Keyword guide: circuit board cleaning, circuit board cleaning, PCBA circuit board cleaning, PCBA circuit board cleaning, solvent cleaning agent, water-based cleaning agent, water-based cleaning technology
Before discussing the question of “why use water-based cleaners for PCBA circuit board cleaning”, let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of solvent-based cleaners.
Organic solvent cleaning agents can be divided into flammable cleaning agents and non-flammable cleaning agents according to their safety performance. The former are mainly organic hydrocarbons, alcohols and esters, and the latter are mainly chlorinated hydrocarbons and fluorinated hydrocarbons. Its process characteristics are introduced as follows:
- H FC / H C FC: the main component is chlorofluorocarbons containing hydrogen, the advantages are good volatility, fast drying speed after PCBA cleaning, the disadvantages are relatively high price, weak cleaning ability, not environmentally friendly, and will produce atmospheric ozone layer. Destructive effect, future use will be limited.
- Chlorinated hydrocarbons: The main representative substances are dichloromethane, trichloroethane, etc., which have strong ability to clean grease pollutants, are non-flammable and explosive, and are safe to use. The disadvantages are high toxicity, poor compatibility with plastics and rubber, easy corrosion of circuit boards, and poor stability of such substances.
- Hydrocarbons: mainly hydrocarbons, such as gasoline, kerosene, etc. Hydrocarbons have strong cleaning ability to grease pollutants. Due to low surface tension, they have a good cleaning effect on PCBA cracks, do not corrode metals, have low toxicity and are easy to use. The main disadvantage is that due to flammable and explosive, there are potential safety hazards, strict precautions must be taken.
- Alcohols: such as methanol, ethanol and isopropanol, alcohols have strong dissolving ability to polar pollutants, good cleaning effect on rosin, but difficult to clean grease pollutants; not easy to corrode metals and plastics, etc., and dry quickly. The disadvantage is that it is volatile, easy to burn, and has potential safety hazards in use.
If we take advantage of the advantages and disadvantages of organic solvent cleaning and avoid the disadvantages, wouldn’t it be perfect? Is it feasible? The answer is yes! Water-based cleaners were born around solving this problem.
Water-based cleaning technology is made of water as the cleaning medium, and various additives such as surfactants, solvents, defoaming agents, and corrosion inhibitors are added, and various pollutants are removed through various mechanisms such as dissolution, adsorption, and infiltration.
The main features of the water cleaning process are non-flammable and explosive, non-toxic and environmentally friendly, safe in operation, strong in cleaning ability, low in loss during cleaning, and low in cost. Because of the large degree of freedom of active ingredients, the formula can be formulated according to the special requirements of PCBA, which solves many problems. The problems that cannot be solved by organic solvent cleaning agents have a wide cleaning range and strong applicability. The flexible components of water-based cleaning agents can greatly meet the needs of customers, especially when ultrasonic cleaning and spray cleaning are used, they are more advantageous than organic solvents. .
Of course, water-based cleaning agents also have shortcomings, such as high requirements for cleaning equipment, and the need to treat invalid cleaning agents, that is, waste water.
Combining the characteristics of solvent-based cleaning agents and water-based cleaning agents, it is not difficult to find that with the strengthening of safety and environmental protection awareness and the increase of special cleaning needs for PCBA, water-based cleaning agents stand out because of their flexible formulas and components, representing the future of PCBA cleaning. Technology development direction.