CRC Contact Spray

[MrAl]

Hello there,

Anyone here ever use CRC Contact Spray?
I picked up a can yesterday at an automobile shop and was wondering if anyone has ever used this and if so how good or bad it worked. It was needed for some important contacts on someones automobile (truck actually) so i am hoping it works ok. This brand is new to me though.

 

[Sceadwian]

Which one? CRC makes dozens of products that fit into the 'contact spray' department.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,


QD Electronic Cleaner, red can. Fast drying formula.

 

[Sceadwian]

I found out what it was from. The following link.
CRC QD Electronic Cleaner (4.5 oz) - CRC05101

It's nothing more than a general purpose solvent. We use stuff like it at my work for parts cleaning, it's absolutely incredible for degreasing and basic soils removal if used with a clean cloth or brush to kick up the stuff to be flushed away, for proper cleaning physical agitation is an absolute requirement, you can't just spray and forget it you'll miss dust and small particulates and anything in a crevice (even microscopic ones). Keep in mind this stuff is flammable. It won't offer corrosion resistance though so if you want a long life contact spray you'll have to use a corrosion inhibitor afterward. Most corrosion inhibitors don't clean well so it's good to use a cleaner like this followed up by a preservation spray, most of them seem to be nothing more than silicon spray with solvent, when the solvent evaporates a microscopic layer of silicon is left which does the actual protection.

 

[MrAl]

Hello Scead,


Ok thanks, that sounds like some very useful information. I wonder what ever happened to the spray contact cleaner used for pots and switches and connectors though? I used to use that stuff a lot a long time ago. Basically it was sprayed into the pot and that was that. How do you think this stuff matches up to that older stuff?

 

[Sceadwian]

I think the stuff you're talking about is what I was talking about after the solvent spray. It's not just pure solvent, it has small amounts of silicon protectorate in it, the solvent and air pressure blow/flush debris away and the silicon left over shields. What you have is great for cleaning, I'd go with a second spray for protecting afterward as I said. The all in one sprays sacrifice in one aspect or the other.The silicon protectorate on a dirty surface could bond dirt particles into a mud, the silicon acting as a polymerization agent, or nucleation site for flocculation of a contaminate to the surface after the fact.

If you want to get into some of the nitty gritty (seriously) details about cleaning of metal surfaces for electrical contact, or even for general corrosion resistance I can definitely help. I worked at plating shop for 10 years. What they consider 'clean' would make you blanche, truly activated clean raw steel will rust/passivize in less than a second in ambient forced air. Copper at a handcount.

I'll have to leave my opinions open about the 'older stuff' if you can't provide a specific product or formulation. No one likes to think it but what we think of as a clear surface is more than just a bit highly subjective.

 

[MrAl]

Hi again,


Well that sounds good enough then. I'll just have to finish up with some deox type stuff afterward.

Another use i had in mind was the Fios box, where the connectors are those new type of molex where they dont fit as tight as the old type molex like the kind used in computers for the hard drives. The connectors periodically oxidize and have to be played with to get working again. Since this stuff would only clean the contacts i would also have to use something else after that then.

 

[Gayan Soyza]

HI I use CRC Plastic Coating has anyone using it?

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

You might want to make a new thread for this question as many people may not see it here in this thread because it is for something else.

 

[Sceadwian]

Yeah, if you're trying to remove oxidation you'll definitely need a separate product, that solvent will only do a good clean/degrease job. Keep in mind a good deoxidizer is going to leave the metal bare and active which means it's going to oxidize faster. You'll want to use one of those silicon based electrical contact sprays I mentioned after de-oxidizing it. It won't prevent dirt build up but it will increase the ammount of time between cleanings and generally make the connection a little less prone to failure. You might want to look for a different formulation of cleaner that has a deoxider built in to a light cleaner, because unless you're contacts are seriously dirty the solvent is a wasted step.