DIYbanter - View Single Post - WD-40 to clean electric contacts?

rickman

On 5/2/2017 5:36 PM, wrote:
On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 5:22:46 PM UTC-4, rickman wrote:
On 5/2/2017 1:34 PM, wrote:
On Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 11:57:29 AM UTC-4,
wrote: Luckily I had
purchased a few sets of the lovot blocks and other parts fron
the manufacturer when I bought the windowsn(I worked for the
dealer) so I was able to replace the swollen blocks. No amount
of soaking in alcohol or any othe substance was effective in
returning the block to the proper size. No idea what kind of
plastic it was- but it sure didn't like WD-40.

I've heard of certain materials that swell in the presence of
oils. Maybe it wasn't the solvent in the WD but the mineral oil
it contains. IOW, any spray with mineral oil might have had the
same effect.

Does it really matter which component of WD-40 causes the problem
or if other products cause the same problem?

For the purposes of the discussion, I think it does. If most spray
elixirs use some sort of petroleum based oil that has a long term
affect on certain plastics, then it's not fair to single out WD40
particularly. In any case, I don't recall any other spray solutions
that use a synthetic lube that trumpet the fact that they are safe
for all plastics. If WD had a known issue with plastics, someone (if
not the WD folks) would surely step in with a fix product to steal
the sales.

I don't know what "fair" has to do with it. Someone suggested using
WD-40 as a contact cleaner and I as well as a couple others pointed out
it can cause problems. Others disputed this. Bottom line it WD-40 is
not safe to use without checking the materials in use. There are many
products that are specifically intended as contact cleaners which don't
cause these problems.

The point is that WD-40 is not a
good product to use on electrical devices unless you know the
materials won't be affected by it.

That's good advice for any external additive.

Exactly. Some here have said WD-40 is universally safe to use when it
is not.

I always test the
material in question.

How exactly do you do that without using it on the product in question?

Still, other than the fellow with the swollen
window blocks (probably an interference fit as it was designed), I
think WD-40 will have no affect on electrical connectors.

I can't say that universally. As I mentioned, a friend used it on an
expensive piece of chemical instrumentation and it froze the controls.
I guess if the problem is caused by swelling the material and the
connector has a very loose fit, it might not cause a problem. But why
take the chance when there are other products that just plain *won't*
cause a problem?

Some people here are in denial about the issue and refuse to
consider that anything other than their own personal experience
constitutes reality. You seem a bit more reasonable.

I don't even use the stuff...

--

Rick C