What chemicals/solvents do you keep in your lab? And what for?

[G7PSK]

Lighter fuel is benzine I use lots of it for cleaning along with toluene and meths.

[SeanB]

So de-ionized water is just another name for "higher" purity water like from distillation process ?

I supposed there is "standard" maybe say at certain ppb contaminants limit, you can call it a DI water ?

I'm not to challenge/argue here, just pure curiosity from a chemist noob perspective.

Yes.

http://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/HISTORICAL/D1193-99E1.htm

You get other standards for injection water, and plenty for both municipal tap water and for water used in canning or bottling in FMCG use.

[uprightsquire]

So de-ionized water is just another name for "higher" purity water like from distillation process ?

I supposed there is "standard" maybe say at certain ppb contaminants limit, you can call it a DI water ?

I'm not to challenge/argue here, just pure curiosity from a chemist noob perspective.

De-ionised means that someone has removed the (non-H⁺/OH^-) ions by passing it through an ion-exchange resin.

Before-hand, the resin is in the form of resin-H⁺ or resin-OH^-, when you put the tap water full of Ca⁺, Cl^- etc through, the Ca⁺ and Cl^- ions bind to the resin more strongly than the H+ or OH- ions do, so you end up with resin-Ca⁺ or resin-Cl^-.

Putting ultra-low conductivity water onto a nasty looking sponge that has been sitting in your soldering station for years, then poking at it with a hot iron, means that it probably isnt ultra-low conductivity for long.

[IanB]

Lighter fuel is benzine I use lots of it for cleaning along with toluene and meths.

Benzene is a carcinogen and has bad mojo. Benzene is one substance you will generally not find in consumer products, especially a product you wave around under your nose.

Lighter fuel is essentially petrol, which is why it is used in "petrol" lighters.

It is still good for cleaning.

[IanB]

So de-ionized water is just another name for "higher" purity water like from distillation process ?

I supposed there is "standard" maybe say at certain ppb contaminants limit, you can call it a DI water ?

I'm not to challenge/argue here, just pure curiosity from a chemist noob perspective.

In general, yes. As with all chemicals there are levels of purity.

Basic de-ionized water may be considered equivalent to distilled water from a chemical standpoint. It has no dissolved solids, but it may have dissolved gases (from the air, for example). For you and I, this doesn't matter.

But in the electronics industry there may be a need for ultra-high purity water with no dissolved gases either. The purity of such water is measured by its resistivity. The purer the water, the higher the resistance. Ultra-pure water is nearly an insulator.

[SeanB]

True, you drink 3-5% ethanol contaminated with a whole lot of ketones and aldehydes, and enjoy it. then you drink some with 10-30% also contaminated with more similar organic molecules and consider yourself a snob. If it is 40-60%  and otherwise quite pure you are Russian, and if it is 99.7% ethanol you are going to be dead after 3 glasses.

You would not like your doctor to inject you with river water, but take the same water and remove everything but the H2O complex from it you will let him stick it into you to deliver the chemicals you need to cure you.

[nanofrog]

distilled water
acetone
IPA (70%, as it's easy to get)
denatured alcohol (Kleen Strip brand, ~50/50 mix of ethyl and methyl alcohol)
xylene
Goop (adhesive)
epoxy
machine oil
Goof Off
Gorilla glue
liquid rosin flux

[calexanian]

My favorite trilogy are Techspray G3 flux remover (The absolute best stuff but so damn expensive!) Good old Chemtronics Flux-Off rosin with the brush clean. I think i just like the brush more than the solvent. and Chemtronics Electro-wash NX. I am starting to use CRC dielectric grease more and more after I clean a pot I open it up and smear that inside. It gives you that dampened feeling back. I rarely use Deoxit. I have a can, but just rarely have to reach for it. In so much as general cleaning in an open air outdoor environment I like acetone and lacquer thinner. TSP for things that can handle it and wash off easily. (I have my "Hose off factor" that rates an objects ability to be washed off with the hose. My goal is to have a house that every surface can just be washed with a good hose nozzle, or a pressure washer!) As for glue I like that control gel loctite CA stuff. Works well. IPA from the store is handy. They sell the 90% stuff and i find it good enough for most things. I do have anhydrous (Or bottled as cause the instant you open it it goes hygroscopic) that I use occasionally. It actually serves more as a precipitation carbon source when I need to blacked a metal body for black body radiation. Works like a champ at red heat and yields a fine grained carbon particle is vast quantities!

