Lubricant Recommended for Circuit Boards

None.

No.

Grease.

Teflon, makes the electrons move smoother

WD-40

Yes, $39.95 USD

Doubleya-Dee Forty

For moving the circuit board itself I use a well trained technician. For moving the controls a well trained operator is preferred. No lubrication during working hours is needed. Now after hours I leave that up to the one imbibing.

clarification of question: what lubricant for electronics that possesses (preferably) anti-oxident properties AND LUBRICATES ELECTRONIC MOVING PARTS, LIKE SWITCHES, POTENTIOMETERS, ETC.

Well,OK, try this: Contact Lubricants

further clarification: lubricant suitable for electronics. anti-oxident properties (e.g. for circuit boards) and lubricant (e.g. for potentiometers)

Another way of saying this would be: "What is the LUBRICANT in DeoxIT spray by the Caig company?" or "What would a suitable lubricant for such a spray be?"

Need further clarification?

That's better.

I have no idea what chemical this proprietary compound is based on. I suspect that this product is deliberately incorrectly labeled as a lubricant. I suspect that it is a contact cleaner and not a lubricant because of the fundamental differences that these types of products are supposed to do. A lubricant is supposed to be a fluid between two moving solid surfaces to prevent friction between the two. A switch and potentiometer work by allowing current to flow from one solid surface to another. As such putting a film between these two will make them not function instead of functioning better. Now there are lubricants (anti-seize compounds) that do conduct but they are not used on switches and potentiometers. Both the switch and potentiometer control when and where current should flow. Adding a conductor that can bridge contacts and splash into places meant to be isolated will produce chaos instead of control.

Instead a cleaning agent that can remove clogging debris from friction and contact points seems more like what this product is claiming to do. By removing the grime this can produce a tactile feeling of lubricating because the grit has been removed. Most of the better chemicals used for a contact cleaner have been found to have biological problems and have been pulled from the market. Even these products though always had one big drawback. By the time a contact was noticed to need cleaning the contact was usually so badly damaged that complete failure would be inevitable.

In the realm of measuring extremely tiny signals there are a few nasty chemicals that can strip off the poor conducting metal oxide of a contact but in these cases the reason they work is that the connection is not removed so oxygen cannot get back in.

OK, then brake cleaner @ about $2/can is a very effective contact cleaner and leaves no residue. It stinks, needs ventilation, but otherwise, evaporates very quickly and does the job cheaply. If no "lubricant" is advised, why spend 15-20 bucks on 5 oz. of DeoxIT? See where I'm going?

A brake cleaner may work fine. Another brake cleaner may dissolve critical parts. I agree that $15 for a 5 oz cleaner is a rip off. The $15 should go to failing part replacement. Part replacement will actually fix the problem.

• "Another way of saying this would be: "What is the LUBRICANT in DeoxIT spray by the Caig company?" or "What would a suitable lubricant for such a spray be?""

If you are seriously wanting to know what is IN the products, download the MSDS* on it. Section 3 of all MSDS forms must show all ingredients. It does not show concentrations, that is proprietary, but because of the potential hazards of contact or inhalation, all ingredients must be listed.

* MSDS for those outside of the US = Material Safety Data Sheet, a requirement for all chemical products that must be made available at the asking.

There are a LOT of products with the name "DeoxIT", so without knowing which one you are referring to, it's hard to say whether it is a cleaner or a lube, they make both.

hello JRaef,

Thank you. you have finally answered my question, or steered me to the answer. I am researching ways to extend the life of high-end (older) audio equipment, which involves, among other things, treating oxidation and contaminants, lubrication, etc. DeoxIT seemed to be a good product but I think I can improvise something better, or just as good but much cheaper. I never even thought of the MSDS. THANK YOU!

The worst problem is electrolytic capacitors drying out, but I doubt anyone has even a short-term fix for that. "Replacement", they would say is the only solution. I don't think so. I think there is a simple chemical or electro-chemical fix, at least a short-term one, but will keep studying.

Thank you all who tried to shed light on this subject. Imagine a world where knowledge is freely, unselfishly shared...it would open up creativity, innovation and thinking outside the box.

