Coming Clean on Vapor Degreasing Vapor degreasing is a powerful, proven cleaning technology originally developed in the 1940s. Today, using modern, environmentally-progressive solvents, vapor degreasing can deliver fast, consistent and safe cleaning results even for the most challenging applications. It does so in a manner that is both affordable and environmentally benign. This poster explains the key features and benefits of vapor-phase … Continued
Case Study #15 — Cleaning Mixed Flux Residues from PCBs Cleaning flux residue after soldering (fluxes or solder pastes) from different manufacturers can be very tricky, but the Critical Cleaning Lab at MicroCare solves this complex problem.This situation arose when printed circuit boards are produced using a combination of different fluxes and solder pastes. This can be a real challenge because the different fluxes might react … Continued
Are There Any Materials Compatibility Problems with MicroCare Solvents? General, materials compatibility is not an issue with the MicroCare cleaners, but make no mistake — materials compatibility can be a complex question. In general, the higher the Kb value of the solvent, the more likely the material will have compatibility issues. For example, Vertrel™ XF has almost no compatibility problems with any substrate. It has a … Continued
What Is the Meaning of a Solvent Toxicity Rating, Like a PEL or TLV? In general, the “toxicity” of a cleaning fluid is measured through the use of 8-hour “time-weighted average exposure limits” (AEL). Similar terms you might find on labels and SDS sheets include “Average Exposure Limits” (AEL), “Personal Exposure Limits” (PEL) and “Threshold Exposure Limits” (TEL). One special term is “Threshold Limit Values” (TLVs) which only are … Continued
What Is the Truth About the Toxicity of nPB? MicroCare markets the Bromothane™ family of solvent cleaners. The key ingredient in the Bromothane™ family is the brominated molecule known as nPB (also called n-Propyl Bromide, 1-Bromopropane or CAS # 106-94-6). This nonflammable fluid is a powerful cleaner with a low global warming potential. It is used as an alternative to CFC-113, methyl chloroform, hydrochlorofluorocarbons … Continued
Can I Get a Custom Blend of a MicroCare Cleaning Fluid? Absolutely. Maybe. Sometimes. It depends. There are many different blends and mixtures of the MicroCare cleaners lurking in the MicroCare labs. Some involve new ingredients, like the new HFO fluids that are just coming to market. Some include extra additives that enhance cleaning but maybe have other issues, like increased cost or smell. Some have … Continued
Are There Different Solvent Grades of Purity? Yes, there are. MicroCare can make many different grades of our cleaners to satisfy the client’s requirements for purity. For example, several products, such as Vertrel™ XF and Bromothane™ S, have a super-pure grades for the semiconductor, LCD and disk drive industries. This means the accuracy of the blending, the nonvolatile residues and water content … Continued
Is a Bi-Solvent Cleaning System a Good Option for Critical Cleaning? In the world of vapor degreasing, there are four types of solvent degreasing systems: monosolvent cleaning, azeotrope cleaning, co-solvent cleaning and bi-solvent cleaning. Of them all, bi-solvent cleaning is perhaps the most complex but also the most powerful. Here’s how it works: In general, the MicroCare monosolvent fluids or azeotropes can perform all of the … Continued
What Are the Benefits of Azeotropes for Precision Cleaning? Azeotropes are way cool. Azeotropic behavior allows clever engineers to deliver the benefits of a mixture with the convenient handling and storage of a single compound. Perhaps one chemical is nonflammable but not a great cleaner. But mix it with a super cleaner that happens to be flammable and what happens? You get a great … Continued
What’s an Azeotrope and Why Should I Care? Many of the MicroCare cleaning fluids technically are called “azeotropes.” That’s important because azeotropic cleaning lowers your costs, boosts cleaning effectiveness and enhances worker safety. While azeotropes are difficult to make, these strong benefits make the effort worthwhile. So the next question you’re going to ask is, what’s an azeotrope and how does an azeotrope … Continued
