Electronic cleaning spray.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Any recommendations as to the best value bought by the case and the supplier?

[RW]

Search for Isopropyl alcohol and get a small spray bottle

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I want a case - not a small bottle.

[dennis]

You didn't say what it was to clean.. but if its the cases rather than the boards Ambersil Amberclens is about as good as it gets. Its about £2.50 a 400ml tin and they did sell it at CEF. Its water based but amazing at lifting dirt from smooth/grained plastic.

[RW]

Buy it by the gallon then

[geoff]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I sound like a CPC rep here today

... they were selling 400ml aerosols at a cheaper price per litre than standard cans (a dozen off, that is)

[meow2222]

You mean contact cleaner? Or pcb cleaning solvent? The rest are just overpriced products that arent specific to electronics.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Contact cleaner, I suppose. Really a general purpose cleaner that will remove most things like grease etc but safe on most plastics.

[Ian White]

That actually makes the question *less* specific. There are at least three entirely different groups of products that could be called "electronic cleaning sprays".

1. Water-based foaming cleaners, excellent for removing general grime, but not primarily intended for wiring and components (unless the equipment is totally filthy inside). Not so good with grease... but then, most electronic equipment doesn't get contaminated specifically by grease.
2. Organic solvents which can remove grease, label marks etc without dissolving (most) plastics - but not suitable for general cleaning because they might attack paintwork. Isopropyl alcohol is one of the least aggressive. A flux cleaner like Electrolube Ultrasolve (ULS) is about the most aggressive that you could use without much risk of attacking components and plastic insulation.
3. All the other specialist chemicals such as contact cleaner, but these are intended more for repairs than for cleaning. In most cases they are not suitable for general cleaning - for example, contact cleaner needs to be applied very sparingly as it usually *contains* grease.

You will need most of these at one time or another, but you definitely won't use them all in the same quantities. For cosmetic refurb and restoration you would use mostly the foaming cleaner and perhaps IPA - whichever one lifts the dirt off that particular kind of surface - with spot applications of more aggressive solvents where needed.

Unless there's some other factor that we haven't heard about yet, the only ones that would merit buying "by the case" would be the foaming cleaner and possibly IPA, because these tend to be applied over large areas.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Doesn't remove grease then, so that's out.

Right. But no recommendation for a decent priced one? I find Wynn's Electrical Contact Cleaner from my local car accessory shop good for what I want but not that good value. The other one I used to use was AF spray.

That would be a switch or contact cleaner/lubricant - like Servisol?

For cosmetic cleaning I use household products - don't see the need to pay specialist prices.

I was simply hoping a large user of such things would know where the best value was.

[Clint Sharp]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

So why not use AF Spray again then? Apart from the horrific price.

Mr Muscle multi surface cleaner is superb for cleaning all sorts of things including but not limited to car upholstery. Used to use it for cleaning keyboards, dilute solution and soak then rinse.

AF-Spray definitely isn't where the value is, but if you can track down the chemical name then you may be able to buy it wholesale.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Indeed. Hence the original post. I was hoping one of the bulk users of such things here would have a recommendation.

[meow2222]

Contact cleaner isnt intended for that, although I suppose you could. But it introduces oils and is pricey as a gen purp cleaner.

Ethyl alcohol has almost identical properties to isopropyl, and surgical spirit is cheap. Avoid rubbing alcohol, it contains oil. Meths usually works ok, but could leave dye behind and can contain some methyl alcohol, which is one more risk to plastics.

A good household cleaner for grease on cases is cream cleaner. The chalk powder acts as a mild abrasive to the grease, then the grease and the chalk powder mix, alowing it to be carried away in the water & detergent.

IME household cleaners are normally good, and much cheaper.

surgical spirit, but cream cleaner's cheaper and more versatile.

NT

[meow2222]

PS if you want the shine that comes from the oil content in contact spray, you could add a few drops of mineral oil to your alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is too greasy really.

NT

[Ian White]

Sorry, Dave, it still isn't clear what your application is, and exactly what you're aiming for.

• What kind of cleaning - outside or inside, functional or just cosmetic?

• What kind of grease or dirt?

• What kind of surface(s) - paint, bare metal, flat, textured?

• Do you want to the best possible results, best value for money, or absolute lowest costs?

Each one of those can lead to a different best answer.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As above. The sort of thing you'd use AF Spray for.

[Clint Sharp]

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

Looking at the H&S sheet for AFS300, it appears to be some stuff called Pentane. It would appear to be used as a refrigerant and is also known as R601 or ISO-Pentane is R601a (not sure of the difference) it's used in aircon units but I would suspect only in industrial units as it's a bit flammable. I'd try my friendly local A/C installer to see if they can get you a few kilos of the stuff. Of course, you'd have to decant it into more usable containers but you may be able to save quite a bit of cash.