Coupons of stainless steel and copper were selected and arranged on trays, so that each cleaner had an assigned set of each surface. Before taking initial weights coupons were wiped down with Kimwipes. After taking weights the coupons were promptly soiled and reweighed. All cleaners were gathered in respective bottles and beakers. A stir bar was used in conjunction with a heating plate equipped to stir the solutions. The plates were preheated to about 40°C and thermometers were kept in them to monitor the temperature, except Honeywell’s Solstice PF which boils at room temperature and was kept at about 20°C. The coupons were added to the beakers three of a kind at one time, and then allowed to sit in the heated stirred solution for 15 minutes, in 5 minute increments while observations were taken. Finally, clean weights were taken at the end of all the testing.
Previous testing had been conducted on Leach Garner’s #4 Masterdraw 419TT using stainless steel and copper coupons. It was interesting to see that results were significantly different. While in earlier tests most of the cleaners performed in the high 80’s to 90’s this time around, the percentages varied from mid 60’’s to 90’s. The difference came as a surprise and especially the relatively poor performance of DuPont’s Vertrel Sion. The poor results for Honeywell’s Solstice PF were expected as it has consistently shown to be the least effective of the cleaners. Unexpectedly, it was the two EcoLink FluoSolv products which were the best for cleaning Leach Garner’s #4 Masterdraw 419TT from aluminum at about 40°C.