Contact cleaner vs alcohol

[HighVoltage]

My only complaint is that the can sprays out great gobs of the stuff when I only want a drop...

Yes, the original spray head is horrible although it is suppose to be adjustable by turning.
I am using a different spray head from a completely different can and it controls it much better.

[nctnico]

So I have a few old analogue oscilloscopes that need some maintenance and repair. After looking around online on what people use to clean pots and switches, I have found many answers.

Rule number one: once a switch or pot is worn it must be replaced. Switches and potmeters have a layer of material which makes the contact. Once that layer is gone it is broken. You can try to use oil to slow down the corrosion process of the layer but in the end you can't avoid the inevitable.
Using contact spray only makes things worse because the acid component will attack anything made of metal and eat away the good parts of a piece of equipment as well. If a piece of equipment smells of contact spray I don't touch it. I have learned that lesson the hard way!

[HighVoltage]

Well, without the contact spray, I would not have been able to repair my DATEL calibrator, since those switches can not be taken apart nor replaced. And they are working absolute perfectly right now. Just make sure your contact spray is NOT conductive at all.

[helius]

some strange fascination with acids ITT...
the active ingredient in Deoxit D100 is oleic acid, which prevents corrosion.

[Shock]

Just to clarify the DeoxIT D5 is 5% of their DeoxIT ingredient which contains some lubricant, 75% mineral spirits (naphtha) and 20% propellant, but great idea make your own.

[Shock]

Rule number one: once a switch or pot is worn it must be replaced. Switches and potmeters have a layer of material which makes the contact. Once that layer is gone it is broken. You can try to use oil to slow down the corrosion process of the layer but in the end you can't avoid the inevitable.
Using contact spray only makes things worse because the acid component will attack anything made of metal and eat away the good parts of a piece of equipment as well. If a piece of equipment smells of contact spray I don't touch it. I have learned that lesson the hard way!

Obviously if the part is worn beyond servicing it's not going to help but often it's contaminated and a good flush and slight lubrication (correctly based on the type of device) will restore them back to full operation. You can do an autopsy anyway and see what the problem is for your own eyes. Carbon wear/damage or plating worn off is a different story.

[nctnico]

some strange fascination with acids ITT...
the active ingredient in Deoxit D100 is oleic acid, which prevents corrosion.

Yeah right... most acids don't go well with metals and oleic acid isn't an exception. Look at this table: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/metal-corrosion-resistance-d_491.html Steel and bronze are affected by oleic acid.

[helius]

That's interesting, but I'm not sure that it is relevant. Contacts are most often nickel or gold plated copper. I haven't yet seen a switch body made of gray cast iron, but who knows.

[nanofrog]

Although it looks like a hold-out from 1993, the Contact Cleaners, Protectors & Enhancers for Electronics page might be of use. 

For those in Europe, see if you can get Cramolin Contact Cleaner as it's the original Deoxit red (made in Germany).  It's really good stuff. Not sure of other sources (came up empty at RS & Farnell), but Conrad Electronics carries it (400ml aerosol can).

[Raj]

wd40 is made for metal, go ahead and use it.its just kerosene oil with some other stuff inside it

[The_Penguin]

I've been using Nu-Trol since Moby Dick was a minnow.   http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/cleaners/contact-cleaners/nu-trol-control-cleaner-401b/

[David Hess]

I also use MG Chemicals Super Contact Cleaner which has naphtha and PPE but MG Chemicals has a silicon oil based version as well.  I squirted some into a small oiler so I can apply it drop by drop instead of spraying it.  The technical data on the Craig products is too obfuscated to trust.

Potentiometers and switches which use a wiping action need to be lubricated after being cleaned.  The choices for this are polyphenylether oil, silicon oil, or grease.  Silicon oil tends to creep and interferes with soldering.  Plastic safe cleaners are usually naphtha.

I have had better results using PPE instead of grease as lubricant in potentiometers.  High quality potentiometers which have a carbon wiper may need to be disassembled to clean grease caked with carbon from the worn wiper out.

[ez24]

The technical data on the Craig products is too obfuscated to trust.

I emailed some questions to them and their answers were like their website 

I think the question was what one product should I use on the switches of an old Tek scope and they answered with half a dozen picks.

[David Hess]

The technical data on the Craig products is too obfuscated to trust.

I emailed some questions to them and their answers were like their website 

I think the question was what one product should I use on the switches of an old Tek scope and they answered with half a dozen picks.

I had the same problem trying to find which Craig products are suitable for switches and potentiometers.  They have too little information published for too many products which are all described in marketing terms.

I think CRC has a combination cleaner and lubricant but I always have trouble finding it through their documentation.

[Tomorokoshi]

3M Novec contact cleaner worked very well for a couple things recently:

http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/?N=5002385+8711017&Ntt=novec+cleaner&LC=en_US&co=cc&gsaAction=scBR&rt=rs&type=cc

I have "Novec Contact Cleaner Plus" and "Novec Contact Cleaner/Lubricant". I did not use the lubricant version yet. It uses silicone.

I used it to clean up the rotary switch on an old radio, and the rotary switch on an old voltmeter. In both cases I was trying to track down other things. If there is an intermittent problem this may be just the thing.

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=novec