old scope & contact cleaner

[Walter Harley]

How safe is aerosol contact cleaner (e.g., Caig Labs D-5) for the switches
on old test gear? Specifically I'm worried about whether if that stuff
soaks into a circuit board or the wafer of a rotary switch, will it change
the electrical properties?

And, same question re control cleaner/lube for the pots. If some of it gets
sprayed around and lands other than where I meant it to, will it cause
problems?

Thanks!

 

[Joerg]

Hello Walter,

How safe is aerosol contact cleaner (e.g., Caig Labs D-5) for the switches
on old test gear? Specifically I'm worried about whether if that stuff
soaks into a circuit board or the wafer of a rotary switch, will it change
the electrical properties?

I don't know that one. Most of my sprays are from "Kontaktchemie" in
Germany. There they have contact cleaners that cleans aggressively but
can be too aggressive at times. They also have sprays that are less
aggressive and that's the ones I use for electronics. Usually these are
(were?) marketed for "tuner repair". But it's been a long time, I use
this stuff sparingly, also for environmental reasons.

And, same question re control cleaner/lube for the pots. If some of it gets
sprayed around and lands other than where I meant it to, will it cause
problems?

Pot cleaning with sprays? To be honest I have never seen a long term
success there. Sure, the pot won't crackle at the end of the day. But a
few weeks later it's usually the same old problem again.

Regards, Joerg

 

[Joerg]

Hello Andreas,

"tuner 600" is more mildly, I would recommend this to for maintenance
for older T&M gear.-- but that's just my 2cts. ;-)

That's the one I use.

Regards, Joerg