[time-nuts] Z3816A Control and Cleaning

[Larry McDavid]

I recommend against using tap water on any electronics. Use RO or 
distilled water; that won't leave behind minerals when it evaporates.

Most IPA is only 70%; the balance is water. For flux removal, use 99% or 
anhydrous IPA, available at most industrial hardware stores.

And, I surely would not use "soap" of any kind. You can use a detergent 
but only a tiny amount is needed to reduce the surface tension. If you 
don't get it all off by flushing, residue after evaporation of any 
surfactant is not good...

Larry


On 1/23/2014 7:13 PM, paul swed wrote:
> Joe
> Been a while. Sounds like a reasonable approach with the soap and water.
> The key is not to force water into the inductors. I take soapy water and a
> tooth brush it works wonders. Then dry in an oven at about 100 degrees just
> to drive off the moisture. Very gentle.
> I guess the other point is to get a better feel for the gunk. Does soap and
> water do it. The fact that IPA didn't is interesting. It may be oil based.
> Good luck
> Paul
> WB8TSL/1
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 9:41 PM, J. L. Trantham <jltran at att.net> wrote:
>
>> I recently acquired a Z3816A as a 'spare' and it does not work reliably.
>> The ALARM LED sometimes comes on and sometimes doesn't.  Sometimes it
>> tracks
>> and locks appropriately and other times it goes into HOLDOVER.  The main
>> PCB
>> is very dirty and has the appearance that it has been in a humid and dusty
>> environment.  I am suspicious that there are some 'leakage' issues related
>> to this dirt and would like to wash the board.  What would the group
>> recommend for cleaning the board?  I sprayed it with 91% IPA and used a
>> paint brush to try to clean the board.  Some improvement but still dirty.
>>   I
>> was thinking of warm soapy water with a paint brush followed by warm water
>> followed by 91% IPA followed by a hairdryer then an hour or two in an oven
>> at about 100 to 150 degrees F.  Thoughts?  I'm a bit concerned about the
>> inductors and the possibility of water leading to problems with them.
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, I seem to recall a command that can be sent by SatStat to change from
>> GPS time to UTC time but I can't find it in my files.  Is there such a
>> command or am I hallucinating?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>>
>> Joe
>>
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-- 
Best wishes,

Larry McDavid W6FUB
Anaheim, California  (SE of Los Angeles, near Disneyland)