Received My New Leads

[tony3d]

Received my new test leads from Franky. Very happy with them! My old cheap leads that came with my power supply were only able to pass about 4.6 Amps through to my meter with one volt. These have bumped it up to 5.095 amps! their very nice , and flexible as well. Going to order more in the coming days. Very nice quality stuff!

[tmammela]

I did receive leads from him too, also my new multimeter UT61E. Huge difference between stock leads and the better ones. Continuity checking is very slow with stock ones. But even them can be made to work, just clean them with isopropyl alcohol and rub hard with something like this:



This removes the oxication from the leads which makes very large difference.

[Lightages]

No, don't use abrasives to clean probes! Use fine steel wool. Abrasives will clean off the plating too.

[tmammela]

If you mean those kitchen cleaning pads in the picture, I don't think they are any more abrasive than steel wool. Pretty soft stuff.

[Lightages]

Many of those types of sponges have abrasives impregnated in the scrubbing pad. If it is just plastic with no abrasive then they are OK of course.

[tmammela]

Okay, didn't know that! 

[madshaman]

I wouldn't use *any* abrasive that's remotely hard (like steel).  I recommend a *plastic* scrub pad plus some time in the ultrasonic cleaner with water and detergent then another round with an at least partially non-polar solvent (like iso-propyl alcohol).

If you don't have an ultrasonic cleaner, ask your dentist if they're going to throw any out or have any old ones.

[r3l3u]

*plastic* scrub pad plus

   agree with this

[kizzap]

No, don't use abrasives to clean probes! Use fine steel wool. Abrasives will clean off the plating too.

Many of those types of sponges have abrasives impregnated in the scrubbing pad. If it is just plastic with no abrasive then they are OK of course.

You recommend not using a softer material (like a scourer) in place of a metal alternative which will scrub clean through said plating, in less time?

Just because it is labelled as "wool" doesn't mean it is soft. Steel wool is an unforgiving bastard...

-kizzap

[Lightages]

Yes I know steel wool is not soft.

The difference is that abrasives in sponges and things like that are usually aluminum oxide or carborundum which are VERY hard materials with vary sharp points on the particles. These sharp corners will scratch and damage the chrome or hard nickel plating on the probes. They can even start removing the plating.

Steel wool is long thin strands of steel. It is not high grade hard steel but low grade mostly iron steel. The steel should be much softer than most plating on leads, that is if they are of any kind of quality. The strands of steel will have more of a wiping acting rather than a digging scratching action on the plating. Even if the coating is softer, the strands will do much less damage than sharp almost as hard a diamonds little rocks digging into the plating.

Yes the preference would be to use no abrasive type of material in any form. The materials used in the probe grips are not usually very agreeable with with many solvents. When the probes are molded, either the mold is sprayed with mold release which then gets on the probe tips, and/or the plastic from the probe grips gets on the probe tips. This is the cause of the bad contact and what needs to be cleaned off. So to clean the probes only with solvents and not with any type of mechanical cleaning would also start degrading the probe grips.

What would be the best chemicals to clean the probe tips? Probably toluene, acetone, and chlorinated solvents like Chlorothene NU or VG but they would also be very hazardous to use for the probe grips and the person doing the cleaning. I other words, anything that is actually going to dissolve the plastic coating on the probe tips from the molding process is also going to dissolve the grips and is going to be hazardous to the user.

If the probe tips have lousy plating and have an oxide layer then chemicals like the above will do nothing and only an abrasive is going to help or some kind of electrolysis. Using the mildest form of abrasive possible, steel wool in this case, is the preferable tool.

I also meant to say that gold plated tips should never be cleaned with any abrasive. That plating will get destroyed immediately. Use the least mechanically aggressive method possible and use isopropanol or something similar.

[iloveelectronics]

Received my new test leads from Franky. Very happy with them! My old cheap leads that came with my power supply were only able to pass about 4.6 Amps through to my meter with one volt. These have bumped it up to 5.095 amps! their very nice , and flexible as well. Going to order more in the coming days. Very nice quality stuff!

Thanks Tony! I'm glad you liked them.

[G7PSK]

Scotch bright comes in various grades from ones that are softer than plain cloth to ones harsher than steel wool, but the best thing for cleaning probes is silver polish.

[SeanB]

If you want a really tough scotchbrite pad then use a floor stripper one, the black ones are pretty rough, with the red finishing pads the finest, and the white buffing ones perfect for polishing granite floors. I use the black ones as a cleaner for the BBQ, and to clean stainless steel cookware. 500mm diameter pads last a long time cut up into small hand size pieces.