LebGeeks

yasamoka

Member

Contact Cleaner

Hello there. I'm looking for a contact cleaner.

Something like this, perhaps:

Preferably a contact cleaner that is used for audio equipment, such as guitars and amps.

For a point of reference, WD-40 is too viscous for what I need to do (cleaning contacts of a mechanical keyboard's Cherry MX Blue switches).

Thank you.

mesa177

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

I highly recommend the CRC QD Contact Cleaner:

It works beautifully (saved me some 60,000$ worth of equipment after the flood in our hospital), and dries quickly. We got a whole box of it but it was from a source in Tyre, don't know if there's one in Beirut.

You might find a similar American brand at Costco in Jnah.

There's also the Video 90 at Katranji, works fine but not as much as the CRC.

Last edited by mesa177 (March 25 2013)

yasamoka

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Thank you for the reply! Do you think they would work well for such sensitive things as keyboard switches?

venam

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

--

Last edited by venam (July 31 2013)

yasamoka

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Certainly a joy!

What do you think, Venam?

venam

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

--

Last edited by venam (July 31 2013)

venam

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

--

Last edited by venam (July 31 2013)

yasamoka

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

I think that I hate my scissor switches, they are too crunchie.
Where did you get this keyboard?
Did you command it from abroad?
I would love to get a HHKB from Japan.
I'll buy one if they ship to Lebanon.

Well, me and friends got 3 Ducky Shine 2 from Mechanical Keyboards Inc. in USA.
Blue switch, White LED
Blue switch, White LED Tenkeyless (mine)
Blue switch, Blue LED

Yes, I recommend them since they share the high build quality of the Filcos and such, and have per key LED backlight. I've gone to real battle with it a few times already, the sheer weight of this thing is a knockout ;)

Oh yes, saw these rubber o-rings. Planning to get some to silence mine; however, I'm ordering a small sampler kit first to see for myself how each ring feels.

Last edited by yasamoka (March 25 2013)

xterm

Moderator

Re: Contact Cleaner

Off-Topic: Don't silence your keyboard, silence your neighbors instead.

mesa177

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Thank you for the reply! Do you think they would work well for such sensitive things as keyboard switches?

Yes, because it worked perfectly for the MRI keyboard and the keypad of the 4D ultrasound and both are known to be extremely sensitive.

yasamoka

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Thank you for the reply! Do you think they would work well for such sensitive things as keyboard switches?

Yes, because it worked perfectly for the MRI keyboard and the keypad of the 4D ultrasound and both are known to be extremely sensitive.

That's AWESOME!

@xterm: got a huge laugh. Thanks!

TPR0

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Bought used contact cleaner from Radioshack in Lebanon 2 years ago

They don't supply anymore...

LifeEngineer

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

---------------
So sorry for reviving an old thread but I am looking for an electric contact cleaner like this one:
https://www.wd40specialist.com/products … t-cleaner/
Or anything similar.
Do you know where I can get something like that in here?!
Thx

EDIT:
Ok found this: http://www.abro.com/ec-533.html in CB electronics in Sin el Fil, near Karakalla theater; just in case anyone is looking for some.

Last edited by LifeEngineer (April 26 2018)

Elie335

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Bumping this thread again. Does Anyone know where to buy an electronics contact cleaner ?

AvoK95

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Bumping this thread again. Does Anyone know where to buy an electronics contact cleaner ?

Karout Mall had them last time I checked as well as Katranji. We got a can a month ago at work

Last edited by AvoK95 (July 27 2020)

DNA

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Am not sure why you don't use 95%+ preferably 99% alcohol most contact cleaners are mainly alcohol with an aerosol.

AvoK95

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Am not sure why you don't use 95%+ preferably 99% alcohol most contact cleaners are mainly alcohol with an aerosol.

I used to use 99% alcohol, however, the extra cleaning solutions they have in the cans really help when fixing small things like a scroll for a gaming mouse or a button. the solution coming in an aerosol allows the solution to get in the nooks and crannies and helps gets the dirt out of places it shouldn't be in.

I personally have a $50 Logitech M535 Bluetooth mouse that has a problem with the horizontal clicks as well as the scroll wheel, I tried to fix it with alcohol and it did nothing, then I grabbed the contact cleaner spray from work and it worked like magic!

