A contact cleaner (also called electrical cleaner, switch cleaner, electrical contact cleaner, and, specific for automotive repair, battery terminal cleaner) is a solvent cleaner designed to remove contamination from electrical contacts, the conductive surfaces of connectors, switches and other electrical and electronic components with moving surface contacts.
The goal is to quickly remove insulative contamination as quickly as possible, avoiding extensive wiping and scrubbing if possible. Contact cleaning solvents usually come in pressurized aerosol packaging for convenience and to provide a forceful spray that creates agitation and reaches into all the crevices of the connectors.
Techspray offers a wide variety of electrical contact cleaners in spray and bulk packaging. Our contact cleaners remove oxidation, oil, and other contaminants from contacts, metal switches, motors, relays, generators, edge connectors, buss bars, circuit breakers, scales, and sensors.
Advantages of Techspray contact cleaners:
Every organization using hazardous chemicals within their facility has the responsibility to equip their facility and personnel to maintain exposure levels below the TLV. Personal monitoring badges can be used to measure exposure of a specific material. Then, depending on the threshold limit and the application, exposure can be controlled with PPE like masks, face shields, respirators, and even coveralls. If they don’t reduce exposure below the recommended limit, you will need to consider a special ventilation hood or even containment booth. As you can see, as the exposure limit gets down to a certain level, the equipment required to safely use the solvent can get impractical. At that point, your best option is to consider a safer alternative.
While the contact surfaces of connectors are metal, they are often housed in plastic, and rubber gaskets to seal everything from the outside environment. If the solvent used in a contact cleaner is incompatible with the plastic, it can craze (create small cracks), embrittle, or soften the material. Rubber seals may swell, shrink or even dissolve if exposed to a harsh solvent. Rigid plastics like ABS, polycarbonate (trade name Lexan), and acrylic materials like Plexiglass can be very sensitive to harsh solvents like toluene, xylene, and acetone. Alcohol and hydrocarbon based solvents tend to be better on sensitive plastics. Rubber, silicone or other seals or gaskets made of elastomeric (soft) materials can have a tendency to swell or shrink with exposure to harsh solvents. After the solvent flashes off, they may spring back to their original dimensions, or be permanently changed, impacting the effectiveness of the seal. Polyester or Teflon based gasketing materials are less prone to this type of damage from harsh solvents. A new contact cleaner should always be tested before use on any questionable applications, using any live (and expensive) equipment.