Two weeks after commissioning, the detergent drum runs dry and nobody can explain it: the PCB cleaning detergent was measured by eye, the bath was topped up whenever it looked low, and the shift log says only “topped up”. A fluid budget closes that gap, and it starts from three numbers — of which your datasheet will usually give you one.
On 3 November 2026 we read every product page we publish (22 of them, 21 carrying a specification table) and counted the rows that answer a fluid-budget question. Eight pages publish a tank volume. Two publish a detergent dose rate. None publishes a dilution ratio or a bath concentration setpoint. The method below is therefore built on your own dose record, because the sheet alone cannot carry it. (Source: CHUANGQI product pages, read on 3 November 2026.)
Key takeaways
- Eight of 22 product pages publish a tank volume; two publish a dose rate.
- No page states a dilution ratio or a bath concentration setpoint.
- One page quotes 1.0–2.5 L/h, another 50–1500 ml/min — different units, different labels.
- Budget from tank volume multiplied by your recorded dose, never from the sheet alone.
- Re-run the budget after every fluid, board-mix or filtration change.
What the Twenty-Two Product Pages Actually Publish
The sample is every product page published on chuangqitech.com — 22 pages, read on 3 November 2026. For each page we checked whether the specification table carries a wash or rinse tank volume, a detergent dose rate, a dilution ratio or concentration setpoint, a detergent type, and a rinse-water inflow or consumption figure. Counts below are pages, not field names. This is a documentation review: it records what a buyer can read, not what a machine can do.
| Field | Pages of 22 | Value as printed | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wash or rinse tank volume | 8 | 20 L; 40 L (two pages); two tanks of 42 L (three pages); 50 L; 60 L | Litres per bath fill |
| Detergent dose rate | 2 | 1.0–2.5 L per hour; 50–1500 ml per minute | Fluid drawn per running hour |
| Dilution ratio or concentration setpoint | 0 | — | Nothing yet |
| Detergent type | 1 | alcohol-based | Material compatibility review |
| Rinse-water inflow | 2 | 0.5 m³/h; 1.0 m³/h | DI supply sizing |
| Rinse-water consumption | 1 | 10–16 L/min | Rinse volume per hour run |
Source: CHUANGQI product data sheets, field tally of 3 November 2026. Volumes appear exactly as each page prints them.
The pattern is consistent: volume is published, rate is not. Eight pages tell you how big the bath is, two tell you how fast detergent goes in, and no page tells you the ratio at which the two meet. That is the number every fluid budget needs and the number a datasheet is least likely to supply.
Two Dose Rates, Two Units, No Common Ground
The CQ-C9610 Inline PCBA Water Cleaning Machine sheet lists “Detergent Consumption 1.0–2.5 litres an hour”, which converts to roughly 17–42 millilitres a minute. The CQ-C758 PCBA Circuit Board Cleaning Machine sheet lists “Detergent Flow 50–1500 millilitres a minute”, or 3–90 litres in the same hour.
Same question, two labels, and ranges that do not overlap. One field is named consumption, the other flow. In practice they describe different things: a flow figure is a pump setting that can be dialled up or down, while a consumption figure is what the process draws while it runs. Neither page states a dosing duty cycle, so neither number on its own becomes a monthly quantity.
The monthly figure depends on four things: how many hours the machine actually runs, the dose your process engineer signed off for that flux family, the drag-out carried away on boards, pallets and fixtures, and how often the bath is topped up after rinse carry-over. Change any one and the drum count moves.
Building a Budget in Four Steps
Start where the documentation is strongest. Tank volume is the one fluid row that most sheets publish, so it becomes the anchor for everything else.
- Read the tank volume, not the drum label. A 60-litre tank holds 18 litres more than a 42-litre one, so the first number you need is the volume printed on the machine you are actually running.
- Fix the dose by test, not by habit. Run your own boards, have the process engineer record the dose in millilitres per litre, and treat that figure as the plant standard. It will not come from a datasheet.
- Meter one drum. Put a single drum on a written log for four weeks: opening level, top-ups, closing level. That measurement is the only consumption figure with your process inside it.
- Re-run after every change. Fluid grade, board mix, filtration stage and rinse quality each move the figure. The bath-signal checklist covers the point at which a bath should be dumped rather than topped up, which is the other half of the same budget.
One arithmetic check is worth doing before any of this. The CQ-C9610 sheet gives 1.0–2.5 litres per running hour; over an eight-hour shift that is 8 to 20 litres if the pump delivered continuously. Most recipes do not dose continuously, which is exactly why the recorded duty cycle — not the headline rate — decides the answer.
What This Audit Cannot Tell You
Three limits, stated plainly. First, this is a review of one manufacturer’s published pages on one date; it says nothing about how any other supplier documents a bath, and it should not be read as a ranking. Second, the audit counts documentation, not performance: a page that publishes a tank volume is not thereby a better machine than one that omits it.
Third, and most important: this method is not suitable for solvent or semi-aqueous processes. Those baths are specified on solvent type and distillation rather than on detergent dose, and consumption follows a different logic; the four steps above would give a confident number that means nothing. For solvent work, ask the fluid supplier for a consumption model against your drag-out instead.
Across both chemistries the shape of the answer is the same: the documentation gives you the volume, your own records give you the dose, and the budget exists only once the two are written down in the same place.
If you are checking whether a machine’s sheet can support a fluid budget at all, send us the board profile, the flux family and the shift pattern through the cleaning-fluid enquiry form and we will reply with a quote within 24 hours. The fluid itself is described on the water-based cleaning fluid page.
Frequently asked questions
How much cleaning detergent does a PCB washer use per shift?
Only two of our 22 product pages publish a dose rate, and they disagree in units: 1.0–2.5 litres hourly on the CQ-C9610, 50–1500 millilitres per minute on the CQ-C758. A usable per-shift figure needs your recorded dose and the real running hours, not the datasheet alone.
Why is no dilution ratio published?
Because the correct ratio belongs to the flux and the board, not to the machine. A ratio printed on a sheet would be wrong for most plants; the dose is set during process qualification and then held in the plant’s own documentation.
Can I estimate consumption from tank volume alone?
No. Tank volume gives you litres per fill. Consumption also depends on fill frequency, drag-out and top-ups, so a volume-only estimate typically understates a working bath and overstates a bath that is changed rarely.
Does a bigger tank always mean more detergent?
Not necessarily. A larger bath holds more fluid per fill but usually runs longer between changes, and drag-out per board does not change with tank size. Compare litres per month, not litres per tank.