WD-40 to clean electric contacts?

WD-40 to clean electric contacts?

I'm on vacation and renting a room, and my landlady has a combination CD/Radio/Cassette?, very compact, portable, works well except fo the little on/off/CD slide switch.

The switch doesn't easily make contact, even when pushed to and past the On position. So it's hard to get the radio on, and it turns off by itself in about 30 minutes. Moving the switch back and forth 10 times to clean it hasn't worked yet.

Normally what I would do is spray contact cleaner or tuner cleaner in the switch from above, where the plastic slider that goes over the switch is, And normally that doesn't accomplish much.

Even taking such things apart and spraying the switch from underneath has taken longer to work than for rheostats, for example, and here I don't want to take it apart. She's only my landlady.

I don't know where in this non-English-speaking country to buy contact cleaner and she might balk at the extra money, but she does have something in an aerosol can that looks mighty like WD-40.

I have this vague recollection that WD-40 is good to clean electric contacts?? Either that or it's bad for them. Should I try it.

BTW, I want to use the radio, so that's one big reason I want it fixed. When it stopped playing while she was there, she said, "Oh, yeah, maybe that's why I bought another one" (She speaks English.)

Reply to
Micky
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Trying it, will certainly not make things worse. And cleaning/flooding the switch a day or two later with something volatile,(alcohol,turpentine or such) will take care of the wd40 residue(maybe). I don't think it will make things worse.

Reply to
Sjouke Burry

According to WD-40's "List of 2000+ Uses" at

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"? Cleans gunk from electrical contacts" is one of them

Reply to
Retired

A few things on WD-40.

Its name means Water Displacement - 40th try. It is, essentially, stoddard solvent, that is highly refined kerosene and a very small amount of very light mineral oil. It is 100% volatile over time. Which is directly related to temperature. Most gunks and goos are soluble in WD-40. But, what is not rinsed away will be evenly distributed when the solvent evaporates. So beware! It is a rather gentle solvent, and does not attack most plastics or finishes. *MOST*, not all!

WD-40 is NOT a contact cleaner. What it does along those lines is by rinsing. WD-40 is not a lubricant. It will (temporarily) reconstitute some lubricants under some conditions.

Good luck with it, you could do worse.

Reply to
pfjw

And most of the 2000 ideas are marketing hype.

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Jeff-1.0 
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Reply to
Foxs Mercantile

Stoddard solvent is aka white spirit. I'd try 100 times rather than 10.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

You're a regular party-pooper!

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Reply to
Wade Garrett

Get it on Ebay and have it shipped to you.

Reply to
oldschool

In message , " snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" writes

The makers of WD40 might disagree with you.

Indeed. WE40 may be the perfect cure for every problem - but it IS a good general-purpose cleaner/lubricant/anti-corrosion fluid. I've never had any problems with it.

--
ian
Reply to
Ian Jackson

WD-40 does not completely evaporate over time unless the temperature is higher than that which is compatible with human life. It leaves a kind of hard residue, almost like a very hard wax. A very thin coating. Which, unless baked on, will be easily dissloved when next doused with WD-40. I have had direct experience with this coating. It can be used to repaior an oil-rubbed bronze finish. Eric

Reply to
etpm

No, it does completely evaporate. That 'leftover' is the previous skunge dissolved and spread over everything.

To prove this out:

Take a standard paper towel, clean and dry. Saturate it in WD-40. Leave it on a clean surface in a location in your domicile exposed to normal temperature variations. Check it in 4-20 days depending on ambient temperatures.

Don't take my word for it.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Reply to
pfjw

Having cleaned the residue (glue like substance) of WD-40 from many an electrical unit I would say that it's only practical use is for preventing rust on tools.

Everything else is hype.

There are FAR better solvents out there than WD-40...and cheaper!

John :-#(#

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Reply to
John Robertson

I have a bit of trouble with your test, Peter. If it left no residue then WD-40 couldn't prevent rust on tools (which was all it was only designed to do).

Instead of your paper towel, pour some WD-40 on a sheet of glass and let it sit and evaporate for a while and see what remains.

There MUST be some sort of residue.

My shop's experience is WD-40 plus oil = glue/goo.

John :-#)#

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Reply to
John Robertson

I've never had any problems with it either, but there are tw othings ti does not do well. 1. Loosen rusted bolts. (I use PB Blaster for that, it's a much better product). 2. Be used as a permanent lubricant. For example, if the tailgate on my pickup is sticking, I will use WD 40 to loosen that linkage, but once the linkage is loose, I apply an oil or grease to that linkage for a permanent lube. I dont think the WD 40 totally evaporates, but there is little lube left. Thus I apply the oil or whatever as a permanent lube for that linkage.

I have never used WD 40 for electronic switch contacts or potentiometers. I always used contact cleaner. But I have used WD 40 on auto connectors such as trailer light plugs, with corrosion on them. It helps clean them, but I always clean them as best as possible too.

Overall, its top promotion seems to be to loosen rusted bolts, and I find it near worthless for that purpose. But it does have some other uses which are valuable. It's also works rather well to clean off oxidation on old dull paint (on cars and other metal objects).

There are other generic replacements for WD 40 that are cheaper and work just as well. I usually buy them.

Reply to
oldschool

** WD40 is excellent at making bad contacts good again.

Switches, connectors and pots are all examples.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

** No need to do that, the reside is just light mineral oil.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

** So a few lies from this norotious WD-40 hater.

** WD-40 contains no kerosene and the oil content is 10-15 %.
** At room temp, that could means years.
** So the same action as other contact cleaners.

** Of course it is.

..... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

** Which is refined petrol, aka lighter fluid.

..... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

** Ever burn some oil in a fry pan ?

If you put WD-40 on parts that get hot, a similar residue forms.

It cleans off easily or dissolves in fresh WD-40 so is not a problem.

I see it on the pins of certain noval tubes from time to time.

.... Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

Very bad idea. Contact cleaner is specifically formulated for the job and won't cause any harm to electronics. A friend used WD40 on some very expensive chemical instrumentation as "preventive maintenance" and the volatile solvents in it melted the shafts to the collars on the pots freezing them. So he had a service call the next day where he had to replace the pots he sprayed.

--

Rick C
Reply to
rickman

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