Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!decwrl!sun-barr!newstop!sun!coherent!dplatt
From: dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: ?dielectric grease? on connectors
Message-ID: <67914@coherent.coherent.com>
Date: 17 Aug 90 18:42:07 GMT
References: <312@sphere.UUCP>
Reply-To: dplatt@coherent.com (Dave Platt)
Organization: Coherent Thought Inc., Palo Alto CA
Lines: 43

In article <312@sphere.UUCP> ruck@sphere.UUCP (John R Ruckstuhl Jr) writes:
> Someone suggested cleaning pins of a connector inside a personal 
> computer, and applying  ?dielectric grease?  to the pins before 
> reassembly to prevent the connections from degrading quickly.
> (There is a connector in the AT&T UNIX PC that has been observed to be
> susceptible to dirty, poor connections, responsible for a ?myriad? of
> problems).
> 
> Would readers please comment on this practice of preventative medicine?
> What is the substance, should it be used, and where is it available?

I'm not sure I'd use dielectric grease, if that's what I'm referring to
when I think of "heat-sink grease".  This stuff is fairly thick, and
might not make the best contact-preserver.

> Also, I have seen people spray WD40 on connectors for similar purposes.
> What residues does this WD40 leave (and are they both conductive and
> protective)?

The residues are (I believe) a light petroleum oil.  They are themselves
almost certainly _not_ conductive... you wouldn't want them to be!  Any
conductive lubricant (e.g. graphite) would short out the connector!

> If these people are misguided, what would you recommend to them for
> recovering from grease-coated or WD40-sprayed connector pins?

There are several products which might do the trick for you.
Miller-Stevenson makes a "Connector cleaner" spray... a combination of
Freon TA and a polypheny ether lubricant which both lubricates and
preserves contact surfaces.  M-S is updating their product line to use
hydrochlorofluorocarbons which are less environmentally damaging than
older CFCs.  You may be able to find this stuff at a decent
electronics-supply store.

Another useful product is Cramolin.  It's an oily liquid... two liquids,
actually.  The red stuff is a contact cleaner... you brush a bit onto
the contacts, scrub them with the bristle-brush included with the kit,
wait a few minutes, and then wipe it off.  The blue stuff is a contact
preservative... brush on a _very_ small amount with a Q-tip, and it'll
keep the contacts from tarnishing and corroding.  Cramolin is sold in
small (1/2 oz) bottles... a set of two will probably cost you $15 or so
(that's a wild guess re today's prices... I bought my set a decade ago
and haven't used more than a tenth of it).