G'day again.
I thought I best start a new, more on topic reply as my previous post started off as more of a reply as to how long the 'Small Bellows Puffer Cleaner' would be available mussing of
Stoic Joker [On February 14, 2015, 01:07:16 PM] and just grew out of proportion and a little off topic.
A few thoughts on readily available cleaning solutions (As in liquids.) and methodologies for cleaning any kinds of electrical contacts.
Isopropyl alcohol has been mentioned before and commercial spray contact cleaners often use this and aren't too expensive and usually come with extension pipes that attach to the nozzle for hard to reach places and if I recall my chemistry, it is also what is used in nail polish remover. (Use only the non-oily kind... If you need to clean a bit more thoroughly that a spray. IE: If their is a smoker in the household for example... as the smoke will leave a decent amount of residue over time, and this could be the case. A small bottle will last for years and should be available from a Chemist/Drug Store, but may not be at a discount drug supply chain (In Australia, a store name that comes to mind is 'Priceline', a discount chemists that would have nail polish remover for sure but probably only the oily kind for the person that doesn't like that dry out their hands, and not the non-oily kind. You know the kind of shop I mean to avoid if you wish to find this product.), that pushes brands but has no real base product diversity if you get my drift. A few drops on a tissue or cotton ear bud and a quick but firm wipe will do the trick nicely.
I use Isopropyl alcohol but I have liters of the stuff as I used to grab it from work (My father's plastics business had a print shop and it was used to thin the inks.) and it cleans gooey grime off everything (Metals, Perspex, glass, brickwork [Great to remove glue and felt pen marks.], etc, etc...). Love it. Actually, one might be able to buy a small amount from a local to you, packaging printer or maybe just about any printer as I suspect that it is fairly commonly used throughout most of the commercial printing trades. The fumes are a little strong and may induced a little light headedness.
Just be a little careful using it on most plastics like CD covers, Hi-Fi display panes, etc... (Nooooo! It will eat into them! But soft plastics. like the formulations that are used in say bread wraps, carrier bags, etc... {That's what the business was.} or children's plastic toys and those based on this type of plastic are fine with it.). It is fairly cheap and in my experience better than Methylated Spirits. Also, it is benign to circuit board formulations and the bond between the board and the metal contacts and evaporates fairly fast and if the amount of grime needs a bath to loosen it (How such system would continue working till it reaches this state is puzzling in itself, but some industrial installations are very dirt generating and machinery manufacturers do use reseatable/replaceable componentry for areas other than PC related items.), a little poured into a plate and dipping only the contacts that requires cleaning into the pool of liquid will facilitate loosening up heavy coatings.
Methylated Spirits has always worked fine in my experience and it may have a residue but this is far less than that left by nicotine or if the electronics are near a kitchen (Open plan houses with kitchens adjacent to family rooms come to mind.) and thus may be contaminated by cooking oil fumes. If I'm asked to attend to a friends Hi-Fi gear at their homes and if they have some I will use this in a snap, or recommend that they get a little and do it themselves latter (Glass cleaner is my second choice in this circumstance but may be a bit 'iffy' inside electronic circuit areas, but is OK for RCA plugs and such.).
Erasers, the ink ones at least if they have a fairly fine granularity, are great for getting rid of small areas of corrosion when used gently. The pencil ones are sometimes OK but may be too gentle and Art Gum erasers are just about useless for this purpose. If you dare, try a little toothpaste as this has very fine polishing grit (Yes it's true.) in the formulation (This will also remove fine scratches from CDs, DVDs Blue-Rays and may restore playability if not overdone, and also the jewel case covers of CDs.), but it will then need a carefull wash with a water dampened cotton ear bud, finishing off with alcohol as an aid in water dispersion and drying. If you have heavy corrosion, a diamond cleaning stick (Available at good jewelers for a few dollars... Made from glass fibers, and surprisingly, benign enough not to remove gold, hence it's use in the jewelery trade is absolutely the bees leg joint. Will last for years. And the significant other's jewels will gleam into the bargain and they'll think you really care about their appearance and may be all the more frisky for it! If' that's a good thing in your books.
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Finally a blow off with a good commpressed air blast or more gentle puffer, as the case may require, just before reinsertion and that B person is your uncle.
{Another post covering all the bases that I can currently think of or have experienced... Cleanliness being next to godliness as the saying goes. And no I haven't been sniffing the Isopropyl alcohol as I am sick of the stench it, very long term familiarity breeding contempt and such is it's current effect on me. Yechh!
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Cheers and hopefully someone can find this rant usefull and not too off topic.
