Can PCB yellow gum conduct Electricity?

[mord]

Sometimes after soldering of points on PCB, yellow gums do 'emerge' from the board, most hobbyist do scrap them off, but i don't even in high voltage applications. Can they conduct electricity in high spikes if they are touching two points?

 

[barry]

Are you talking about flux? Yes, flux CAN be problematic for very-low level circuits. There are different types of fluxes, so you need to know exactly which one you've got.

 

[mord]

Thanks. I dont really know what flux is, what am talking about is some kind of yellow coloured glue which goes molten during solderimg on PCB boards. By the way, what do you mean 'low level circuit'?

 

[barry]

You are making me nervous. You are dealing with high voltage and you don't know what solder flux is? Please don't electrocute yourself.

First of all, nothing is "emerging" from your PCB (unless you are heating your board so much that the epoxy is melting); what you are seeing is flux, a chemical that is embedded in the solder to enable it to melt properly. Again, depending on the type of flux, it may be a problem. One problem is that it may absorb moisture which will increase conductivity. That means it could possibly breakdown when there's high voltage between two points.

By low level circuits I mean sensitive circuits dealing with low level currents or voltages.