The Risk of Cleaning No Clean with Water Only

Q: What should I do if my machine is set up for water only and I am exploring a new paste (no-clean)?
A: We would recommend you work with your equipment manufacturer, there are a lot of situations where a piece of equipment can be retrofitted to accept chemistry. In most scenarios you do not want to add chemistry, there is some work around where you can add chemical into a water-only machine and this is typically not the way you should do it, because you are going to use a lot of chemistry.
Q: Can IC “crack” the encapsulation layer?
A: Let’s assume we have built a no-clean board, we did not clean it, we conducted an IC, is that problematic? Yes, it can crack the encapsulation layer. If you want to use the board, consider cleaning it. You can always clean the board before conformal coating if you feel the need to.
Q: Am I able to clean water-soluble flux with water only?
A: Yes, all the residues in water-soluble flux are water-soluble, and therefore can just be cleaned with water. However, there are some factors to consider about chemistry that may make it somewhat attractive. The first being all the other soils in your manufacturing process. Chemistry casts a wider net so that you are more likely to clean those materials. The second factor is you can clean faster with a chemical additive. Chemistry also makes a small droplet, which makes it easier to clean those low standoff components.