ultrasonic cleaner way to use

ielectron

Member
we have a large ultrasonic cleaner, 25 liter, it fits all macbook motherboards, but its too deep, which means it takes at least 15liter of liquid, which takes like a hour to heat up to 60C

there was a suggestion that we just fill it with alcohol, and dont use the heater in the cleaner and just clean like that. The problem is this cleaner has the heating elements on the side not on the bottom, so if i fill it with just enough liquid to cover the macbook board, the side will overheat and actually start to smoke inside, so the liquid has to go up to 2/3 in the tank to reach the heater and spread the heat.


As far as i know the proper way of using the ultrasonic cleaner would be distilled water + special solution, and then rinse it in alcohol, then dry it

what are the thoughts?

-there were some claims that the special solution smells bad and contain poisonous gas
-some claims that the special solution will stuck on the board and it contains destructive chemicals, and after cleaning the board that should be cleaned again with alcohol which takes too much time to do


can u confirm those claims are true or not, also please compare the pure alcohol VS distilled water + solution , and also what if we use heater in the ultrasonic vs just cleaning with room temperature liquid
 

acowan

Member
Looks like no one got back to you on this... Here are my thoughts

No you can't partially fill an ultrasonic cleaner a) it will overheat b) the propagation of the sound wave will be very inefficient to the point where it won't be effective.

No, the solution doesn't smell - smells a bit like detergent.
No, it doesn't give off poisonous gas - pure nonsense
The solution needs to be rinsed off the board after cleaning if you leave it on for days, weeks year then yes I'm sure it will do some damage.

You cannot use alcohol in an ultrasonic, well you could but it would be pointless. An ultrasonic cleaner works in combination with the PCB ultrasonic fluid - the fluid is really a concentrated surfactant to reduce the surface tension of the water to allow creation and collapse of cavitation bubbles by the ultrasonic wave generated by the cleaner.
 

acowan

Member
With regards to rinsing after cleaning.

Rinse with distilled water - to remove any cleaning fluid and any water-soluble dissolved contaminants
Immerse and rinse in propanol (iso or 1-ol it doesn't matter ) for a short while to remove as much water as possible.

If you start with freshly distilled water you should end up with a residue-free board
 

Jameswis

Member
I've been looking. Can anyone recommend a good ultrasonic cleaning solution for PCB's? An Amazon link would be great if you have one handy, but I can look up whatever too..
Thanks
 
Top