Will Deoxit on a circuit board cause problems?

Not according to the manufacturer. Various formulations have been around for decades, with no alarms raised. Relax, plug it in and go.

Think about it for a moment. If a switch lube were conductive, and you sprayed it on the switch contacts, one might expect the switch lube to short out the switch. That would make it a very bad switch lube. Therefore, one might suspect that NOT shorting out the switch which Deoxit is trying to lubricate might be a formulation requirement. In other words, it better not be conductive.

Deoxit is mosly mineral oil (saturated parrafin oil) which will evaporate, but very slowly. You'll need some kind organic solvent to clean off the oil residue from the PCB. If you using Cramolin Red instead of Deoxit, there's some oleic acid in the mix as an oxide remover, which will very slowly corrode copper and must be removed from the PCB.

I guess I did not explain that real well. Of course it's not conductive, but what I meant is whether there could be water in it, meaning till it drys it could be conductive via the water. I know most chemicals these days cant contain solvents which are air pollution. In fact a mechanic friend told me that auto paints no longer contain laquer thinner, and some are even water based.

Knowing it's mineral oil eliminates that worry. I've never seen that Cramolin Red, but I'll be sure to never buy it. Deoxit seems to be the best anyhow, so I dont buy anything else. Years ago, I used Radio Shacks contact cleaner most of the time, which usually worked ok, but that is no longer available and Deoxit is better anyhow. It's a little on the pricey side, but I find myself using less of it than I used with the sprays I used in the past.

Thanks for the help.

Main ingredient in common Deoxit is gasoline. Well, Coleman Fuel, well Naphtha. It evaporates slower than some other solvents. The 5% oily solution remains for some time. Flammable but not conductive.

Greg

Some areas or states might have a ban on lacquer. Not popular like once was, but common in touch up spray cans. Enamel spray with hardener is awfull to breath.

if you want to clear boards, use a plastic safe residue free electronic spray.

Greg

OK - DeOxit as a contact cleaner (there are several formula) contains 95% v olatile hydrocarbons and propellants if applicable, and 5% proprietary ingr edients. These latter may or may not be Oleic acid, but they are reactant w ith various oxides of common conductive materials such as silver, copper or tin.

As long as all or part of that 5% has not reacted with one or another oxide , it will remain active. The salts produced by its reactions are, emphatica lly, conductive. DeOxit *MUST* be removed from whatever it goes into in ord er to prevent down-the-line problems. If used on a pot, the pot should be r insed in a _lubricating_ cleaner. CRC, amongst others, makes such a materia l, spray or pump.

So, use DeOxit. Allow it to work while exercising the pot (or switch). Rins e & lubricate. Done.

Peter Wieck Denver, CO

Reverse engineering Deoxit is problematic because the formula has changed over the years (starting with Cramoline) and because there are multiple mutations sold under the Deoxit name. There's now a Deoxit grease. Even so, I can assure you that gasoline is not used (it evaporates and you would smell it).

The spray type is mostly "mineral spirits" or "naphtha". The "active ingredient" is some kind of acidic oxide remover, such as oleic acid (because it is food safe):

mineral spirits (carrier solvent), 20% propellant Formulation contains petroleum naphtha (odorless mineral spirits) solvent, and is briefly flammable (until solvent evaporates within 2-3 minutes). It's slower to evaporate, providing flushing action to remove surfaces dirt, grease and other contaminants. Is ideal for connectors and components removed from equipment or those that are easily accessible. It is safe on plastics. When in doubt, always test for compatibility, especially vintage equipment with aging ABS plastic(s)."

Note the $150 for 7.4ml price tag for Deoxit Gold Pro GX3. "Shields Against Noise and RFI" Ummm... right.

What? If you sprayed it in your ear it would shield you against noise. And when were you last hassled by Robert Fred or Ian? See it does shield you from R,F&I.

NT

Ummm... It uses a brush or swap applicator (for maximum waste and evaporation) and is not a spray. A Q-tip might be best for swabbing in your ear. Let us know if it reduces the noise level and improves the SNR (signal to noise ratio) in this newsgroup.

Cute, clever, and I like that.

Well I'm not an earologist, but I presumed more would get on the eardrum if it were sprayed in, hence the suggestion of sorts. And if some does, it's bound to reduce noise, to some degree.

