February, 2017
www.us-
tech.com Are All Cleaning Wipes Created Equal? Continued from page 65 Cheap cotton fibers make the least expensive
swab but are fairly linty. Reticulated foam makes a good swab for scrubbing but tends to leave par- ticulate residues. The highest-quality swabs are made from pre-washed knitted fabric, but these come at a price. The manufacturing processes used for each
swab also makes a difference. Better grades of swabs don’t use adhesives to hold the swabs together, so any solvents used in the cleaning process will not be able to dissolve the adhesives and leave residues. In contrast, many adhesive polymers — which are quickly dissolved by solvents — may cause problems downstream in the manufacturing process. As always, you get what you pay for. While absorbency is critical when selecting a
swab, a unique issue is materials compatibility. The construction of the swab must be compatible with the cleaning application. For example, if ace- tone is used on a foam swab, the foam tip will swell and weaken. In applica- tions where acetone must be used, a polyester swab is by far the better option.
The Latest Arrival: Pre-saturated Wipes
A new combination product has
made significant market penetration in critical cleaning applications: the pre-saturated wipe. A staple in med- ical applications and household chores, industrial acceptance of the pre-saturated wipe has been delayed for many reasons. First, pre-saturated wipes are
more expensive than dry wipes. Inappropriate, leaky packaging can produce a product with a very short shelf life. There always was the con- cern about worker safety and chemi- cal handling; pre-saturated wipes generally are treated as hazmats and require approvals from the Health & Safety Department. Lastly, to some engineers, pre-sats always seemed like a tiny extravagance. Today many companies have
adopted the pre-saturated wipe. They can be found in stencil cleaning appli- cations in electronics factories, hand- cleaning fluids in aircraft mainte- nance shops and in many medical device manufacturing facilities. The market changed because
the products improved. A pre-satu- rated wipe delivers the proper fabric and the proper solvent in the proper combination, resulting in more con- sistent cleaning. There also is a time- saving enhancement because the user doesn’t have to find the wipe and then find the fluid and put them together; they come ready-to-use. A broader array of cleaning flu-
ids, both water-based and solvent- based, have enabled manufacturers to tailor their pre-saturated wipes for different environments. Lastly, better packaging has allowed some compa- nies to offer pre-saturated products with an unlimited shelf life. All in all, there’s time to be saved and money to be made by switching to pre-saturated wipes in many applications. Pre-saturated wipes require
non-woven synthetic fabrics. Natural materials will deteriorate after pro- longed contact with solvents, and the glues and binders in traditional cellu- lose wipes will be dissolved by the sol- vent, leaving a useless, soggy lump at the bottom of the tub. The optimal cleaning fluids for
pre-saturated wipes are water-based with soaps, alcohols, hydrocarbons and/or siloxanes. Stronger fluids, such as d-liomine, will attack the plastic tubs. Fast-drying solvents are
Processable a a 2 Pr Pre-saturated wipes with a
self-closing lid, which prevents the wipes from drying out.
rarely used because they will not deliver the required shelf life. Good toxicity ratings (TLV of 200 or higher) are a prudent strategy. Two tips on pre-saturated wipe packaging:
First, insist on a self-closing lid. Some companies market less expensive products where the operator has to manually seal the lid, but people forget and the liquid evaporates from the tub. Secondly, look for companies that make refills. The tubs them- selves can last quite a long time, so it makes sense to save money and protect the environment by re- using the tubs. This can save companies 30 percent or more over purchasing new tubs. Whatever special requirements there may be,
engineers can be comfortable that today’s wipe man- ufacturers will have a solution at the right price. Contact: MicroCare Corp., 595 John Downey
Drive, New Britain, CT 06051 % 860-827-0626 E-mail:
support@microcare.com Web:
www.microcare.com r
New Paradigm in Selective & Rework Ersa VERSAFLOW 4/55
with VERSAFLEX soldering module
Page 69
Ersa HR 550 High Performance Rework
GTA Award 2016 e area 20” x 2 x20” Use of up to 4 flux spray heads
Product change without loss in production time with the multiwave process
High end selective soldering system for in-line manufacturing concepts
Industry’s most powerful 1,500 W topside hybrid heating head
Largest 3 zone 2,400 W IR in its class bottom radiator
Simultaneous Processing of multiple-up boards in x- or y- direction
Highest Flexibility at lowest cycle time
Automatic cycle time optimization through CAD 4 offline programming software
Motorized vacuum pipette for component removal and accurate placement
Precision placement and integrated force sensor Computer aided component alignment
Intuitive Guided rework via HRSoft control software.
Visit us!
Ersa GmbH Booth #3111
VERSAFLEX soldering module Component placement
Ersa North America, Inc. 1779 Pilgrim Road Plymouth WI 53073 | USA Tel: +1 920 893 1779 Fax: +1 920 893 1562
wave.info@
kurtzersa.com
Kurtz Ersa, S.A. de C.V. | Mexico Ersa Asia Pacific | China Ersa Hong Kong | China Ersa Shanghai | China Kurtz Ersa | France Ersa GmbH | Headquarters | Germany
See at APEX, Booth 3111
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124