Thats about all I can think of right now...

[T3sl4co1l]

Hmm, Techspray G3 MSDS says a mixture of hydrofluorocarbons and hydrochlorocarbons... not quite as toxic as 1,1,1TCE (let alone carbon tet), but no less effective I would imagine.  And ozone killing.

Tim

[calexanian]

I think they make a donation to a polar bear with each can.  O0

[bench_knob]

Heya,

Isopropyl alcohol - for degreasing,
Acetone - for resin removal, and just about anything else,
DMSO -  for cleaning greasy parts, also good for the achie joints, (I know a guy who drinks it for hi blood pressure),
moly grease - for my mini-mill,
Goop (flexible, tough 1 part glue),  gluing stuff,
WD40 -  lubricant,
Ferric Chloride Acid - etching PCBs,
Thermal Grease - heatsink thermal interface,
2 part epoxy glue - gluing stuff, 
2 part casting resin (Alumite) making plastic items,
Jack Daniels 

bench knob

[Bored@Work]

WD40 -  lubricant,
...
Jack Daniels 

Finally someone is talking. Although I'd rather drink WD40 than JD :-)

[poorchava]

-Cleanser Druk (local product, mix of IPA and some minor additives) - general electronics cleaning
-Nitro paint thinner - removing all sorts of different stuff when IPA doesn't work
-Toluene - same as above
-Xylene  - same as above
-Turpentine - same as above
-Petroleum ether - mainly for removing glue from self adhesive tapes and stickers
-33% HCl - pcb etching
-3% and 35% H2O2 - pcb etching
-Sodium Bicarbonate - developing negative dry film
-Sodium Hydroxide - developing positive resists and stripping dry film after etching
-distilled water - soldering iron sponge, etching mixtures, cloth iron (i fukken hate scale dropping on my clothes when i press 'decalc' accidantally')
-RF800 flux - general all round flux
-serveral different homemade colophony fluxes and soldering pastes -  for more difficult soldering (thick cables, old copper etc)
-powdered catnip - cat deterrent

[george graves]

-Toluene - same as above

Where is a common source for this?  My local big box home improvement store doesn't carry it.  Unless it's labeled as something else.

We're sorry, we couldn't find any matches for "toluene"

Did you mean "jolene"?

Yea, no....

[N2IXK]

-Toluene - same as above

Where is a common source for this?  My local big box home improvement store doesn't carry it.  Unless it's labeled as something else.

Professional paint stores might sell it, but it isn't as easily available as it once was in the US due to the "War on Drugs" BS.

[free_electron]

This is nothing but the chemistry equivalent of audiophoolery.

Come explain that in all the waferfabs in the world. they will be VERY interested in your theory and demonstration how they can avoid using DI water. You could become a multibillionaire overnight. especially since it takes about 4 liters of regular water to produce a liter of DI water.

Distilled water still contains ions. during the processing of the wafer these ions cause trouble. they lead to contaminant trapping (static cling on a microscopical level ) . bondpad corrosion during drying. DI water is sterile. It also has extremely high resistance.

you can't rinse wafers in water or even distilled water. the impurities present in distilled water are still too large and the presence of ionised molecules causes trouble with the process. Deionising is the only way.

You do not need DI water at home (unless you intend to make your own integrated circuits)

[calexanian]

This is nothing but the chemistry equivalent of audiophoolery.

Come explain that in all the waferfabs in the world. they will be VERY interested in your theory and demonstration how they can avoid using DI water. You could become a multibillionaire overnight. especially since it takes about 4 liters of regular water to produce a liter of DI water.

Distilled water still contains ions. during the processing of the wafer these ions cause trouble. they lead to contaminant trapping (static cling on a microscopical level ) . bondpad corrosion during drying. DI water is sterile. It also has extremely high resistance.

you can't rinse wafers in water or even distilled water. the impurities present in distilled water are still too large and the presence of ionised molecules causes trouble with the process. Deionising is the only way.

You do not need DI water at home (unless you intend to make your own integrated circuits)

About the only thing I could see DI water being used for at a hobby or home ship level would be cleaning water sol flux of a very high impedance circuit, and even that is a real stretch! Also its good for topping off lead acid batteries.

