Medical Device Cleaning – 303 SS Pins

Q. The 303 stainless steel pins we are attempting to clean, appear clean, but the silicone adhesive Dow Corning 3-8264 does not consistently adhere to the pins. Is the Alcojet cleaner the correct cleaner to remove the maching oils from the pins and leave the surface residue free for bonding? I am looking for the proper cleaner to use to prepare some small parts for bonding. We are attempting to use silicone to seal 303 stainless steel pins into a black polycarbonate housing.

A. Thanks for your question about cleaning stainless steel pins prior to bonding with silicone adhesive. Alcojet is not the ideal detergent to choose for manual and ultrasonic cleaning. Alcojet is intended to be used in automated spray machine washers. We recommend reading the technical bulletin and/or Material Data Safety Sheet (msds) for Alconox.

I recommend you use a hot (120-130 deg F or hotter) 1% (1.25 oz/gal) Alconox solution for manual and ultrasonic cleaning of the stainless steel pins followed by a thorough rinse, preferably a running water rinse. Ideally rinse with distilled or deionized water, or do a running water rinse with tap water followed by a final dip rinse in distilled or deionized water. Ideally dry by a water removing rather than water evaporating technique such as blowing off the pins with forced air.

Feel free to request a free Alconox sample by completing the questionnaire at Get Sample.