Hi Jack - I don't know of a "noclean" die lubricant that wouldn't interfere with
a trailing potting or soldering operation. My experience with mineral spirits is
that they are hard to remove with just a "soak" cleaning operation. Is the 
company just batch cleaning the parts? Mechanical scrubbing either by the use of
spray nozzles (similar to inline cleaning) or sparging (nitrogen or plain air 
injection similar to batch cleaning) would help remove the spirits. I don't know
of any water soluble die lubricant but recommend you bounce your question off of
the folks at ASM. Check out http://www.asm-intl.org. Good luck and let TechNet 
know what the resolution to the problem is!


Dave Hillman
Rockwell Collins
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______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: ASSY-Metal Stamping
Author:  [log in to unmask] at ccmgw1
Date:    5/29/96 4:41 PM


=46rom the EMPF HelpLine in Indianapolis=8A
     
We have a customer that is requesting assistance with a metal stamping 
problem. They produce small brass contacts (alloy 260 cartidge brass) that 
are about 1/8" square and 2" long using mineral spirits as a lubricant in 
the stamping process.
     
They are supposed to provide these "oil free" to the next assy level that 
pots them into a sub-assy and has a soldering operation involving the 
contacts. That sub-assy is then sent to a third party where it is placed 
into another assy. A residue left on the contacts is interferring with both 
the potting and soldering operations, but mostly with the potting. Someone 
in the loop is suggesting the use of a water-soluble lubricant in the 
stamping process instead of the mineral spirits. Quantities are medium high 
now, but into the millions down the line.
     
The questions we pose are:
     
1) Can anyone recommend an alternate stamping lubricant that won't be 
difficult to clean?
     
2) If or if not a different lubricant, howabout a recommended cleaning 
material/process?
     
Ideally, there would be an oil-free lubricant that wouldn't require 
cleaning because it wouldn't interfere with the potting compound or the 
soldering operation.
     
Thanks for your inputs.
     
                      Jack Crawford
                  HelpLine Manager
    Electronics Mfg. Productivity Facility
                     317.226.5616
               Visit our homepage at:
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