[IanB]

Come explain that in all the waferfabs in the world. they will be VERY interested in your theory and demonstration how they can avoid using DI water. You could become a multibillionaire overnight. especially since it takes about 4 liters of regular water to produce a liter of DI water.

Distilled water still contains ions. during the processing of the wafer these ions cause trouble. they lead to contaminant trapping (static cling on a microscopical level ) . bondpad corrosion during drying. DI water is sterile. It also has extremely high resistance.

There is a difference between the process used to produce pure water on the one hand, and the properties of the pure water on the other.

"De-ionized water" is water that has been purified by passing through ion exchange beds. "Distilled water" is water that has been purified by distillation. That's what differentiates them.

Wafer fabs need ultra-pure water. Ultra-pure water can be made by passing through ion exchange beds, but not all de-ionized water is ultra-pure water. It's quite common to make de-ionized water to an ordinary level of purity for use in other industries than wafer fabs.

It is also possible to make ultra-pure water by first distilling it, and then passing it through polishing beds. It is even possible to make ultra-pure water only by distillation, but the process is not necessarily economical or practical on an industrial scale.

[LukeW]

- Tacky gel flux
- More liquid flux in a flux "pen"
- Solder paste, of course
- A couple of litres of bulk isopropanol, and a smaller amount in a sprayer bottle. And a spare old toothbrush.
- Dichloromethane
- Chemtools Kleanium Deflux-It G2, which is probably the best commercial aerosol-can flux solvent I have found in Australia.
- Dow Corning high-dielectric-strength neutral cure RTV silicone
- Acetone, and a box of homebrand cotton buds
- Bathroom sink for wetting soldering sponge (no fancy distilled water deionised homeopathy is kept on hand for this purpose, I just use tap water  )
- Generic black nail polish, which I decided was a cheap alternative to buying that  "liquid electrical tape"
- A oil "paint marker" in bright yellow, for drawing visible markings (eg pin 1 indicator or polarity marker) on black plastic surfaces.
- JB Weld, which as far as I'm aware is the greatest adhesive known to mankind.

And in the assorted chemicals in the garage, which I rarely if ever use:

- Methanol
- Toluene
- Xylene
- Methyl ethyl ketone
- Lithium grease
- Generic neutral cure silicone caulk in big tubes
- Sodium hydroxide
- Ammonium persulfate
- Commercial Kinsten photoresist developer
- 50% hydrogen peroxide
- Concentrated HCl
- Concentrated sulfuric acid
- Copper sulfate (Why did I get this? Can't remember. Plating? Growing crystals?)
- Sodium nitrate
- Sodium carbonate
- Potassium permanganate
- Sodium benzoate (Dunno what this was kept in stock for, either.)

[TerraHertz]

Mostly the same kinds of electronics related chemicals listed. Plus welding gasses, bunch of brazing fluxes (most dangerous chemicals I own, I think), propane, a box of assorted vacuum oils and greases, etc.
Oh, and I don't think anyone mentioned polyurethane woodworking glue. Great stuff.

A few less common ones:
 - A 1Kg aluminium bottle of Nutmeg oil. Inherited from a deceased friend. Smells wonderful.
 - Very old 500ml glass bottle of 'Pure gum turpentine' ie the real stuff from before 'mineral turps'.
   This also smells very nice. Don't use it for anything, just a museum piece.
 - Bottle of 'oil paint medium'. This is a mix of linseed oil and turps. Relic from my high school years.
 - Large glass jar with home made insulating lid and two .999 silver rods, containing distilled water with dissolved fine silver particles. The proverbial 'colloidal silver'. It has an interesting taste. One of those 'try it myself and see' things, a couple of years ago.


A safety warning worth mentioning. In the course of cleaning up assorted old test equipment, I've tried various solvents for different cleaning tasks. Now I  mainly use mineral turps, methylated spirit and spray cleaner for cabinet and metalwork cleaning, kerosene for dirty cables, and compressed air, brushing and IPA for circuit boards, etc.
But early on I had been using 'White spirits' (hardware store product name) for cleaning cases. It works quite well, and doesn't harm plastics, paints, etc. But... it turns out it is quite harmful to humans, though there's no warning on the label.
Because I'd typically hold cloth pads soaked in it, I was getting skin contact on my thumb and 1st two finger tips. Over about a year I started to develop tingling in those fingers and an ache extending up my arm, eventually reaching the shoulder. Took a while to connect the white spirits contact to the neural problem, but then tried long term switching in it's use, and it definitely correlated. Stopped using white spirits altogether, and the problem went away over about six months. No noticeable residual effect, fortunately.

