Eight cleaners were selected from the lab’s database of effective cleaning and vendor supplied information. All were diluted to 5% by volume using DI water in 600 ml beakers and heated to 130oF on a hot plate. Twenty-four preweighed coupons were coated with the binder mix and weighed a second time. Three coupons were immersed in a solution agitated with a magnetic stir bar. Cleaning lasted for 5 minutes and was followed by a 30 second rinse with tap water at 120oF. Drying was performed with a Master Appliance Corp, Hot-air gun model HG-301A for one minute at 500oF. Coupons were weighed a final time and cleaning efficiencies were calculated.
SUBSTRATE MATERIAL: stainless steel, 316
CONTAMINANTS: Latex binder (water 53.648%, Vultex CA-1 catalyst 0.724% (7664-41-7), Igepal CO-630 0.545% (9016-45-9), Biosoft D35 X 2.595%, Dur-O-Set NS 25-1823 24.447% (50-00-0), Fulatex Polymer 12.663%, Black pigment BS 15870 5.478%(1333-86-4), Repearl F-8025 0.900% (57-55-6)
CONTAMINATING PROCESS USED: Mixed binder was applied to coupons using a hand held swab and allowed to dry.
Five of the eight products had cleaning efficiencies over 90%. Only one, Surface Cleanse, had performed poorly with only a 6% removal. Table 2 lists the efficiencies for all eight cleaners. It was observed that the majority of the cleaning was accomplished on the thicker build up of the binder material. The thin films were difficult to remove using immersion cleaning.
Table 2. Cleaning Results
|
|
Luminox
|
Shopmaster
|
Surface Cleanse
|
Formula 625
|
440 R SMT
|
Beyond 2004
|
Jet 790
|
Daraclean
|
| Coupon 1
|
65.79
|
86.36
|
5.33
|
95.24
|
95.92
|
98.90
|
96.00
|
65.52
|
| Coupon 2
|
95.92
|
94.83
|
8.11
|
93.33
|
90.00
|
94.68
|
95.56
|
82.46
|
| Coupon 3
|
90.20
|
100.00
|
6.00
|
94.29
|
92.68
|
95.56
|
95.65
|
81.48
|
| Average
|
83.97
|
93.73
|
6.48
|
94.29
|
92.87
|
96.38
|
95.74
|
76.48
|
Five cleaners, Shopmaster, Formula 625 XL, 440 R SMT, Beyond 2004 and Polyspray Jet 790 P were very effective in the trial. Each will be tested using ultrasonic cleaning at 40 kHz. Water will also be included in the next phase of testing.