NT

Quick fix (Pat. Pend.):

a) Obtain one small container of low-grade, but pure Olive Oil. b) Obtain a small container of Zippo lighter fluid (made in Bradford, PA). c) Obtain a small package of cotton swabs.

In a small dish, mix nineteen (19) drops of lighter fluid with one (1) drop of olive oil.

Saturate the end of one cotton swab in the material.

Stick it in your ear!

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

That would be an otolaryngologist: Please add the word to your grammar, vocabulary, and spelling chequer.

It might reduce the high end frequency response of the ear drum, but the sensitivity to audible noise would likely be worse. Water, oil, and presumably Deoxit are incompressible and thus transmitting sounds and noise better than through compressible air. That's why we can hear when submerged in water. Besides, I don't think the ultra expensive Deoxit Pro GX3 is currently available in spray form. Since every drop is valueable, a proper dispenser would be a blunt needle tip bottle, not a brush or swab, and certainly not a wasteful spray.

Otology, otorhinolaryngology, otolaryngology, ENT, etc. Please explain how I can add a word that's in my vocabulary to my vocabulary, I can't find that command. I'm running Life 1.0.

Anyone that's been underwater can tell you they hear less. It's obvious enough, since water has way more density than air.

NT

I don't think it's my place to teach you how to learn, but the general procedure is quite simple. Open book, insert face, learn a few new words, use them as much a possible, and hopefully some of them might stick. Writing or typing these new additions to your vocabulary also enhances retention and improves spelling.

I believe that I mentioned that underwater hearing attenuates the high frequency sounds, while still passing most of the low frequency sounds. Moving the eardrum against a mass of water on one side requires more energy. Moving the eardrum slower, at lower frequencies, requires less energy, so some of that is preserved. Either way, spraying Deoxit in your ear isn't going to do anything useful, except maybe loosen some ear wax.

You forgot to mention "OPEN YOUR EYES"....... :)

There are approximately 228,000 words in the English Language excluding com pounds, jargon, plurals, etc..

Add in all of the above, and that number jumps to just under 1,000,000.

Of the first number, the average American native English speaker has a work ing vocabulary of about 5,000 words speaking, and about twice that written.

Test yourself (the link is one of many) and let us know.

Writing for myself, I grew up with over 5,000 books and no television in th e house. I typically max out on these test with a working vocabulary of ove r 80,000 words undifferentiated between spoken and written. This is not eve n a little bit a matter of intelligence, simply a matter of early, continue d and repeated exposure. I still read, on average, three books per week, in a mix of about 40% mystery (Martha Grimes, Louise Penny), 20% Thriller (Le e Child, Steven King, Dean Koontz) and the rest historical (David McCulloug h and such).

Words are fascinating. At the same time, both tools and weapons.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

You wont find that on ebay much of the time. Particularly if the item is in California. Apparenely there are a lot of foreign speaking persons selling on ebay, in CA. who only know ten words in English.

Just recently I asked a CA ebay seller about a part for my car. I gave a detailed description of what I needed, and asked if they would tell me the correct part, if that was the wrong one. (There were 4 possibilities).

The reply I got (3 days later) was:

• So sorry it is not fit. *

I bet that used up half of his English vocabulary.....

And did not help me get the correct part.

I ordered from a different seller, which cost $2 more, I phoned and that seller was able and willing to help me get the perfect part and could speak english well, and was friendly to boot.

Good service means a lot to me, and I'll pay a little more to get it.

I'd hate to think what would happen if I got the wrong, or a defective part from that guy who cant speak english... Actually I have had that happen with a few other items, and it became a real hassle...

orking

The saddest part, and I did not go too deeply into it, is that non-American native English speakers tend to have a spoken vocabulary of approximately

ESL speakers tend to learn 2.5 words per day, for approximately five years after starting to learn English. And they 'start' with roughly 1,000 words. Meaning that they are as good or better (discounting an accent) than the a verage American in that five years.

Education in this country is abysmal at the elementary and high-school leve l. And we are paying the price.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

I tried that "vocab" test site you cited. Deeply boring. Just a test of idiomatic simple English (at least for the first 50% - as far as I could be bothered to try!). Certainly not polysyllabic...

Mike.