Brake Fluid for Solder Mask removal

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Gold Trail

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 6, 2009
Messages
113
Location
Central PA
Before I get started, I must state that this idea was presented to me by Sodbuster as an untested possible solution to solder mask removal. I simply tried it. I in no means am claiming this as my own, nor take any credit for it.

Enough of the Legal

Anyway, we all have been plauged by solder mask. In the past I have used Caustic soda (crystal Draino) with great success. How ever i dont care for the bubbling foamin mess, nore the "get it in your eye one time" thing. we have enough of that just getting the gold outa things.

I tried Brake Fluid. soaked some boards for a 24 period and it worked as well as the draino. the mask became brittle and rubed right off with a stiff brush. With out all the mess or danger of the caustic soda.

After the soak i ran them through the parts washer to remove the brake fluid. If you dodnt have a Parts Washer brake cleaner in a can would work as well, and its cheap!

Ryan

PS Thanks for the great idea, SodBuster!!!
 
Great Post Guys,

Thanks for shareing the info. The can does say "Will eat away Paint From Car" . LOL

Maybe I will try this on a few video cards with gold under the mask.

As a side note, I hope we all get all of the brake fluid off. I believe brake fluid has a strong reaction with chlorine, perhaps involved in further processing. I believe brake fluid and chlorox will produce a rather large smoke-bomb type effect.

Thanks Again Both,
Nick
 
I do not know about brake fluid and chlorine reactions but if brake fluid removes the masking you should wash the card with liquid soap or a hydroxide before trying to dissolve the gold. Oil is a no-no when it comes time to precipitate. As Harold reminds us often, incinerate.
 
WOW:::: If this workes it would be great for everyone ;;; I;l try it today and see what i get ''' I have several hundred boards that I neeed to strip the mask off of., It also seemes that you could filter the break fluid wity an paint filter and use it OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.... This could be GREAT THANKS EVERYONE pAUL
 
There is a difference between brake cleaner and brake fluid. Brake fluid is what will react dangerously with chlorinating/halogenating agents and oxidizers.


Brake cleaner is what is being discussed and that is quite inert. Brake cleaner is perchloroethylene, C2Cl4.
 
Hey guys, is brake fluid made from petrolium?If so then maybe another petro product would work as well or better.Theres another really cool idea I had but Im gonna try it first then Ill let you know if it works,
Thanks,
Johnny
Well I guess theres no harm in telling now.....mary(my wife) used a product that was a citrus kind of paint remover and I was hoping that would work.When she put it on the wood,the paint came off pretty darn quick,and I have access to a LOTTTTT of it for free.
(fingers crossed)
 
Mainly glycol ether's
DOT 3
Alkyl ester
Aliphatic amine
Diethylene glycol
Diethylene glycol monoethyl ether
Diethylene glycol monomethyl ether
Dimethyl dipropylene glycol
Polyethylene glycol monobutyl ether
Polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether
Polyethylene oxide
Triethylene glycol monobutyl ether
Triethylene glycol monoethyl ether
Triethylene glycol monomethyl ether
Silicone-based (DOT 5)
Di-2-ethylhexyl sebacate
Dimethyl polysiloxane
Tributyl phosphate
 
Lou, to clearify,

i used brake fluid to soak the boards

I used brake cleaner in a can (or in my case a solvent in a parts washer) to remove the brake fluid from the boards

I should have been more specific in my first post

as a side note, it did not flake off the mask, it made it almost dry / brittle to where i used a stiff brush to wisk it off the boards

Ryan
 
Ryan:

Where did the traces end up? With the mask or still on the PCB.

Thanks in advance.
 
Found this on WIKI -- "Most brake fluids used today are glycol-ether based, but mineral oil and silicone based fluids are also available"

And this -- "Brake fluid can be dangerous as it is toxic and highly flammable. It will also lift or strip paints and other coatings on contact"

Be carefull guys, I don't want to see any smoke bombs coming out of the garage.
I would prolly clean them up first with dishliquid or laundry detergent befor going to the acid. It would prolly be a good idea to incenerate after the foils have been removed.

Gold Trail (Ryan) : what type of brake fluid did you use?, and did it work with all types and colors of mask?

Ray
 
@Leavemealone, what was the brand name of it?

If it is what I think it is, I can tell you about it.


Lou
 
I used the cheapo stuff from the Dollar General think it was Coastal brand?

The solder mask green from the late 1980's or early 90's on the boards i tried it on.

thats as far as i got with it

the solder mask stayed on the boards, but may have come off since. They are in a bucket at the shop so i cant readily go look . as of friday at quitting time, the mask was peeling off quickly with a stiff brush and the parts washer did the rest

Ryan
 
Well this is my my first post but i think it's a rather important post...

I grew up with a father who taught me how to have a bit of fun with explosives etc...

But the one thing he always taught me was not to mess with Chlorine and Brake fluid because it's very unstable and could blow up in your face (fireball) or it could take up to a couple of minutes to blow depends on how the fool has mixed the quantities and the temperature at the time.

I began to realize this when some of the kids at school started to mess with the stuff.

My 2c
 
Hey Lou how have you been?We've been really good except for this blasted heat!

what was the brand name of it
Click to expand...
I think the name is Citrasol or Citrasolve something like that.If neither of those ring a bell I can find out for sure and get back to you.Gotta run,but here's to hoping everyone has a great day(holds up cup of coffee).
Johnny
 
Ah, it wasn't what I was thinking of--a quick search of those two names indicates it's limonene (the smell) with a few petroleum distillates...basically a variation of GOO-B-GONE.

The stuff I was talking about was this paint stripper my friend used once. He was commenting on how effective it was, and it turned out it had NMP in it (a fantastic and relatively safe solvent--it's used for etching circuit boards). I think NMP/perchloroethylene mixture would probably do the trick for all of this.
 
Hey guys(happy Sunday),
nick I'll be trying it either this afternoon or tomorrow,Im really hoping this will work fast.I have seperated about 100 pounds of boards with all gold tracings to go into my new "machine" I built(thank you jack),Im gonna depopulate them and then strip the mask and cut them into strips.I assume its gonna take at least a day for the citrasolve to work(fingers crossed)so I'll let you know as soon as I know something.
Have a good day everyone,
Johnny
P.S. lou I'm still keeping an eye out for those pics of the new house.
 
I didnt read the entire post.
But I know from experience that Brake fluid and pool shock create a form of explosive naplam. about 30 seconds after addition.

Pool shock is Calcium hypoclorite,
But I am pretty sure any oxidizer would follow the same path.!
 
Damn,

I just heard smoke bomb. Glad I never tried this as a gag joke. What is the fuel in this reaction? The ethylene? Not Glycol, I would imagine.


Nick

P.S. Good Luck Johnny
 

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