As electronic devices become smaller and more sophisticated, cleaning has become increasingly difficult. Modern assemblies often feature Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs), Quad Flat No-Lead (QFNs), and other fine-pitch components with extremely low standoff heights. During soldering, flux residues can become trapped beneath these components and in narrow spaces that are difficult to access, creating potential reliability concerns if contaminants are not completely removed.
To address these challenges, manufacturers require cleaning solutions with strong solvency capable of removing flux residues, oils, and other processing contaminants from increasingly complex assemblies.
At the same time, the industry is facing another challenge: many traditional precision cleaning solvents, including nPB, TCE, and perchloroethylene (PERC), are under growing regulatory scrutiny due to environmental, health, and workplace safety concerns. As a result, manufacturers are searching for alternatives that can maintain cleaning performance while supporting long-term sustainability and compliance goals.
This creates a new requirement for precision cleaning solvents: they must deliver both exceptional cleaning power and a more future-ready chemistry.
How EnSolv Plus Addresses These Challenges
EnSolv Plus is a PFAS-free, azeotropic precision cleaning solvent engineered to meet the evolving demands of modern manufacturing. Developed as a high-performance alternative to legacy cleaning solvents such as nPB, TCE, and perchloroethylene (PERC), it combines strong cleaning performance with a formulation designed to support sustainability and future regulatory expectations.
Key features include:
Strong Cleaning Power
Cleaning performance starts with solvency. In precision cleaning applications, the ability of a solvent to dissolve and remove contaminants directly impacts the cleanliness and reliability of the final product.
EnSolv Plus offers a Kauri-Butanol (KB) value of approximately 113, indicating strong solvency for a wide range of manufacturing contaminants, including flux residues, oils, greases, and processing soils. This level of cleaning power is particularly valuable in electronics manufacturing, where residues can become trapped beneath low-standoff components and within complex board geometries.
For manufacturers transitioning away from legacy solvents such as nPB, TCE, or perchloroethylene (PERC), maintaining cleaning effectiveness is often a primary concern. EnSolv Plus helps address this challenge by providing the solvency required to remove difficult contaminants while supporting modern cleaning requirements.
PFAS-Free Formulation
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as fluorinated substances that contain at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom. This broad definition encompasses thousands of synthetic chemicals known for their exceptional chemical stability and resistance to heat, water, oil, and grease.
While these properties have made PFAS valuable in many industrial applications, they also make them highly persistent in the environment. Because many PFAS compounds break down very slowly, they are often referred to as “forever chemicals.” Growing concerns over their persistence, potential environmental impacts, and increasing regulatory attention have prompted manufacturers worldwide to evaluate PFAS-containing materials used throughout their operations.
EnSolv Plus is a PFAS-free precision cleaning solvent, making it an ideal choice for organizations seeking to replace traditional cleaning chemistries while maintaining high cleaning efficiency and supporting long-term sustainability goals.
Better Cleaning Results for Complex Geometries
As electronic assemblies continue to shrink, cleaning solutions must be able to reach contaminants hidden beneath low-standoff components and within intricate board layouts. EnSolv Plus is designed for these demanding applications by combining low surface tension with zero detectable residue.
EnSolv Plus features low surface tension (22 dynes/cm), allowing the solvent to spread easily across surfaces and penetrate narrow gaps beneath components such as BGAs, QFNs, and fine-pitch connectors. By improving access to confined spaces, the solvent can make better contact with trapped contaminants, supporting more thorough and effective cleaning of modern electronic assemblies.
Equally important, EnSolv Plus is formulated to leave zero detectable residue after cleaning. Once contaminants have been removed, the solvent evaporates cleanly without leaving residues that could interfere with electrical performance or downstream manufacturing processes such as conformal coating, bonding, or inspection.
Together, these characteristics help manufacturers achieve reliable cleaning of complex geometries while maintaining the high level of cleanliness required for precision manufacturing and high-reliability applications.
Enhanced Safety with Non-Flammability and No Flash Point
Safety is an essential consideration in precision cleaning, particularly in manufacturing environments where solvents are used regularly. EnSolv Plus is classified as non-flammable and has no flash point under criteria established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), helping support safer handling, storage, and transportation.
A flash point is the lowest temperature at which a liquid produces enough vapor to ignite when exposed to an ignition source, such as a spark or flame. Solvents with lower flash points present a higher fire risk because they can generate flammable vapors even at relatively low temperatures.
A solvent classified as having no flash point does not produce ignitable vapors under standard flash point test conditions and is therefore not classified as a flammable liquid under OSHA and DOT criteria. This reduces fire hazards during normal handling and operation, making it well suited for industrial cleaning environments.
By combining non-flammability with no flash point, EnSolv Plus helps manufacturers improve workplace safety while maintaining the high cleaning performance required for demanding precision cleaning applications.
Typical Applications
EnSolv Plus is suitable for a variety of precision cleaning applications, including:
- BGA cleaning
- QFN cleaning
- Flux removal from PCB assemblies
- Fine-pitch connector cleaning
- Medical device manufacturing
- Aerospace component cleaning
- Precision vapor degreasing
- Ultrasonic cleaning processes
The Future of Precision Cleaning
By combining strong solvency, low surface tension, PFAS-free chemistry, and residue-free performance, EnSolv Plus provides a practical solution for modern electronics manufacturing environments where cleanliness and reliability are critical.
Interested in evaluating EnSolv Plus for your process? Contact our technical team to request a sample, discuss compatibility testing, or explore process optimization opportunities.