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WD-40 for electronics

I forgot who said it, but Im sure it was said. So I will ask the question... for "OLD" screechy volume pots and connections is there a miracle grease, solvent, or lubricant? Or did I read or hear this in my dreams??? If not Lets create a snake oil of "Snake Oil's" and get filthy like Mike at My Pillow. To his credit its a great product. Much better than the 60 dollar "Audiophile 12 inch Inner-tube" I bought to go under my 5 disk carousel Carver CD Player.With My Denon 270 receiver and if Im not mistaken DCM Time Window Speakers along with the first pair of rosenut HSU 30 somthing inch tall by around 14 inches wide cardboard tube subwoofers with a black knit around them. God did I think I was all that... Haha I can laugh at myself I hope you guys can too!

But seriously if there is a spray or grease to help... Please chime in... I need it.
128x128haywood310
8th-note
341 posts
 
I use two products I picked up at Home Depot that have worked well.  Both products are formulated for electrical use.

CRC QD Contact Cleaner
CRC 2-26 Multi-Purpose Precision Lubricant

If you look up "CRC Contact Cleaner" on Amazon you will find a huge range of products. I'm no expert on this stuff but my guess is that whatever you are trying to do there is a product formulated for that purpose.

The other reason not to use WD-40 for this purpose is that WD-40 attacks rubber and plastic. I'm a big fan of WD-40 but not for electronics.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Radio Shack assuming they’re still in business sells a contact cleaner for volume control pots and similar things.
ieales's avatar
ieales
1,201 posts
 
geoffkait: "One of the feeblest attempts to appeal to naive and gullible audiophiles in the history of audio."
ROTFLMFAO...

Tracks do wear out that no amount of cleaning or lube will fix. Wear is not usually a problem in HiFi, but can be in heavily use industrial components.

One problem is ’migration’ where an old piece has sat untouched for many years and corrosion has taken place at the wiper/track interface.

Another problem can be caused by DC through the pot, it will scratch when moved, but is not an issue when the pot is static. DC through a pot that is never moved can result in physical track damage as the track/wiper is EDM’d. Any time this point is traversed, noise occurs.

There is an old lubrication adage: If it rolls, oil it. If it slides, grease it. WD-40 is neither oil nor grease.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Huh? Stabilant 22 was not ever suggested for cleaning volume pots, it was a general purpose contact enhancer. That’s why I attacked it so vociferously. As I just mentioned just minutes ago Radio Shack has always had a product for cleaning volume pots. It’s not rocket science. 🚀
4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 
It is really something when I have re-read posts sometimes to determine if they are a joke or being written seriously. As always, there is an abundance of talk about a product that has been richly advertised over the decades (yes the often misunderstood WD40), yet has no real audio application. Then there are a few posts concerning other unintended products for use in audio to get recommended, when in fact a product such as De-Oxit and some others have specific uses for audio applications. Just because something is synthetic, or used by the Aerospace industry, or surgical teams, etc doesn't necessarily make it an automatic recommendation, though yes, some of these products could easily be used for alternate applications. 
 This product is used by Navy SEALS.... BS
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