DNA

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

alcohol soaks pretty well actually, i guess you are right some contact cleaners does contain both polar and non polar solvents and may help fix things when alcohol doesn't work. speaking of scroll wheels i had a logitech with a bad scroll wheel nothing helped, i ended up taking it apart and manually bending the contacts which appeared to have worn slighty from use

AvoK95

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

alcohol soaks pretty well actually, i guess you are right some contact cleaners does contain both polar and non polar solvents and may help fix things when alcohol doesn't work. speaking of scroll wheels i had a logitech with a bad scroll wheel nothing helped, i ended up taking it apart and manually bending the contacts which appeared to have worn slighty from use

My mouse was 2 days old when it started to cause problems, I couldn't return it since I got it on sale for a fraction of the price. I guess it was a tiny bit of corrosion or dust of some sort, either way, a tiny bit of spray worked like magic

nuclearcat

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Btw, in some cases you need to avoid alcohol based contact cleaners, as it is conductive.

Madslm

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

most alcohols you find in Lebanon are ethanol which is weaker than isopropyl alcohol found in contact cleaners.

DNA

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Btw, in some cases you need to avoid alcohol based contact cleaners, as it is conductive.

alcohol isn't conductive? i dip entire pcbs in 99% alcohol

nuclearcat

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Btw, in some cases you need to avoid alcohol based contact cleaners, as it is conductive.

alcohol isn't conductive? i dip entire pcbs in 99% alcohol

99% alcohol hygroscopic.
And even alcohol get evaporated easily, water part in it happily mixes with dirt and other contaminants under SMD chips, especially QFN/BGA/etc, and might remain longer and cause troubles. Sure if you dry them in hot air properly (and carefully, not not overheat anything), it will be fine, but if not...
So on my opinion - it is very handy, but should be used with reasonable precautions related to this matters.
P.S. Usually in non-food-grade concentrated alcohol they should add special chemicals, so people wont drink it or dont use to manufacture alcoholic drinks. No idea if it is done in Lebanon. And these chemicals might not be good for electronics.

Last edited by nuclearcat (July 28 2020)

DNA

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

Btw, in some cases you need to avoid alcohol based contact cleaners, as it is conductive.

alcohol isn't conductive? i dip entire pcbs in 99% alcohol

99% alcohol hygroscopic.
And even alcohol get evaporated easily, water part in it happily mixes with dirt and other contaminants under SMD chips, especially QFN/BGA/etc, and might remain longer and cause troubles. Sure if you dry them in hot air properly (and carefully, not not overheat anything), it will be fine, but if not...
So on my opinion - it is very handy, but should be used with reasonable precautions related to this matters.

It won't happen what you are saying may theoretically be correct but practically it is not even close to being an issue the 1% water evaporates with the alcohol as water mixed in alcohol will evaporate faster you can even use 95% with no issues
look the reason i dip pcbs in alcohol is that you can use water to clean pcbs yes pure water but water evaporates very slowly thus causing issues you mention so dipping pcbs that has water in alcohol basically replaces water with alcohol and u stick them in an oven or blow some heat  and it will evaporate in no time and your pcb is as good as new after being worked on with flux or had corrosion

Edit: Denatured alcohol is very safe with electronics additives are usually other solvents

Last edited by DNA (July 28 2020)

nuclearcat

Member

Re: Contact Cleaner

If its denatured with denatonium benzoate(bitrex), that will leave behind conductive residue.
Ethanol generally fine with normal electronics, but as soon as it gets on high speed or high voltage part, it becomes a problem. For high voltage, creepage and clearance is not built for conductive surface (i mean bitrex issue). I am designing such devices, and this is big issue for anything outdoor, if there is no conformal coating. And by the way if there is any, any solvent might become big problem itself, as it might remove or weaken it (depends on type).
If you are cleaning some pads for low speed with cleaning swab - it is ok, i do it too, but if you are dipping whole board or splashing ethanol on everything - it is bad. Because when it gets under smd chip like this, it wont dry out fast naturally, you need to heat up board, preferably approx slightly over 100C.
Anyway, you might get away with random ethanol bottle, or might get like me 2 weeks wasted for nothing, because some water after cleaning stuck under DDR chip, didnt dried even after 1 day, conducted when i turned it on, corroded and caused random memory errors.

Last edited by nuclearcat (July 28 2020)