Hello JK, I have no experience cleaning silicone grease or mold release. Unfortunately I cannot give any advice on that. Best regards, Tony Lentz FCT Assembly Field Application [log in to unmask] 970-566-0360 Mobile -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 12:02 PM To: TechNet E-Mail Forum; Tony Lentz Subject: Re: [TN] methanol for cleaning silicone grease? dielectric? you don't mean small molecule mold release I assume. not easy to clean (depends how clean you want to be. if not done properly, you have a electrical contact near by, like zif contact, you might have problem later on... silicone migration). wait until what your MFG is going say about that (or Brian E... ;-). jk > Hello Phil, > > Most flux residues (liquid and solder paste) are soluble in alcohols. > This includes methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, etc. As flux residues are > heated they become more difficult to clean. Longer and higher > temperature reflow profiles make cleaning more difficult. Some fluxes > also contain ingredients that are not truly soluble in alcohols, but > are able to be washed off by alcohols. In this case, the alcohol will > lift off the residue, but it might redeposit on other areas of the circuit board. > > The evaporation rate of the alcohol is also a concern. As the alcohol > molecular weight decreases (IPA > Ethanol > Methanol) the evaporation > rate increases. Methanol evaporates faster than IPA. As the alcohol > evaporates, the dissolved flux residues will redeposit on the circuit > board. IPA is commonly used due to it’s relatively low evaporation > rate, ability to dissolve flux residues, and it's safety concerns. > > The trick is to wash the residues off fast enough to prevent > re-deposition, and to follow with a rinse of clean alcohol to ensure > that there are no residues left when the board dries. This can be > done with liquid alcohol along with some type of wipes or Q-tips as Patrick stated. > > I know that Kyzen, Zestron, and others have done a lot of work to > formulate cleaners for just about every type of residue. You might > want to ask your local cleaning chemical rep for some suggestions if > you are open to using a proprietary cleaner. > > > Best regards, > > Tony Lentz > > FCT Assembly > Field Application > [log in to unmask] > 970-566-0360 Mobile > > -----Original Message----- > From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nutting, Phil > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 10:31 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [TN] methanol for cleaning > > Ok, so if I am spot washing flux off a circuit board or cleaning the > face of an epoxy insulator to remove silicone dielectric grease what > am I supposed to use? > > Brian, I know you are very environmentally concerned. IPA and the > like have been used for years by our industry and it is usually the > default cleaner for everything. And yes I know alcohols do a better > job of spreading contaminates than removing them. What then, if spot > cleaning, should be used? (I know, "it depends".) Manufacturing is > always complaining that Engineering creates designs and processes that > take too much time, but they work if done as designed. Finding a > practical solution and changing the mindset is no small task. > > I look forward to your sage wisdom. > > Phil > > -----Original Message----- > From: Brian Ellis [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 12:18 PM > To: TechNet E-Mail Forum; Nutting, Phil > Subject: Re: [TN] methanol for cleaning > > Yes! absolutely! And it is highly toxic, to boot, with ingress to the > body by all means, including cutaneous. IMHO, avoid it! > > Brian > > On 24/04/2015 18:12, Nutting, Phil wrote: >> We have had many posts regarding the ability of alcohol to evenly >> distribute flux and other contaminates over the surface of the board >> or part. Does methanol do that same thing? >> >> Phil Nutting | HVP Development Engineer | Excelitas Technologies >> Corp >> >> Lab: +1 978.224.4332 | Office: +1 978.224.4152 >> 35 Congress St, Salem, MA 01970 USA >> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> >> www.excelitas.com<http://www.excelitas.com/> >> >> >> [Excelitas R_emailsig] >> >> >> Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. >> ________________________________ >> This email message and any attachments are confidential and >> proprietary to Excelitas Technologies Corp. If you are not the >> intended recipient of this message, please inform the sender by >> replying to this email or sending a message to the sender and destroy >> the message and any attachments. 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