My first thought also :) If you don't trust your nose or worry about operators becoming addicted to flux sniffing then: A simple hydrometer would do it. Water based fluxes will be in the 1.XX zone, alcohol (IPA) in the 0.8XX. Probably also just shaking a half filled bottle. Most water based fluxes will show a nice head, 97% alcohols almost certainly will not. Regards Mike Fenner Indium Corporation -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ian Hanna Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 11:35 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Water and Alcohol Flux A bic lighter... -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Larry Dzaugis Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:16 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Water and Alcohol Flux What is a simple test to tell the difference between alcohol and water based fluxes? Both are 3% solids flux. I am running both fluxes in the same machine. The concern is that the wrong flux is loaded during a change over. They behave so differently that the use of the wrong one will result in badly soldered boards. Our long term solution is seperate flux tanks and spray nozzels if it continues with bar code verified replenishment. In the mean time what would be a quick test? The weight of an alchol flux on the PCB is inconsistent due to evaporation. --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- ***This email, its content, and any files transmitted with it, are intended solely for the addressee(s) and may be legally privileged and/or confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by return and delete the material from any computer. Any review, retransmission, dissemination, or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. Messages sent via this medium may be subjected to delays, non-delivery, and unauthorized alteration. This email has been prepared using information believed by the author to be reliable and accurate, but Indium Corporation makes no warranty as to accuracy or completeness. Indium Corporation does not accept responsibility for changes made to this email after is was sent. Any opinions or recommendations expressed herein are solely those of the author. They may be subject to change without notice.*** --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------