Baking a pcb for removing moisture

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gmphadte

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Joined 2003
One receiver pcb of 433.92 MHz has absorbed moisture and works when heated. So I want to bake it in a heated oven. Only one component I see that can be of issue is the adjustable inductor. How much temperature should I set and how long should I bake it.

Thanks in advance.

Gajanan Phadte
 
Mooly

Mooly

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Joined 2007
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I've washed and dried countless PCB's over the years. Around 50C is safe as long as there are no batteries on the PCB. The trouble with many ovens (domestic) is that they overshoot the set temperature by as much as 30 to 50% so be careful.
 
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Aucosticraft

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Joined 2009
Best is keep in sunlight for a day, but don't forget to bring it back home before evening.

btw, How many PCBs are you dealing with such problem? and how do you know that its a moisture problem. did you heat any before ? sometimes with such tuned circuits, heat deviate the values which can make it work.
 
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gmphadte

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Joined 2003
It is the car central locking remote receiver, one off.

It is only the coil that I am worried of and with my place(Goa) having humidity above 90% always, this usually is the problem after 2 or 3 years.

I even remember MW oscillators failing for the same reason.

Gajanan Phadte
 
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currentflow

Member
Joined 2008
gmphadte said:
It is the car central locking remote receiver, one off.

It is only the coil that I am worried of and with my place(Goa) having humidity above 90% always, this usually is the problem after 2 or 3 years.

I even remember MW oscillators failing for the same reason.

Gajanan Phadte
Click to expand...

Hi,
After having dried your PCB, have you considered giving it an application of conformal coating? You would need to mask any areas that may be affected by the product before applying, especially switches, buttons and battery contacts.
 
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gmphadte

Member
Joined 2003
This is a good preventive measure. I am going to remove/mask the coil and coat it with PU coat meant for pcbs, after drying.

There r no switches, buttons or battery contacts, except the four connectors which r easy to cover up.

Gajanan Phadte
 
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