Acetone Solvent Suppliers for Small Businesses: 4 Crucial Services

At Ecolink, many of our customers who order acetone are large companies and big organizations, but we also serve small businesses. Small businesses often need cleaning solvents for the same reasons as big businesses, but the economics of solvent purchases can be quite different for these two customer segments.

Acetone Solvent Suppliers and Small Businesses

Every customer wants to purchase solvents economically, but small businesses operating a conservative solvent budget have the most to lose when purchasing chemicals from acetone solvent suppliers. In some cases, the small budget means there’s no financial recourse for purchasing the wrong solvent and/or buying a solvent on the wrong terms.

With this in mind, we look at four crucial services small businesses need from acetone solvent suppliers and sellers of other high-performance solvents. Ecolink offers these services to all of our customers, regardless of their solvent budget, industry, and size.

  1. Technical Assistance

Some acetone solvent suppliers are vendors who expect customers to know what they need before making a purchase. Large outfits often do know what they need. The person or department that manages solvent orders has professional solvent knowledge.

With small businesses, this is often not the case. They need a supplier to provide pre-sale technical assistance that’s not available in-house. Without assistance, their ability to identify the right solvent is compromised and could lead to purchasing the wrong product for the application.

  1. Custom Formulations

When a small business receives technical assistance for selecting a solvent, it may find that none of the supplier’s stock products are a good fit for the application. In this situation, receiving a custom formulation that’s tailored to the business’ unique needs is optimal. It’s what a large business would do, and small businesses should follow suit.

  1. Free Test Samples

You’ve identified what appears to be the right stock or custom solution for the job, but you’d like to see the efficacy of the solution firsthand before making a purchase. When you work with acetone solvent suppliers that offer free test samples, this is a part of the sales process. Once you see how the solution works, you make a highly-informed decision about the purchase.

  1. Supply on Demand

Small businesses typically use less solvent than big ones. Consequently, they often prefer to order solvent “on demand” instead of taking the opposite approach and buying in bulk. Some acetone solvent suppliers only work with large order customers, while other suppliers provide  solvent in almost any useful volume to serve the needs of a broad customer base.

Need an Acetone Solvent?

If so, Ecolink is here to help you find what you need. If one of our stock solvents isn’t the best fit for your application, we can formulate a custom solvent that works flawlessly. Whether stock or custom is right for your needs, free samples are always available. Just make the request.

To get started on selecting an eco friendly acetone solvent, contact us today!  We look forward to assisting you!

 

 

 

 

 

Electronic Solvent Cleaner: Finding Environmentally Safe Alternatives

A dependable cleaner is essential in the electronics industry to remove contaminants such as flux, adhesive residues, solder, and general debris left behind from the manufacturing process. Electronic solvent cleaners are used to increase the lifetime of the product by boosting surface resistance as well as other properties. As new products consistently decrease in size, manufacturers must take all necessary steps to deliver high performance and reliability.

An exceptional electronic solvent cleaner ensures adequate adhesion for coatings in addition to insulation resistance. Cleaning is necessary throughout the manufacturing process to ensure each electronic component is high quality. For example, removal is often required prior to soldering to eliminate contaminants from previous production phases. Awareness has drastically increased regarding how electronic solvent cleaners affect the environment thus causing several companies in this industry to seek safer, environmentally friendly options.

What Makes an Electronic Solvent Cleaner Safer for the Environment?
Traditional electronic solvent cleaners contain extensive Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC’s, which contribute to ozone depletion and create health concerns for handlers or anyone working around the chemicals. Safer alternatives are being developed to deliver the equivalent results with a lower risk. A number of qualities make a chemical safer for the environment including:

  • Minimal VOC’s
  • Rapid Drying
  • Non-Flammable
  • Minimal Ozone Depletion
  • Little to No Odor

Trichloroethane or TCA was the most common solvent choice for electronic cleaning and maintenance tasks; however, it was banned due to its negative impact on the environment. Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) was another popular chemical solvent that many companies are seeking to replace because it is harmful to the environment. Finding an exact replacement is not easily done for these chemicals and requires a little work. Many providers have developed solutions with safer qualities that are suitable as an alternative.

A Few Key Considerations
Many replacement options offer solutions containing minimal to no VOC’s. This ensures minimal harm as substances enter the atmosphere through evaporation or manufacturing processes. Additionally non-flammable, rapid drying solutions offer a reduced risk of evaporation. The faster the substance dries, the less time it has to evaporate. Non-flammable electronic solvent cleaners have either no flash point or a flash point higher than 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

Electronic solvent cleaners with a low flash point are considered flammable and dangerous for the environment. This risk increases when the flash point is lower because it vaporizes at a lower temperature. Electronic solvent cleaners with no flash point simply do not vaporize at any temperature. The boiling point specifically determines the temperature at which the liquid will turn to gas. Those with a low boiling point are considered to be a fire hazard because they produce extensive amounts of vapor at low temperatures.

Electronic solvent cleaners with higher vapor pressures are more volatile and considered to be dangerous. Other factors to evaluate when selecting environmentally friendly electronic solvent cleaners are: vapor density, surface tension, hazardous air pollutants (HAP’s), and threshold limit values. At Ecolink, we offer a number of environmentally friendly, effective options to aid in cleaning. We can also formulate a safe to handle, non-ozone depleting solution to meet your unique needs. Contact us today to learn more!

Flux Removal Cleaners – Custom Solutions

When circuit boards are assembled, the parts comprising the circuit board are soldered to minimize and eliminate the potential for damage. In order for the solder to make a perfect connection to the parts and to the board, a substance called flux is mixed into the solder, which removes oxidation and cleans up the surfaces of the different parts so the solder will properly adhere. After the board is assembled, some flux will still remain. A flux remover dissolves the flux and washes it away.

