The Moonman takes a shot with:

Ok you folks, especially Doug and Brian,

You let this gentleman down and me as well. So much for my appeal but the
question is:

Doug, wounded, replies:

Sheesh, give a guy a break.  I DO occasionally go off and work for my
employer.

The question has been asked about cleaning off built-up flux residues in
in-circuit testing (ICT) pins.  Many good answers have been given so far.

I would stay away from any kind of immersion or heavy liquid applications
of solvent.  You don't want the solvents or cleaning agents to get down in
the spring areas, because you won't get them out, and corrosion can occur.

To clean or solvate the residue begs the question of what the residue
consists of.  Different low solids fluxes will have different solubility
parameters, so the solvent chosen depends on the flux used.  Pose the
question back to the manufacturer of the flux you are using.

I like the idea of a stiff nylon brush *moistened* with a suitable solvent
and carefully applied.  And NO, I would not suggest Mountain Dew as a
universal solvent.  I've seen what it does to keyboards.

Your fixture should also be inverted or canted such that the fluid will not
run down into the barrel of the pin.  The idea of two brushes, one for
primary cleaning and one for "rinsing" was a good one as well.  If you
choose to do the operation dry, as I have heard some people do, then the
vacuum cleaner and ESD ionizer is a good way to go.

I don't know how often you replace pins.  We replace ours every X hits, but
I don't have that figure immediately handy.  You may just have to replace
pins more often, depending on how costly that is for your volume.

As Dave Hillman pointed out, we are now starting to face the same question
as well as we start to try to cut down on the cleaning we do after our
primary clean.  Since ICT is affected, we have to answer that question.  I
wish I had a better answer to give.

Doug Pauls
Rockwell Collins

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