The cleaning experts at MicroCare Europe bvba were introducing a radical new flux remover at Productronica 2015. Designed for cleaning circuit boards in automated vapour degreasing systems, this innovation uses a unique, patent-pending formulation to help companies clean PCBs faster, better and at lower cost while meeting ever-more stringent European regulations.
The MicroCare Tergo high performance flux remover is a non-flammable, low-temperature cleaning fluid that features a non-volatile additive specifically engineered to clean challenging solder pastes and flux residues. It also can remove stubborn white residues. It is a versatile cleaner that is effective even on water-soluble (OA) fluxes. It has secondary applications as a degreaser and can even remove slight oxidation and tarnish from finished surfaces. The flux remover is compatible with traditional vapour degreasing procedures and no hardware modifications normally are required. This makes the flux remover a drop-in replacement for many older vapour degreasing chemistries that are being phased-out under environmental, health, safety or economic pressures.
This innovation is important to European companies because it enables fast, thorough and consistent cleaning of even the most challenging contamination without using water. Vapour degreasing is far less energy-intensive than aqueous cleaning and the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gasses. Vapour degreasing also is generally faster, more gentle on delicate circuitry and better able to clean complex shapes than water-based systems. Another important money-saving feature is that vapour degreasers usually are much smaller and quieter than aqueous cleaners.
The flux remover technology will be specified by companies in Europe and around the world because it is a new, highly effective, very affordable, long-term answer to the difficult cleaning issues facing production engineers today. The solution is in compliance with all the current and proposed European environmental, health and safety regulations, which saves time and money. This means a cleaning process can be specified in Germany and deployed globally. It will be available from specialized MicroCare distributors in Europe and around the globe.
