WD-40 to clean electric contacts?

Until you use it on one where the plastic bits dissolve and melt together.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman
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** Lie number 1.

** Lie number two.

Most so called "contact cleaners" are hopeless at fixing noisy switches and pots. The solvents use are too weak and evaporate so fast they do not do anything. Plus there is no residual oil to protect metal surfaces from corrosion.

** Why is it always a "friend" who has weird experience with WD40 and never the person posting ??

Cos the story is a complete fabrication.

... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

** Massive LIE !!

WD40 does not harm plastics used to make electronic or electrical components.

That is the oldest and STUPIDEST crock of shit trotted out by WD40 haters.

The Prickman is a parroting MORON.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

I've been meaning to thank you for telling us that some months back.

In my Yamaha A-520 stereo amp, I've been putting up for several years now with a noisy/intermittent balance pot for several years. Only one channel working most of the time, and when you finally get both to work, one was significantly louder than the other. It looks like a big job to disassemble it enough to replace.

A quick squirt of WD-40 and it seems as good as new. I wouldn't have done it on anyone else's recommendation.

Clifford Heath.

Reply to
Clifford Heath

Cheaper than the old can you've had in the tool-shed for the last 20 years, but which has been your saviour on the odd occasion when you've suddenly needed a general-purpose lubricant / switch cleaner / rusty nut freer / corrosion inhibitor ?

>
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Ian
Reply to
Ian Jackson

While I'm sure that there have been occasions when a squirt of WD40 has dissolved everything in sight, I've been using it for decades, and I've never found it has ever caused any such damage.

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Ian
Reply to
Ian Jackson

** Thanks or the vote of confidence.

Often, the effect of using a little WD40 is so quick and complete it seems almost magical.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

It does not displace water unless it's the blast. It floats on water. PB Blaster displaces water.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

WD-40 is not designed to remove or protect against rust either. It is meant to *DISPLACE* dampness in the process of cleaning and protecting tools *with something else*.

Try the test.

WD-40 is neither voodoo, black magic nor a secret potion. It is a very simple compound designed for a few very basic purposes.

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Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

The MSDS for WD-40 is posted previously. Look up the numbers.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

From the link you quoted: "Product Use: Lubricant, Penetrant, Drives Out Moisture, Removes and Protects Surfaces From Corrosion"

Why do you believe that "Removes and Protects Surfaces From Corrosion" does not include removing or protecting against rust? From the Wikipedia article on "Rust": "Rusting is the common term for corrosion of iron and its alloys".

. It is

I have, many times. It just works.

It is not a compound. A compound is a single entity . It is a mixture of compounds (including "non-hazardous ingredients", which appear to be, or include, sodium bisulfite). The actual amounts are given as ranges.

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Jeff
Reply to
Jeff Layman

It washes out the proper & better lubricants.

We have a sliding door that does get a bit stiff, so a while ago a regular spray of WD40 sorted it - until it got stuck again. Then another respray.

Now I've I fixed the respray issue more or less permanently with light machine oil. Actually another known household brand name, 3-in-1.

When it later needs a clean, I'll use WD40 - then back with the oil.

Because of the advertising, the non-technical "my tv is broke, must be the switch" tend to overuse the product on anything things that are not suited, I'm sure some here will have seen examples of overendevous application on deck mechanics and electronics.

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Adrian C
Reply to
Adrian Caspersz

er.

ents.

s.

As much as I hate to agree with Phil, I believe he's right.

I've learned about unintended solvent welding of plastics with all kinds of spray elixirs, and I've also learned to test each one on soft plastics so I have an idea of what kind of consequences (if any) to expect upon usage.

WD40 has never shown any tendency to soften or otherwise affect plastics th at I'm aware of. Is there a strange plastic formula that WD might affect t hat I've never encountered? Possibly, but I've never seen it, at least not at the level that plastic controls might be constructed of.

Maybe the "friend's" controls weren't solvent welded at all, but bound by t he original hardened lubricant that was dissolved and rehardened later afte r being flushed into the shaft.

Reply to
ohger1s

Not WD-40 but I found out that using Lock-Ease on a bicycle chain lock with plastic internal parts is a poor idea :) Even worse is having the chain wrapped around the bike and an immobile object at the time.

Reply to
rbowman

This was laboratory equipment that had never seen any harsh treatment. Anything is possible I suppose, so maybe the controls weren't melted by the WD-40. But the fact remains that regardless of the exact details surrounding the problem, it was caused by the indiscriminate use of WD-40 where it does nothing to help.

So caution is advised when using WD-40 on electronics regardless of the details of how it mucks up the works.

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Rick C
Reply to
rickman

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The money all ends up at the same place!

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Jeff
Reply to
Jeff Layman

I can tell you one thing it is DEFINITELY no good for. I have EuroVynyl brand tilt turn side dlider windiws - made with Rehau vinyl extrusions. When cleaning the windows my wife drcided to lubricate the pivot blocks with WD-40.She then could not get the blocks to slide in the track. I ended up moving the top block far enough to pop the window sash out of the sliders, drive the block to the end, cut the top of the track and pry out the block. Luckily I had purchased a few sets of the lovot blocks and other parts fron the manufacturer when I bought the windowsn(I worked for the dealer) so I was able to replace the swollen blocks. No amount of soaking in alcohol or any othe substance was effective in returning the block to the proper size. No idea what kind of plastic it was- but it sure didn't like WD-40.

If using wd-40 to disolve hardened grease in a slide switch, ALWAYS finish the job with a contact cleaner to flush out the remains.

In automotive switches, like power window, door lock, headlight, etc, when I've had to dissassemble them and clean/polish contacts etc I re-assemble using a synthetic silicone based grease which won't harden.WD 40 can be an effective solvent for softeninf and removing the old "boogers" - . It can also be acceptable for "burnishing" plug-in connectors and keeping them from corroding - things like wiring harnes plugs - but the old TV Tuner dope works a lot better if you can still find it.

Reply to
clare

Peter, I discovered this residue after cleaning a machine well with solvent and then spraying wirth WD-40. There was left behind a hard coating on all the previously cleaned metal surfaces. I have since learned to use this to advantage when repairing an oil rubbed bronze finish that has been damamged by machining operations. After texturing and oxidizing the bright bronze machined surface I heat, then spray, then heat and then spray again with WD-40. This ends up being almost exactly a US-10 oil rubbed bronze finish and wears identically. Eric

Reply to
etpm

On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 11:57:29 AM UTC-4, snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca wrote: Luckily I had

I've heard of certain materials that swell in the presence of oils. Maybe it wasn't the solvent in the WD but the mineral oil it contains. IOW, any spray with mineral oil might have had the same effect.

Reply to
ohger1s

According to the chart at

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mineral oil has a "C" compatibility rating for polycarbonate and polypropylene ("Moderate attack of appreciable absorption. Material will have limited life.")

For "Lubricating oils (petroleum)" HDPE also gets a "C" rating.

For "white spirit", the plastics listed are all either "A" (no attack, possibly slight absorption, negigible effect on mechanical properties) or "*" (no data available).

Reply to
Dave Platt

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