6 Apr
2011
6 Apr
'11
11:45 a.m.
On 06/04/2011 13:11, Steven Hirsch wrote:
The only place I've seen this is in the form of
"Rubbing Alcohol" which
tends to be 65-70% concentration. Is that sufficient and/or safe to use
on electronic parts? Can anyone in the states recommend a good source
for larger (e.g. gallon) quantities of 99% propanol?
It might be good enough, but "rubbing alcohol" can be many things, many
of which are not isopropanol. 99% isopropanol won't stay 99% for very
long unless very carefully stored; it slowly absorbs water from air and
ends up about 90%.
Others have recommended Perc. Unless I'm
confusing that with something
similar-sounding, it's seriously nasty stuff. Back when flux remover
actually worked, it was perc based. The EPA has clamped down on the use
of perc, although I think it's still a component of "dry" cleaning.
Over here (UK) all the common flux removers we used to use were based on
1-1-1-TCE (trichloroethane). Not quite as horrible as PERC
(tetrachloroethylene) in many ways but now banned, while (to my slight
surprise) PERC isn't.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York