1. Chemical Processing for Nadcap
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Chemical Processing for Nadcap
Water Break Test Awareness
By Konrad Burgoyne
DTP-WBTA Issue 1 – 27 January 2012
Copyright © Dataplate

2. Hydrophobic & Hydrophilic Conditions
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Hydrophobic & Hydrophilic Conditions
Surface conditions in relation to acceptance of aqueous (water) based liquid can be in two states
Hydrophobic
Hydrophilic

3. Hydrophobic Surface Condition
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Hydrophobic Surface Condition
Water or other water based liquid is repelled by the surface of the parts causing the water to bead on the surface indicating the part surface is not in a condition to interface with aqueous based chemistry. The most common cause is grease and oil.

4. Hydrophilic Surface Condition
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Water or other water based liquid is able to “stick” to the surface of the part indicating a water break free surface

5. Hydrophobic & Hydrophilic Conditions
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Hydrophilic (Water break free surface)
Hydrophobic (Water broken surface)

6. Surface Cleaning
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Parts cleaning is essential to many industrial processes as a prelude to surface finishing or to protect sensitive components.
Electroplating, anodising and conversion coatings are particularly sensitive to part cleanliness.
Molecular layers of oil can prevent adhesion of the coating, or in the case of anodising and chemical conversion coatings prevent coatings from forming altogether

7. Cleaning Processes Cleaning processes include: - Solvent cleaning
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Cleaning processes include: -
Solvent cleaning
Hot alkaline detergent cleaning
Acid or alkaline etching
In Treatments we use a solvent degreaser, Hot alkaline soak cleaner and an acid deoxidiser (mild etch) process

8. Surface Conditioning
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The cleaning processes within the treatments is formulated to enable the correct conditions to prepare the surface of parts
Parameters important to the process stages include: -
Time of immersion or exposure
Temperature to obtain optimum cleaning
Concentration and formulation of the chemistry for optimum cleaning capability

9. Water Break Test Dataplate Training
The water break test is an effective way to visually confirm that the surface of the parts have been cleaned successfully and are in a condition to process further.
If the surface of a part maintains a water break free surface for 30 seconds after immersion in clean water below 38°C it is considered clean.
The water break test requires observation of the surface of the parts following a clean rinse stage to confirm a water break free surface is maintained for 30 seconds or more.
Parts may be visually inspected at the end of the 30 second period. This may allow the operator to move to the next stage during the 30 second period and inspect the parts just before the next stage.
E.g. Turco clean > Rinse > Check time for start of WBT > move to deoxidiser > Check time until 30 seconds elapsed > Inspect water break free surface > Immerse into deoxidiser on successful WBT

10. Process Control Flow Chart PCFC / Process Control Document PCD
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The Process Control Flow Chart (PCFC) lists each stage of the process and indicates where and when a water break test is required. The water break test is required after the cleaning process

11. Dataplate Training Chemical Processing for Nadcap
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