Mike,
It is not necessary to clean the component side to get nasty stuff in
the components. If one floods or sprays the board, some of the cleaner
can and will wick to the component side through the via holes and other
openings. Having a mixture of flux and cleaner coated all over
everything can create a worse mess than what one started with - alcohol
attracts water out of the air, and the combination of moisture trapped
with flux residue can indeed create problems down the road.
That being said, and before someone asks, yes I sometimes do clean the
flux off, particularly in an area that has received a lot of rework and
the buildup really gets nasty. On some of the boards that have been
sent to me for repair, there is so much excess solder and flux residue
that I have no choice but to first get out my Hakko 808 and suck off
much of the solder, then clean the board and re-solder everything. That
is the extreme, but it does happen.
The problem seems to be that some builders go back to the old days when
soldering tube sockets with a soldering gun and applying lots of solder
was the way to do it, but those days are gone and different techniques
must be used - with thru-plated holes, just enough solder to fill the
hole is sufficient. Check out the soldering tutorial on the Elecraft
website if you have any questions about what a good solder connection
should look like.
I cannot judge everyone's experience or skill level, so I must make
suggestions for the lowest common denominator - If you know what you are
doing, work carefully, and observe the precautions, then you can remove
flux, but if not, either avoid it or gain experience on something
inexpensive rather than your new K2.
73,
Don W3FPR
Michael Harvey wrote:
I can agree with that, Don, but rarely have I seen anyone clean the component
side of the board. Since the crystals are on that side, and they were described
as being soldered prior to installation, I saw no harm in recommending cleaning
the flux off. I don't remember any relays located around the crystals. Just a
torid that it may effect if excessive alcohol is used.
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