Clear circuit boards, particularly those found in personal electronics like laptops and smartphones, are frequently subjected to dirt as well as additional impurities. Electronics are subject to liquid spills from hands of users in addition to collecting dust and grime that enters via open gaps in casings. As a result, consumers of electronic products have an increased demand for circuit board cleaning as well as repair services.
Circuit board cleaning is a sensitive procedure which you should carry out with extreme caution in order to get back your electronics’ effectiveness. You could tamper with the connections, loosen a few pieces, or perhaps lose a few parts. You must choose cleaning detergents carefully while creating PCBs in order to prevent committing these errors.
How could Circuit Boards Become Dirty?
Electronic devices’ PCBs are fixed by the manufacturers, however they aren’t entirely safeguarded from dust as well as other impurities. Dust may readily penetrate ventilation and ports slots on casings and collect on the circuit boards. Additionally, the whirling motions of fans, particularly in large machines, might blast polluted air onto the board.
Remaining Products from Manufacturing

In the past, producers of circuit boards used rosin-based fluxes that are activated. However, because these materials contain halogens like chlorine, leftovers left behind after soldering led to corrosion. As a result, manufacturers created several pcb board cleaner liquid techniques to take the place of the halides.
The majority of circuit board makers use no-clean fluxes, which contain organic acids like citric and adipic acids. Such organic acids are immediately broken down by that soldering heat and securely adhere to the solder, leaving a little corrosive.
This applied solder frequently covers some of the flux, preventing the heat required for breakdown. Following manufacture, a remnant of the partially degraded change is left on these soldered pieces. It might be preferable if you removed the debris to guarantee the PCB’s optimal performance for the duration of its lifespan.
The effect of work environment
The main source of flux residues is carelessness after construction. Even after removing the debris from the PCB, you need still take environmental pollutants into account. For instance, it is very possible that particulates of dust will infiltrate your products as well as collect on PCBs if you operate in an excessively dusty environment.
The electronics appear to deteriorate more quickly in damp and dusty settings than in hot and dry ones. Even if you believe in the IP certification of your electronics, it’s essential to frequently inspect the PCBs to remove dirt before it builds up.
Inappropriate Use
Printed circuit board require a great deal of attention while operating because they are sensitive devices. Even while you might not be able to completely control the environment in which your equipment is used, ignoring simple handling and fabrication procedures might put the entire board at danger of contamination.
For instance, to facilitate heat dissipation, a PCB containing active components has to be enclosed in a well-ventilated case. If you’ve lined the air passages of the container with fins, you may prevent the dust from traveling directly to the printed circuit board. In comparison to a board in finned-type containers, one housed within an openly vented shell acquires pollutants more quickly.
Circuit Board Cleaner Types
Baking Soda
Baking soda may be used to remove corrosion from a PCB. Such corrosions are caused by acidic leaks and exposure to water that is salty. The soda’s moderate abrasiveness eliminates the corrosions while having no negative consequences.
Isopropyl alcohol
Since it is affordable and quickly evaporates, isopropyl alcohol remains a great instrument for cleaning electrical circuits. In addition, the beverage has less chemicals than traditional PCB cleansers. Always use gloves when working with isopropyl alcohol since it contains a high concentration (over 90%) that might harm your skin.
Deionized or Distilled Water
Since hard water contains ions that transmit electric current, numerous individuals choose deionized or distilled water since it won’t harm the circuit board. When not in use, make sure your water container is closed to prevent contamination from dust and dirt particles.
Compressed Air
Use brief bursts of compressed air to blast air into your gadget’s open spaces to remove dust that has gathered on surfaces including within circuitry without causing any disruption. You may open the equipment and use compressed air to properly clean the board when these openings are tiny.
Cleaning Equipment for Printed Circuit Boards

You’ll want an additional tool in addition to a circuit board cleaner to assist wipe down or brush off contaminants.
Microfiber clothes or lint-free towels
Towels can be useful for quickly wiping away cleaning solution. To reduce the possibility of leaving particles behind in your gadget, they must’ve been lint-free or made of microfiber.
A little paintbrush and brush with soft bristles also works nicely
For squeezing into tiny spaces in microwave pcb, little brushes are effective. However, to avoid the possibility of damaging the circuits, always ensure the bristles remain weak.
A desk lamp, an oven, or a blow dryer:
While the aforementioned cleaning agents can assist remove dirt, some might also leave liquids behind. Use a heat source to quickly dry it off to avoid damaging your board. When following instructions regarding how to wipe electrical circuit boards, this method is crucial.
Gas-Phase Cleaners
Boiling any chemical solvent that create steam is necessary for gas phase cleaning in order to dissolve impurities that have built up on PCBs.
As most solvents could be recycled once the contaminants are filtered out, the procedure is effective and environmentally benign. The pollutants you wish to remove, the solvent’s flammability, and its environmental friendliness should all be taken into consideration while choosing it. As this vapor can access the board’s difficult areas, the technique is more successful for the dense PCBs.
An Instructional Tutorial for Cleaning the Circuit Board
Step 1: Take apart your apparatus
To reach the Board, you must first disassemble the device using a screwdriver. Cables may need to be cut loose from the Board as well. Take images to help you with the entire reassembling procedure if you are unfamiliar with how the gadget is put together.
Step 2: Prepare the cleaning solution through combining distilled water and baking soda
You will need two teaspoons of this baking soda and a quarter of a cup of water. Mix both, until a very thick paste results.
Step 3: Using a Circuit board cleaning brush and the solution which you created in Step 2, begin cleaning the board.
Use the mixture sparingly to every corroded component and allow it to dry for 30 minutes.
Step 4: Thoroughly rinse the cleaning reagent using distilled water when it has dried.
Step 5: Spray your PCB with a phosphate-free home cleanser and let it sit for around 15 minutes. Using the cleanser and a Circuit board brush, eliminate any last corrosion.
Step 6: Wipe away any leftover dirt, dampness, and water using a lint-free cloth. Avoid wiping it downwards to avoid scratching it.
Step 7: To dry the leftover moisture, preheat the oven to about 1700, turn it off, then set the Circuit board inside for approximately three hours.
Step 8: Rebuild or reassemble the PCB and check to make sure it is operating correctly.
Why Clean the Printed Circuit boards?

