On Wed, 4 May 2016 15:07:53 -0700 (PDT), wrote:


That makes a lot of sense. As I was unsoldering all the leaky caps,
I never once got a whiff of low tide. When I was rebuilding Sony
and Canon camcorders in the 90s most of them needed 40 or 50
smd caps, and my bench smelled like catch of the day. Clearly
the formulation is different for the caps in the Flukes from
what we see nowadays.

Yep. Lots of changes in electrolyte. I really don't know what Fluke
was using.

Anyway, your advice to avoid ultrasonic cleaners made way too
much sense so I went ahead and soaked the board with my favorite
circuit board cleaner; Fantastik.

Ugh. I use Formula 409. I had some issues with Fantastik leaving
some residue that didn't evaporate. Fortunately, most seemed to wash
off with deionized water, so it wasn't fatal. Residue was easy enough
to detect by leaving a blob of Fantastik on a microscope slide, let it
evaporate, and inspect the bathtub ring. There wasn't much, but there
was enough to make me worry.

Fantastik has changed their formulation over the years. This should
be the latest (Formula 35*19431):
http://www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com/us/en/brands/fantastik/fantastik-mini-concentrated-kitchen-cleaner
I have a small problem with the oily fragrance, which does evaporate,
but very slowly. The stabilizer and dye also might leave a residue,
but I'm not sure. Both 409 and Fantastik are highly alkaline (pH=10.5
to 11.5), which should not be a problem. The grease was cleaned by
the inclusion of ethyl alcohol.

After a few soaks and rinses, the board looks, well, fantastic.
It's clean as a whistle and all the goo is gone, including the crap
under the inline packages and ICs. I rinsed in distilled water and
now it's getting it's last IPA bath. I'll let it dry and reassemble
in a few days and hope for the best.

Sounds good. Check the residual voltage displayed on the 200mv scale
to see if the PCB is still leaking. I know mine is leaking from all
my unprotected handling.

And if that's your ground mail, I can send you two screws I have
off a non-working 85 that I think needs a main chip. This meter
crapped about 8 years ago and I misplaced one of the screws, but if
you want the other two, they're yours. I'm on the east coast so
it'll be a week.

Thanks. The address is my palatial office. I could use the screws to
finish my 8060A. However, if you think you're going to eventually fix
the Model 85, I suggest you keep them. I'll eventually find where I
misplaced my screws or find replacements.

Also, I'm still not sure about the black line at the bottom of the
LCD. However, I'm inclined to believer that you're correct and that
mine is normal. When reassembled, the screen does not show the black
line and everything else looks normal.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558