TechNotes

Q. Is there any PFOA or PFOS in any Alconox cleaner?
A. PFOA and PFOS are perfluoro-octanoic acid and perfluoro-octane sulfonate. None of the Alconox, Inc brand cleaners contains PFOA or PFOS ingredients.

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Q. We are seeing white residue on clear anodized aluminum that we are cleaning with Detojet. Why is this happening and what can we do to prevent it?
A. There are a few reasons this may be happening. 

Possible Reason 1: The Detojet® Low Foaming Liquid Detergent concentration may be too low in the wash cycle and the concentration of calcium, magnesium and iron too high in the water used.  This would result…

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Q. We need to clean 3D printed plastic parts made of methacrylate. We need to make sure it’s safe for the plastic, but also ensures all crevices are residue free for critically clean parts.

A. Particulates and other residue, including environmental residues, can be effectively cleaned using a….

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Q. We manufacture electronics and use Citranox to cleans oil off of a variety of machined parts. However, our Municipal Water District does not allow the disposal of spent Citranox. Can you recommend a neutralization procedure?

A. You will need 0.14 lbs, 0r 2 ¼ oz of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to neutralize a gallon of un-used 1% Citranox solution to a pH near 7. Note that some of the acidity in Citranox may be depleted …

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What is the proper way to dispose of your detergents? Detergent disposal in a proper manner is an integral part of a robust cleaning program regardless of scale or industry. Alconox, Inc. detergents are biodegradable….

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Q: What precisely is critical cleaning? How does it differ from “regular” cleaning? A: It refers to a very specific type of cleaning. It is where the cleaning itself impacts the value of the finished output from whatever residue/contaminant is being cleaned.

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Q. I am seeing a white powder around solder joints on PCBs.  Is this solder flux? We use Detergent 8 for cleaning. Do you know why this is happening and how to stop or remove it?
A. There are several ways of approaching this common issue of solder flux and its removal. For example, One way to fix this problem is to lower the temperature when soldering. In another scenario, a leading aerospace manufacturer studied putting potassium silicate (10 mL in 10 L) into the Detergent 8 bath to act as an inhibitor to stop the formation of these white salts.

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Q. We need to remove RMA solder flux on indium/lead soldered subassemblies. Most aqueous cleaners attack this solder. A. According to the Materials H

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Q: What types of Alconox, Inc. detergent would I use to clean a mold release agent? As an aside, is there any chance I could use the same detergent to also clean copper traces off a printed circuit board?

A: Yes! You may indeed be able to use one detergent in both these cleaning applications. But it will only work if the copper is not in the form of an oxide. Here’s why.

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A non-free rinsing cleaner might contain fragrances that were designed to deposit and leave a fresh scent, or it might contain corrosion inhibitors that are designed to deposit and leave behind an anti-corrosion film.

Alconox, Inc, cleaners are free rinsing detergents and do not leave deposits on substrates after rinsing.

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