When any user requires the circuit boards to function for a longer period of time, it is essential to preserve or clean the boards in a few years. The user must clean the circuit board on a regular basis to prevent overheating, which will increase power consumption, and corrosion.
Due to their increased susceptibility to external impurities and vulnerability, overheating has grown to be a serious problem in small-form integrated circuits. The printed circuit board’s dependability is prolonged when it operates in a clean environment free of dust and dirt.
Increase the Circuit Boards’ Reliability
As was previously said, the hardware must be properly shielded from impurities to maximize the dependability of every PCB.
Three things cause PCBs to become dirty and degrade performance: they are assembled or soldered in unclean conditions; flux residues were always left on boards even after the assembly; or the completed PCB is insufficiently protected from your environment while it is in use.
The user must completely remove all flux residues out from the PCB with no leftovers in order to maintain the integrated circuits’ long-term dependability and durability.
Avoid Corrosion of PCB Components
External impurities that come into contact with the pcb may function as insulation for the components thus obstruct airflow. Moreover, they can induce corrosion on circuit traces and solder joints when exposed to aerosolized liquids or liquids.
The printed circuit board’s corrosive components may result in impedance problems and open circuits. Just covering any exposed copper portions with the conformal coating may stop pcb deterioration. Commonly employed and reliable defenses against corrosion and oxidation include epoxy coating, solder masks, as well as aerosol spray coatings.
Use Conformal Coating to Prevent Adhesion Problems
The coating on your PCB will come off whenever you leave any flux on the board prior to coating. In evenly spaced spaces inside this solder junctions, adhesion is much more frequent. Layers are also semi-permeable, which makes it simple for moisture to block flux deposits as well as eventually lead to corrosion.
Corrosion on a circuit board
Metal is typically used for the connections between every onboard component on PCBs. Metal components are vulnerable to corrosion. Similar to this, daily use can cause corrosion to harm any onboard metal utilized inside the PCBs.
The PCB may become even more damaged due to this corrosion, which will affect how well your hardware device functions.
Corrosion may be defined as the oxidation procedure resulting in rust when oxygen binds with metal, leading the loss of the metal’s chemical characteristics. Circuit boards ultimately experience corrosion and require treatment to prolong their lifespan.
Metals like gold, graphite, silver, as well as copper-nickel alloy have strong corrosion resistance.
What is the Cause of Circuit Board Corrosion?
Circuit boards may corrode for a number of causes, including ambient, galvanic, fretting, and electrolytic. The most frequent reason for metals within circuit boards to deteriorate is atmospheric corrosion.
In a process, metal ions join with the oxygen atoms in order to create the oxide when it is subjected to moisture, like oxygen. Galvanic corrosion, that occurs when various metal types are subjected to the electrolyte’s presence, comes in second.
In fact, the stronger metal will corrode more quickly when in touch with the weaker metal. Whenever ionic-contaminated moisture affects that electrical voltage between both traces, electrolytic corrosion results. This causes the neighboring traces to undergo dendrite development.
The final one is fretting corrosion, which occurs when solder-plated switches are closed in a way that wipes away the oxide coating upon that surface.
With time, considerable rust accumulates and renders the switch inoperable.
Solder flux removal from the circuit board
A heated metal that fuses two connections altogether is used in the process of soldering. The optimum method would be to use flux during soldering to avoid junctions from oxidizing by converting oxides into water and salt, then sealing in the change, once hardening is completed.
If soldering has occurred, solder flux could accumulate on chip pins. Whenever a manufacturer treats a PCB improperly, this problem is common, but it may be fixed. You’ll need a lint-free cloth, a Circuit board brush with soft bristles, and 90 percent isopropyl alcohol.
Use a bristles brush as well as isopropyl alcohol to gently clean your Board until this solder flux disappears. After you are happy with how your PCB looks, blot it using lint-free cloth.
You can quickly remove flux using anhydrous alcohol and perhaps a specialist flux ultrasonic pcb cleaner. The most economical approach, however, is to use very concentrated cleaning alcohol in place of these instruments and chemicals.
Conclusion
Contrary to popular belief, cleaning the circuit board using a circuit board cleaner or pcb board cleaner isn’t an exhausting task. The instructions and advice for cleaning the PCB have been covered in this piece of writing. Following these recommendations will guarantee that you use the proper PCB cleaning liquid process.