Flux Removal

Removing flux is considered a two step process. The first step is dissolving the flux, and the second step is rinsing the dissolved flux off the circuit board. The rinsing step is critical because after dissolving the flux, it may seem as though the solids in the flux have disappeared. However, once the flux remover has evaporated, the solids will redeposit on the board as white residue. It must be ensured that the dissolved flux solids are removed from the board before the flux remover evaporates and the solids redeposit. Depending on the reason you are using flux and on what type of surface the flux is being applied, certain industrial companies, such as Ecolink, offer custom solutions for the removal of flux. Ecolink provides flux removal cleaners of different varieties, depending on the custom needs that will best fit your solution.

Looking for Flux Removal Cleaners?

Flux removal cleaners are an important component to ensuring no damaging flux particles or residue is left on a circuit board that could later cause devastating problems to IT hardware or any electrical part or circuit board. Because it is quite a meticulous process to remove flux, please consult with Ecolink to ensure you are receiving the optimum custom solution that pertains to your exact need. We will be happy to evaluate your current cleaning process to make sure you are using the most suitable flux removal cleaner that best fits your custom solution needs. Contact us today!

vapor-pressure-cleaning

Degreasing Methods: What is Vapor Pressure Cleaning?


Degreasing is one of the most common industrial cleaning operations. From engine parts to handheld tools, practically every company and organization that uses equipment that accumulates grease must perform degreasing to keep the equipment in ideal condition for its application. One way that this can be done is vapor pressure cleaning — a process in which pressurized vapor from a cleaning agent powers away tough accumulations of grease.

How Vapor Degreasing Works

Unlike degreasing operations that are performed in open air with the use of aerosols, spray liquids, and wipes, vapor degreasing is performed inside a machine that’s specially designed to vaporize a solvent and pressurize the vapor to make it remove grease from parts that are arranged inside the machine. Below is the basic, eight-part process in which vapor pressure cleaning is used to remove heavy grease from parts and leave them looking practically new.

  1. Work pieces are placed inside the vapor degreasing machine.
  2. Solvent is placed in a basin inside the machine.
  3. The machine is closed for the cleaning process.
  4. The solvent basin’s heating coil vaporizes the solvent.
  5. The machine builds pressure to make the vapor degrease.
  6. Solvent drips away from degreased parts, leaving them clean.
  7. Excess solvent is condensed for recycling or enters a waste trap.
  8. Parts are removed from the machine and re-implemented.

In some cases, the vapor degreasing process also entails rinsing workpieces in a separate chamber inside the machine to ensure no solvent residue remains, spraying workpieces with a solvent before they enter the machine to speed up the cleaning process, and/or using vacuum degreasers when the machine employs a vacuum to vacuum degreasing system.

Benefits of Vapor Degreasing

Regardless of what comprises the vapor pressure cleaning process, performing it properly can offer several important benefits that help the user execute an efficient cleaning operation, ensure that parts are entirely clean, and curb expenditures for industrial degreasing solvent.

  • Eliminates the threat of oxidation and water spots on workpieces
  • Prepares parts for finishing processes such as painting and welding
  • Cleans precision parts faster than manual cleaning operations
  • Offers the opportunity to collect and recycle vapor degreaser

Vapor pressure cleaning is a highly effective method for degreasing precision parts and tools, but two things are always necessary for maximum effectiveness: a parts cleaning machine that facilitates vapor degreasing and using the right type of degreaser for the cleaning process. If you need advice on either requirement, the solvent specialists at Ecolink can help.

Looking for Degreasing Solvents?

Vapor degreasing is a simple process that relies on complex machinery and carefully formulated cleaning agents. Because purchasing the vapor pressure cleaning machine and buying solvent is where most of the cost comes in, it is economically imperative to choose the right equipment and cleaner from the start. Using our expertise in parts washing and cleaning solvents, we can help you do this contact us today. We look forward to helping you realize the benefits of vapor degreasing!

Industrial Strength Parts Washer Solvents

Industrial businesses are usually associated with tough, demanding, and rigorous manual labor. The workforce performing manual labor will go through intense training courses on safety and how to correctly operate machinery before being placed on the job. Numerous instances exist that could lead to an accident, whether it be minor or even fatal. Businesses that operate in such a fashion will most likely stress the importance of industrial safety, working hard to keep the workplace accident free. There are several different ways of keeping the workplace accident free, we discuss a few below.

Industrial safety tips, helpful hints, and bright ideas:

  1. Grip tape to prevent slip and falls – Probably the most common type of accident results from a worker slipping and falling due to some sort of slippery substances that accumulated on the ground. Unfortunately, the human body is a fragile organism, and what might look like a minor fall could turn into an expensive lawsuit. Grip tape, or an adhesive product of the like can be placed on the floor to drastically improve traction, thus, significantly decreasing the number of falls.
  2. Ecofriendly industrial parts washer solvents free of carcinogenic chemical compounds – Industrial companies dealing in metals and parts will need a cleaning and degreasing agent to rid materials of dirt, grease, oil, and residue before the material is put to use. However, many industrial strength parts washer solvents are harmful to the touch and to inhale. Luckily, chemical companies concerned with green alternatives have launched replacement solutions that are as reliable and effective as the industrial strength parts washer solvents, but without the hazardous ingredients of its predecessor.

To learn more about industrial safety and the options you have for keeping the workplace accident free while dealing with chemical compound agents, call Ecolink. Ecolink professionals will be happy to explain other ways to keeping the workplace accident free, while pointing you in the right direction to equipping your company with better alternatives for industrial safety.