton swabs do annoyingly leave a lot of fibers, maybe I need nippers that don't cause burrs??? So I am still looking for a solution (pardon the pun) to get rid of this flux.
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