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Agilent U1242A blue rubber falling apart

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montecri:
Hello all,

About 2 years ago me and my brother bought a NOS Agilent U1242A multimeter each. Original boxes, manuals, leads, etc.

After some weeks of usage, we both notice the blue rubber quickly degrading. I tried to preserve mine with silicone grease but, its still degrading, even while not in use.

My brother uses his much more intensively in his shop and just told me he had to throw his in the garbage since not only the cover rubber totally fell apart but also the main knob totally disintegrated in his hands, while the selection contacts became spotty over time.

Some pictures of mine are attached.

Question: How can I "renew" mine in order to not fall apart? Or, how can I get a replacement cover/knob?

Thank you all!

- Cristiano

Bushougoma:
Is it a rubberized coating going sticky?

If so nothing can be done other than to remove the coating from the plastic. I've had success using Isopropyl Alcohol.

Wrenches of Death:

Does it have an odor?

Are you sure that it isn't some type of living organism? Maybe a fungus?

I've had similar looking crap grow on older Snap-on and Xcellite tool handles.

WoD


Neepa:
Afaik this happens when some kinds of synthetic rubbers , often Polyethylene variants, encounter any amount of mineral oils.

The rubber starts to break down and comes apart in chunks as it has absorbed some of the oil. Supposedly it smeels a bit like cheese.
Upon a quick search anything EPDM will absorb mineral oil and then swell.

Overmolding on powertools done in synthetic rubber will display this behaviour too. Although on my recent Bosch drill they switched to SEBS. Was EPDM before iirc.

Kean:
I have a few items with overmolding which had gone sticky but were otherwise fine - battery packs, tools, etc.
I covered the sticky areas with talcum powder which worked reasonably well to recover the surfaces (left some blemishes) and saved me throwing them away.

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