Cleaning Alcohol?

[Daffy D]

Just for the sake of satisfying curiosity,

 

Many posts over the years about using alcohol to clean up contacts in computer and remote controls.

 

Seems there are several types of alcohol so which to use for cleaning electrical contacts?

 

I've been using Ethyl alcohol bought from the pharmacy. I've also used  WD40  "Fast Drying Contact Cleaner," both of which appear to work quit well.   

 

But which best, or is there something better?

 

WD40  "Fast Drying Contact Cleaner,"

 

[fdsa]

any alcohol above 95% is good, with rumors that isopropyl alcohol is the best one.

but do not use common 70% alcohol because the amount of water (30%) is too high and will damage the metallic components.

[Daffy D]

32 minutes ago, fdsa said:

any alcohol above 95% is good, with rumors that isopropyl alcohol is the best one.

OK ! where does one get such stuff?

[northsouthdevide]

I've never seen that wd40 before.

Where do you buy it?

I've always used window cleaning solution in a spray gun, like Mr muscle, but that looks better suited.

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, Daffy D said:

OK ! where does one get such stuff?

 

 Lazada. 131 baht. Also good for cleaning sticky residue from sticky tape.

 

[Lacessit]

Acetone is superior to alcohol for cleaning off adhesives  and contacts, because it evaporates leaving no residue, whereas when alcohol evaporates it leaves a residue of water behind. That's because water forms a 5% azeotrope with alcohol.

This is what I use, available at 7/11, otherwise known as nail polish remover. Avoid any nail polish removers that state they contain oils, you want the pure stuff.

[Susco]

34 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

 Lazada. 131 baht. Also good for cleaning sticky residue from sticky tape.

 

 

For removing adhesives, terpentine or white spirit works way better than alcohol or acetone

[JetsetBkk]

33 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

whereas when alcohol evaporates it leaves a residue of water behind. That's because water forms a 5% azeotrope with alcohol.

 

So 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol contains 5% water. Who knew?

[Lacessit]

12 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

So 99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol contains 5% water. Who knew?

I was talking about ethanol, C2H5OH. When one uses the term alcohol, it does not normally refer to isopropyl alcohol.

Isopropyl alcohol also forms an azeotrope with water, 91% by volume. Acetone forms no azeotropes with water, which is why it is used to eliminate water from extracts in analytical laboratories.

Next.

[Lacessit]

38 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

For removing adhesives, terpentine or white spirit works way better than alcohol or acetone

It depends on the adhesive. Turpentine and white spirit, being non-polar solvents, can be useless for some types of adhesive. Residue from registration stickers on windscreens is probably a good example.

 

[KeeTua]

1 hour ago, northsouthdevide said:

I've never seen that wd40 before.

Where do you buy it?

I've always used window cleaning solution in a spray gun, like Mr muscle, but that looks better suited.

There's a link for the WD40 in the OP but there are better prices from sellers with positive ratings over 90%.

Search in Thai: สเปรย์ทำความสะอาด หน้าสัมผัส

Search in English and see the different results: Contact cleaning spray

 

WD40 360ml
฿250
https://www.lazada.co.th/products/wd-40-specialist-contact-cleaner-360ml-i451456973-s834300918.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.74.5fdf11c15XjtSc&search=1

 

฿225 360ml
https://www.lazada.co.th/products/contact-cleaner-wd40-360-ml-100-i1784202034-s5219104850.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.80.5fdf11c15XjtSc&search=1

[Susco]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

It depends on the adhesive. Turpentine and white spirit, being non-polar solvents, can be useless for some types of adhesive. Residue from registration stickers on windscreens is probably a good example.

 

 

No idea what registration stickers are, as I hold my car registration sticker (which is not adhesive), up with a static sticker.

 

Anyway, any sticker I have ever removed, and which left a residue, I have been able to remove it with Terpentine.

 

Rubbing alcohol or acetone always failed, and another benefit of Terpentine is that is doesn't damage the painted surface

[VocalNeal]

Contacts in remote controls and computers may be cleaned with lighter fluid.

 

 

Available in almost all local hardware stores.

 

It evaporates and leaves no residue

 

[impulse]

2 hours ago, Daffy D said:

OK ! where does one get such stuff?

 

I bought mine at pretty much any paint shop.  You see them on every street.  TOA brand comes to mind, but there are lots of others.  Ethanol, methanol, acetone, mineral spirits, lacquer thinner, etc.  Small fraction of the price I paid at the pharmacy for any of them.

[sherwood]

If your windscreen is tinted with a FILM as in Thailand avoid an abrasive or even a solvent based approach.

You could try a citrus solution, lemon or lime applied to the gum residue. Has worked for me in the past, this is for removing rego sticker type applications.    

[Lacessit]

19 minutes ago, sherwood said:

If your windscreen is tinted with a FILM as in Thailand avoid an abrasive or even a solvent based approach.

You could try a citrus solution, lemon or lime applied to the gum residue. Has worked for me in the past, this is for removing rego sticker type applications.    

My windscreen is tinted with film, acetone leaves it undamaged.

[Daffy D]

On 5/4/2021 at 6:35 PM, northsouthdevide said:

I've never seen that wd40 before.

Where do you buy it?

I've always used window cleaning solution in a spray gun, like Mr muscle, but that looks better suited.

You can get it from Lazada as in my Original Post

 

I got mine from Thai Watsadu, there are several brands if you look around as long as they are marked as  "Fast Drying Contact Cleaner" I think they all do pretty much the same job.

 

The advantage of having a spray can is, that as well as cleaning contact surfaces you can spray right into the slots and ports of USB flash drives and the like.