That was unrelated to an episode of much more serious effects from handling molybdenum-impregnated teflon insulated wire, that did leave some permanent damage.

[SeanB]

Sodium benzoate is a preservative, you were going to can or bottle stuff? If it has been in storage for a while it probably has expired.

50% peroxide, hope the bottle has pressure relief, or it will go bang from evolved oxygen. That list in the garage can go bang big time.

[krivx]

This is nothing but the chemistry equivalent of audiophoolery.

Come explain that in all the waferfabs in the world. they will be VERY interested in your theory and demonstration how they can avoid using DI water. You could become a multibillionaire overnight. especially since it takes about 4 liters of regular water to produce a liter of DI water.

Distilled water still contains ions. during the processing of the wafer these ions cause trouble. they lead to contaminant trapping (static cling on a microscopical level ) . bondpad corrosion during drying. DI water is sterile. It also has extremely high resistance.

you can't rinse wafers in water or even distilled water. the impurities present in distilled water are still too large and the presence of ionised molecules causes trouble with the process. Deionising is the only way.

You do not need DI water at home (unless you intend to make your own integrated circuits)

About the only thing I could see DI water being used for at a hobby or home ship level would be cleaning water sol flux of a very high impedance circuit, and even that is a real stretch!

I did this quite recently, I had to replace several parts in a Fluke 8060A. After the replacements went in there were significant residual readings on very range, after an IPA wash and a rinse with ultra-pure DI water it will read 0 on every voltage range with no probes inserted.

[free_electron]

Come explain that in all the waferfabs in the world. they will be VERY interested in your theory and demonstration how they can avoid using DI water. You could become a multibillionaire overnight. especially since it takes about 4 liters of regular water to produce a liter of DI water.

Distilled water still contains ions. during the processing of the wafer these ions cause trouble. they lead to contaminant trapping (static cling on a microscopical level ) . bondpad corrosion during drying. DI water is sterile. It also has extremely high resistance.

There is a difference between the process used to produce pure water on the one hand, and the properties of the pure water on the other.

"De-ionized water" is water that has been purified by passing through ion exchange beds. "Distilled water" is water that has been purified by distillation. That's what differentiates them.

Wafer fabs need ultra-pure water. Ultra-pure water can be made by passing through ion exchange beds, but not all de-ionized water is ultra-pure water. It's quite common to make de-ionized water to an ordinary level of purity for use in other industries than wafer fabs.

It is also possible to make ultra-pure water by first distilling it, and then passing it through polishing beds. It is even possible to make ultra-pure water only by distillation, but the process is not necessarily economical or practical on an industrial scale.

 you wrote DI water is audiophoolery. it is not.

DI water is much cleaner than distilled water. The DI process destroys bacteria and removes contaminants that are still present in distilled water.
Distilled water typically contains 'dirty' water due to water particles carried with the steam ( look up wet steam / dry steam. dry steam is less than 20% particles ) Distillated water absorbs co2 from the atmosphere.

A correct DI process ( osmotic membrane -> Uv blaster -> ion bed under nitrogen atmosphere ) A continuous  recirculation in this loop (osmosis , uv , ion bed) yields far superior cleanliness.

DI water is ultra pure. distilled water not.
DI water is also very reactive with metals…
Drinking DI water  (ill advised to drink it.. as it flushes electrolytes from your body) feels weird .. it has no taste at all. you feel it go down but there is no taste.

[SNGLinks]

Don't forget that dehumidifiers produce loads of free distilled water!

[Macbeth]

Don't forget that dehumidifiers produce loads of free distilled water!

My portable AC does too. I'm astonished at how quickly its water tank builds up!

I wouldn't go drinking it though - full of microbes & dust. But instead of chucking it I guess it would be good enough for cleaning PCBs and not leaving salt/minerals when dried?