Paraffin-based wax is soluble in petrol, lighter fluid and the like. It could dissolve a number of other types of necessary sealants used in very old (>40years) circuits, though, so you have to use your judgment on application method. If it's some other kind of wax, you'll need to identify it. I wouldn't expect paraffin to affect your hardware as seriously as you describe. Perhaps there's another contaminant, absorbed by the materials you are attempting to remove. RL ----- Original Message ----- From: "Earl A. Pruitt" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, March 15, 2002 10:06 PM Subject: [TN] Contaminated solder > I am an electronics tech servicing 10+ year old amateur radio gear. The > trouble I am having is with a single sided through-hole board. Areas of > the board are covered with wax. Over time the boards malfunction as the > wax works its way into the solder. Hand resoldering is a nightmare as the > wax continues to wick towards the connection. Heating the board and > draining the wax away does not help as some wax residue is left. Also, > components become damaged from the air gun. The boards are also covered > in contact cement that has become corrosive and conductive. Currently we > are using Methaline Chloride to soften the glue and then pick it away. > Questions are as follows: 1) How can the wax be completely removed? 2) How > can the glue be removed without using such a toxic substance as paint > stripper? 3) Is there an economical device that can be purchased to reflow > these old boards without hand resoldering hundreds of cold/contaminated > connections? Any help would be greatly appreciated! > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d > To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in > the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet > To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL > To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest > Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives > Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional > information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------