Red Erasors, contacts, and gold revisited

"Bill Layer" <b.layer(a)vikingelectronics.com> wrote: What a bunch of sales hype! This is mainly a cleaner and doesn't do much for long term contact. I really don't recommend any use of erasers. They remove the plating and often leave corrosive material behind. As for the grease. The best stuff is made by Dow Corning. It is called DC#4. Most electrical shops have it ( lights, wire and conduit types ). McMaster Carr carries is as well. When I ran out of my original tube, years ago, I started using some stuff that I bought at an automotive shop. It is called Sil-Glyde. It has a amber color instead of clear like Dow Corning's but seems to work as well. As for normal contact cleaners, I have an old TV that the silver had warn off the contacts in the turrets ( I said it was old ). When I used the clear, it would work for about a month and then got flakey again. I put some of the grease on the contacts ( mostly bare brass ) and the set is still working today ( done years ago ). Before putting it onto connectors, it is a good idea to remove any soluble materials with alcohol. As far as I know, the reason it works is because, unlike petrolium greases, it has a vary low film strength ( poor as lubricant ). This in combination with removing air from the surface improves the overall contact. I'm sure the Canadian product uses some kind of silicone oil. I have friend with a can of silicone oil ( like is used in car waxes ). I'll have to try it to see if it has similar contact improvements as the grease does. Dwight