How to clean an inaccessible electrical contact?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

>

I thought that stuff was NON-conductive. If my theory about the lamp's problem is correct, would that grease only make things worse?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

>

I thought that stuff was NON-conductive. If my theory about the lamp's problem is correct, would that grease only make things worse?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

>

I thought that stuff was NON-conductive. If my theory about the lamp's problem is correct, would that grease only make things worse?

[willshak]

JoeSpareBedroom wrote the following:

>>

It is stated as non-conductive, but it is designed for, and has been used for years, as a corrosion protection for all electrical contacts.

[Jon Danniken]

Use a toothpick covered in anti-oxidant solution.

Jon

[Arthur Shapiro]

Good grief - that just happened to me a couple weeks ago. Thought it was a one-in-a-billion shot. I have the lamp in the garage, with the base waiting to be filled with concrete patch and maybe some lead shot.

Art

[jamesgangnc]

tiny dremel bit turned by hand

[JoeSpareBedroom]

I did nothing but slide the lamp sideways to vacuum behind it. It's made by Good Earth Lighting. A piece of junk.

[Arthur Shapiro]

I believe (not 100% sure) that mine was GE-branded. And the circumstances mimic yours.

Who ever heard of a floor lamp that couldn't be moved?

Art

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Probably all comes from the same crap factory in China. The weighting material was mostly likely the ground up bones of political prisoners, mixed with epoxy and lead dust.

[clare]

>>>

Only works where you have a good contact to start with. It's a cheap Chinese peice of crap, so if it lasted 6 months he got his money's worth. Time to curb it.

Sadly, just about every CCF lamp you can buy in North America is a cheap peice if Chinese Crap.

[clare]

Whoever heard of a cheap chinese import, no matter what name being attached to it, that withstood ANY inteded use? Lenovo not withstanding (and Lenovo isn't "Cheap".

[Stormin Mormon]

Stop using it for discus toss?

[Stormin Mormon]

Helps hold out corrosion. The metal parts touch, t hrough the grease.

[Stormin Mormon]

From the sixties. "we shall not be moved"

[Stormin Mormon]

Do you mean "mixed with depleted uranium and toxic gypsum"?

[terry]

Take it apart and replace the socket! If it is so poorly made that can't be done; junk it. a) It's not safe b) It's not worth the time and effort!

[aemeijers]

In the interest of public safety, cut the cord off and destroy the bulb sockets when you do so, please. Not all curb shoppers and dumpster divers are as aware of possible dangers as the regulars on this group.

-- aem sends...

[Tony]

First of all, you don't want to use a flammable spray that leaves flammable residue behind when you may have arcing in the socket. In the TV tuner the contacts were very low amperage and voltage, although it's still a poor choice of product.

It would work to dissolve the old crap on the contacts, then soon enough it dries out and you have new gunk making poor connections. Even one of the most popular products for cleaning tuners, made by, or using the "Channel Master" name was/is pure crap. Contains silicone so when it dried out the things became more sticky and gummier then ever.

A guy I worked for would use the channel master tuner and contact cleaner on circuit boards where the IC's were in sockets and made poor contact. One time he said the stuff works good, but it's like the sockets get "addicted" to it! It sort of does actually. The longer you use it without a pure cleaning spray first, the more gunk builds up to cause more problems down the road.

The same guy had a fit when he saw me washing an "addicted" circuit board in the sink. He threw a fit and said it will never work again. I had started out with degreaser and rinse a few times then went to dish detergent and finally rinsed with lots of water. Used an air hose to blow off 99% of the water and it worked great. Worked much longer than any of his "addicted" circuit boards.

[Tony]

>>

It works great when the contact is good from the start. The electrical contacts move enough of the grease out of the way so the contacts can make a good connection. The grease surrounds the connection keeping out humidity, oxygen, and other gases so it doesn't oxidize, pit, corrode, whatever. It's preventive maintenance, not a fix.