"The worst problem is electrolytic capacitors drying out, but I doubt anyone has even a short-term fix for that. "Replacement", they would say is the only solution. I don't think so. I think there is a simple chemical or electro-chemical fix, at least a short-term one, but will keep studying."

You would have to disassemble the capacitor to "fix it".

It's not that difficult to replace those big (physically large) capacitors in old audio equipment.

Hi. You say teflon makes electrons move smoother. Not sure what you mean by that, but lets take, for example, an audio component, an older one that you want to clean up oxidation on the circuit boards as well as clean them; but you also want to clean up the potentiometers and switches. The (120v) current will jump a thin film of non-conductive lubricant, so that's OK for the pots, right? So, we are back to the orig. ques.: what would be the best "lubricant" or other compound that would mitigate oxidation and improve the intended electron flow?

DeoxIT claims to contain a contact cleaner AND a lubricant. What do you think the "lubricant" could be?

What moving part on PCB, are you talking about? Phillips, have been marketing, a number of lubricants, for the electronic service industry. You are too lazy to look yourself. If you don't want spoon-feed, search in the links below, a few of them may satisfy your hunger.

Lubricants suitable for the electronics industry service.

Do you see, how Mr. Google be a friend to you?

Could I ask what fee we charge for answering inane questions. As I recall we don't charge anything.

This is one of the most helpful boards you'll ever find when you need a sensible answer to a sensible question. People give their time freely and for some questions do a lot of background research. All for FREE.

These people stock it (not an endorsement). And most electronics technicians know that.

Another G.A. from me. Stupid question asked, answered intelligently, what is the issue? If you don't like Lyn's answer then coat all your PCB's and electronic components with Dielectric grease, it will make them perform so much better.

I was going to recommend dielectric grease, but contact lubricant works great. FWIW, Break-Free CLP is *NOT* the thing to use to lubricate potentiometers.

so, do you know what the "lubricant" in contact lubricant is?

Mineral oil as shown here.

I'm not so positive on the lubricant issue, but what really works for me on our pcb's is using the Paraxylyene coating. I deal with boats on fresh water and salt water and this works best for me and I have not had any call backs since on our equipment. Not saying that I don't get call backs on others, and oh yes I do. Pays the bills!!

The product that you are looking for is not a lubricant... it is a cleaner. Try contact cleaner for general cleanup and for use in potentiometers. Never use lubricant in potentiometers. It will turn them into bad components.

DeoxIT works well on pots. It claims to contain a lubricant

You seem to have answered your own question, at the considerable expense to the forum of WASTING THEIR TIME TRYING TO ANSWER AN ILL DEFINED QUESTION, when you already had made up your mind to use this product.

What a waste of time. Your name is going into my "little book of fools".

The more I think about this little play, I come to the same conclusion. This guy has found a way to advertise this snake oil on CR4 without an administrator banishing the thread to the commercial zone. I'm not sure it was deliberate but an advertisement none the less.

Re PC board contacts:

If no gold on contacts and >5 Volts, or gold contacts don't worry. Use a good quality plastic rubber (eraser) to clean contacts if needed. Brush with a soft bristle brush (artist's brush is ideal) or photographic blowbrush afterwards.

If you don't want to by "contact cleaner" then use WD-40 as was suggested, or if you prefer use isopropyl alcohol or mineral oil. I stock all 3 of these, and have used them all for cleaning switches. WD-40 stinks, so I suggest you use it outside. Mineral oil can be purchased from pharmacies. Baby oil is mostly mineral oil, so you can use that if you have it. I don't recommend it for babies, though.

Better keep WD40 away from electronics.

Gajanan Phadte

Why? If you get water in your distributer cap, the best fix is WD-40

Good to know, but distributor cap is not electronics.

Gajanan Phadte

Coming back from the weekend, i see that all your questions are answered, but stop peddling your wares.

Someone used a switch lubricant on the voltage range selector switch on a High Precision DC Voltmeter and it never worked properly since. it was less expensive to replace the unit with a new one. the same thing applies to putting anything on a circuit board except for electrolube on the connector contacts.

It is better to replace a movable control than to mess with it and transfer foreign material into it or spread it to adjacent components.