Sharron, the ingredients for PRIPS FLUX are Borax, Tri-Sodium
Phosphate and Boric Acid. I think there may be a significant
differance between Sodium Phosphate and Tri-sodium Phosphate. I am
not a chemist but this may be why you're having trouble. Tri-Sodium
Phosphate or TSP is a commonly available cleaning agent available
in most hardware stores.
There is no practical difference in prips flux made with monosodium
phosphate, disodium phosphate, or trisodium phosphate. All work
essentially the same. The sodium content is unimportant, it’s the
phosphate you need, but the formula is not critical enough for the
precise source of it to matter, despite the fact that there will be
more phosphate content if mono or di sodium sources are used. And TSP
is so much cheaper than the others, which usually must come from
chemical supply houses as reagent grade chemicals rather than
hardware store cleaner.
The recipe I’ve always used is ONE quart of ordinary tap water, 80
grams each of borax and TSP, and 120 grams of Boric acid. It’s the
2:2:3 ratio of the chemicals that matters, not the quantity of water.
In one quart of water, boiling, the above chemicals will not quite
dissolve completely, so you then add sufficient additional water to
finish dissolving them. The idea is to make up the most saturated
solution you can, so you don’t have to spray so much to get sufficient
coverage. But there’s nothing wrong, really, with making it up much
more dilute, if you wish. I got that original formula listed above
as an undergraduate, and it fits the way I work, with a mouth atomizer
for applying the flux. But when I was in grad school, different
program, they tended to use trigger spray bottles with the
undergraduate classes, which are a lot less precise in aim, clog more
easily, and go through flux a lot faster than a mouth atomizer. So
they’d mix up those chemicals into a GALLON of water. You needed a
bit more spraying, but the kids didn’t seem to have trouble with it.
The stuff doesn’t dissolve easily in cold water. Needs to be
boiling. And as noted, the quart of water isn’t actually quite enough
to keep it in solution once it’s cooled again. You need just a bit
more.
This isn’t critical or precise chemistry, folks. Like I said, just
the 2:2:3 ratio of the chemicals is important. Other than that, do
whatever you like and it will still work fine.
If anyone needs more help with prips, please email me. It’s pretty
easy to use, and works so well it’s a shame if anyone avoids it’s use
because they haven’t figured out how to use it.
Peter Rowe