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Xbox360 Forums => Xbox360 Hardware Forums => Xbox360 General / Hardware Chat => Topic started by: Mubs on October 11, 2010, 09:38:00 AM

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Mubs on October 11, 2010, 09:38:00 AM

Hi Guys,
Im in the market for some water soluble flux to dissolve inside isopropyl alcohol and drop onto the GPU/CPU during reflow.

just wanted to confirm i got the right stuff before i make a complete ballz out of my 360:
http://www.laco.com/prod/58/regular-flux-paste.aspx

Cheers,
Mubs

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: MadMaxGR on October 11, 2010, 11:57:00 PM

QUOTE(Mubs @ Oct 11 2010, 06:38 PM)

You got the wrong product mate! Water solulable????? Are you crazy?
Get a no-clean flux for electronics! not for water pipes!

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Mubs on October 12, 2010, 10:11:00 AM

So this flux wont work for reflowing the 360? isnt flux for plumbing and electronics interchangeable?
i read on a tutorial that i have to use water soluble flux to dissolve it in isopropyl alcohol and apply it onto the edges of the cpu and gpu using a dropper.

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: MadMaxGR on October 13, 2010, 12:37:00 AM

QUOTE(Mubs @ Oct 12 2010, 07:11 PM)

They are not interchangeable... of course not! I don't know where you have read about that but obviously they were lucky enough to not leave any moisture residue and not short out the whole board. We are talking about electronics, sensitive componets that even a small difference on electrical current can burn them up! You need a no-clean liquid flux to do the job.

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: relaxxx on October 13, 2010, 05:01:00 AM

It is not recommended to use plumbing flux on electronics but I am guilty of using it from time to time in a pinch. It will do the job but any residue is corrosive and will turn solder a kind of blueish oxidized color. Obviously it can not be fully cleaned from under BGA chips so never use it for that but I have old electronics working fine for over 15 years with acid flux jobs inside.

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Mubs on October 13, 2010, 08:59:00 AM

Thanks for the replys guys. Im glad i posted here first.
that was the only water soluble i could find.
please can someone suggest for me a water soluble solder flux that i can buy to dissolve in isopropyl alcohol. Im in the UK>

Cheers,
Mubs

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: relaxxx on October 13, 2010, 02:36:00 PM

You can look for liquid BGA flux on ebay and wait 2 weeks for shipping or if you're a rebel like myself use Goo Gone instead. I discovered Goo Gone works good as flux when I used it to clean my iron tip one day and it worked better than the liquid flux I was using. It is absolutely non conductive but does leave an oily residue that seems to be quite harmless.

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Weirdjerz3y on October 13, 2010, 03:06:00 PM

Hey, This is the No-Clean liquid flux i used, only takes a few days to get. If you live in usa
http://cgi.ebay.com/NO-CLEAN-LIQUID-FLUX-K...8#ht_1491wt_905

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: MadMaxGR on October 14, 2010, 12:26:00 AM

QUOTE(Weirdjerz3y @ Oct 14 2010, 12:06 AM)

Hey, This is the No-Clean liquid flux i used, only takes a few days to get. If you live in usa
http://cgi.ebay.com/NO-CLEAN-LIQUID-FLUX-K...8#ht_1491wt_905

I got that one too, i realised this is not a proper flux for reflow. I don't recommend it. It smells and looks like spirit varnish. I just used it 3 times and mystiriously the 2 of 3 got 0001 and 0002 after the application was done. I just don't trust it, since I didn't find any similar product in professional market. So, I looked around, and I bought this:

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/20-4...ELAID=220229797

and works great. Just be carefull, it gets little sticky (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by MadMaxGR: Oct 14 2010, 07:28 AM

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Mubs on October 14, 2010, 12:03:00 PM

Thanks for the kind suggestions guys.
any UK references?
im struggling to find a single water soluble flux and im getting a bit frustrated with all the faulty xboxes knocking about in my house. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/uhh.gif)

Thanks again,
Mubs

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: MadMaxGR on October 15, 2010, 07:36:00 AM

QUOTE(Mubs @ Oct 14 2010, 09:03 PM)

Try to find on ebay. If you are unable to find any, maybe I could pack up a bottle for you and do a deal. I have got 1 litre of this.

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Mubs on October 15, 2010, 11:15:00 AM

I've looked everywhere without any luck.

the only thing i could find was a water soluble flux pen.
is that any good?

there are some soldering pastes on DealXtreme that will deliver here.
i dont know if that will work.

Mubs

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: Mubs on October 17, 2010, 01:40:00 PM

Hey guys,
done some reading and could it be that water soluble flux is not what i should be using?
what exactly is the flux that i need to reflow my chips?

Thanks,
Mubs

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: MadMaxGR on October 18, 2010, 02:45:00 AM

QUOTE(Mubs @ Oct 17 2010, 10:40 PM)

Hey guys,
done some reading and could it be that water soluble flux is not what i should be using?
what exactly is the flux that i need to reflow my chips?

Thanks,
Mubs

I thought we already answered that question.... let me clarify it again...

DON'T USE WATER SOLULABLE FLUX!!! EVER!!!

USE NO-CLEAN FLUX FOR ELECTRONICS!

see above for more.

Title: Water Soluble Flux
Post by: brandogg on October 18, 2010, 07:01:00 AM

I use this stuff - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=130445200804 - kind of smell like nail polish remover (as does every other liquid flux I've ever used). Works perfectly for me.

xboxscene.org forums

Xbox360 Forums => Xbox360 Hardware Forums => Xbox360 General / Hardware Chat => Topic started by: Mubs on October 11, 2010, 09:38:00 AM