Closed loop semi aqueous, aqueous cleaner, closed water system, closed loop semi aqueous cleaner

Austin American Technology's Mega™ ION cleaners are designed for high reliability, environmentally-friendly, solvent-based cleaning and testing applications. These closed-loop, solvent regenerative systems feature quantitative ionic contamination detection and rose cleanliness testing.

Wash and rinse cycles incorporate a highly effective spray under immersion process with strategically located venturi nozzles for maximum cleaning efficiency. Agitation can be controlled to handle sensitive wire-bonded substrates or difficult to clean, tightly-spaced flip chip technology.

Safety is designed into the Mega™ ION series. The process chamber is always empty when not in use and must be closed and latched before the cleaning cycle begins. Solvent replenishment is automated so the operator is never in contact with wash fluid during normal operational. At the end of the cleaning cycle, the process tank drains into an integrated holding tank at a controlled rate to minimze drag-out. At the end of the dry cycle, the process chamber is clean, dry and free of solvent.

Ionic testing is based on "ROSE", allowing the system to quantify ionic contamination of the circuit board after or before cleaning. This allows the operator to clean and test the circuit boards within one system.

Validity of the IPC R.O.S.E. Method 2.3.25 Researched
"Miniaturization and higher functionality in electronics packaging require the use of advanced packages and small components. This trend has translated into the use of new package types such as Quad Flat Pack – No Lead (QFP) (also referred to as Leadless Plastic Packages), increased use of chip scale packages as well as increased component density and tighter PCB layouts. Advanced package innovations and new flux types may compromise the validity of the R.O.S.E. cleanliness testing method. This paper researches the effectiveness of the R.O.S.E. cleanliness testing process for dissolving and measuring ionic contaminants from boards soldered with no-clean and lead-free flux technologies. The paper researches quality assurance and process control improvements needed to clean, extract, and measure the resistivity of solvent extract on today’s circuit assemblies."

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Ionic Cleanliness Testing Research of Printing Wiring Boards
"Ionic Cleanliness testing machines are designed to determine the total ionic content extractable from the printed wiring board for purposes of process control. The conductivity of the extract solution is measured and results are expressed as sodium chloride equivalence per unit area. The program with this method is two fold: 1.) Many of today's low residue flux and lead-free flux residues are not soluble in the extract solution. 2.) Contamination of concern is with site specific components, from which contamination does not correlate to the area of concern. The purpose of this study is to research low residue and lead-free flux structures, identify solvent composition that will dissolve these residue types, and offer options for performing both bulk and site specific ionic cleanliness testing methods."

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Closed Loop Batch Cleaning of Flux to J-STD-001
"The purpose of this test is to determine the best method of meeting J-STD-001 cleaning requirements in an AAT closed loop batch cleaning system ...

The two boards soldered with water soluble organic acid were cleaned in de-ionized (DI) water at temperatures of 120F to 130F respectively. Four of the six RMA fluxed samples were cleaned in 100% MegaSolv JB simulating cleaning in an AAT Mega II spray-under-immersion closed loop cleaner varying time and temperature. The last two samples with RMA flux were cleaned using commercial aqueous cleaning agents in an AAT AB-1500 spray-in-air batch cleaner as defined in Table 1. The AquaBatch-1500 has been replaced by the new AquaTherm series."

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Characterization of Primary Solvent for use with AAT Mega II
"The purpose of this test is to provide a process data comparison of IPA to MegaSolv JB for cleaning RMA fluxes using the Mega II closed looped mix ion absorption resins (Mega Resins) system."

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