Highly sensitive electronic components are in common use worldwide. These days, no sizable manufacturing facility, airport, or even food producer can do without them. Automation has infiltrated every aspect of our daily life, supporting our daily activities. Control devices automate tasks in fractions of a second, much faster than a human could do. For the equipment involved, one consequence of this heavy workload is an effect on overall useful life. As soon as problems start to occur, it raises the question of whether to purchase a new device or repair the existing one.

Purchasing new equipment involves significant costs. The only other alternative involves special cleaning processes to repair and recycle the equipment. This is an extremely demanding job.

Electronic subassemblies or circuit boards are very sensitive components, and their cleaning and repair is a highly complex process. Electronics used in a manufacturing environment or in locations with heavy contamination can suffer from reduced functionality. Subassemblies used in production processes are often heavily contaminated with oils or other substances that are difficult to remove. Such contamination can also cause malfunctions. These situations are certainly not ideal for repairs and/or troubleshooting, and so the components have to be cleaned before any repairs can be performed. The most common type of cleaning is washing with liquids such as water. Nevertheless, water is also the biggest enemy of electronic components. Various cleaning solutions are used to remove contamination, depending on the type of contamination present. Cleaning with liquids frequently causes subsequent damage due to residual traces of liquid or dampness.

Complete drying after cleaning is essential to restoring operational reliability. Just one drop of liquid trapped inside a device can ruin everything because of the corrosion it can produce over time. For this reason, any residual dampness or liquid traces must be removed quickly when drying electronic components. While conventional ovens could produce the required temperatures, they can also permanently damage these heat-sensitive parts. Moreover, traditional drying also cannot ensure that residual dampness is totally removed from sealed components such as inductors or transistors. Ensuring total dryness is possible only by dismantling the subassemblies, a time-intensive and costly process.

Another difficulty is that the clearances between the components and the circuit board are extremely small. Liquid or dampness left here could result in malfunction or even corrosion. The solution is – vacuum! Vacuum creates lower pressure throughout the entire subassembly, and lowers the boiling point or evaporation point of the cleaning fluids. This allows subassemblies to be cleaned at moderate temperatures, since dampness evaporates even at low temperatures, drying without leaving any residue. Vacuum drying not only saves time, but also ensures that the subassembly functions properly. It also makes both drying processes and repairs more economical. Any subsequent process steps that may be necessary can then be performed safely and without the risk of subsequent damage to the equipment. This process fully restores subassembly functionality, and makes equipment serviceable again for many more hours of operation.

BINDER’s VD series chambers are a reliable tool for this application. The fast and condensation-free drying process offered by the extremely efficient VD units ensures homogenous drying at low temperatures, even for the most sensitive electronic subassemblies.