Contact Cleaner?

[kenlacam]

My wife spilled a frosty beverage on my korg triton last year, and as a result, almost a whole octave below middle C is non-functioning. A friend told me about contact cleaner for electronic equipment, which I can buy at a hardware store.

Is this a good idea?

[mildbill]

good for metal contacts - not good for certain plastics and some circuit boards - use with caution - can cause instant meltdown.

[The Real MC]

Not all keyboard contacts are metal, do not blindly spray cleaner in there unless you know what you are looking at. I'd recommend having a tech clean the contacts.

[Quiet Earth]

If you determine that it is electrical contact cleaner that you need, you can go to Lowe's to get it. I have been using a brand called CRC QD contact cleaner for quite some time with no side effects what so ever. It comes in a blue spray can and it is safe on plastics and all types of circuit boards. It's about 8 dollars at Lowe's.

 

Of course you are wise to follow the advise here and determine that it is metal electrical contacts that you need to clean. On the other hand, if your board is toast, what do you have to lose?

 

Good luck!

QE

[kenlacam]

thanks for your help!

[jchas]

Frosty beverages can etch circuit boards as they dry. It's almost better to pour a gallon of clean water into the unit to flush out the frosty beverage. Of course this would have to happen right after the spill and only after unplugging the unit - then taking a hair dryer to it to quickly dry out the water before it rusts or oxidizes anything. Seeing as it's too late for that I would strongly recommend having a tech look at it to scope out the magnitude of the damage before attempting any home-brew (pun intended)

fixes. Best of luck.

By the way - contact cleaner works in some cases like this - but for pots and sliders you want to use a cleaner/lubricant since a regular cleaner/degreaser will dry out the contacts and cause them to fail.

[rylos]

 

It's almost better to pour a gallon of clean water into the unit to flush out the frosty beverage.

 

 

I've had to clean beer, soda, tea. etc. out of electronic equipment. First thing I do (after making sure there are no capacitors still charged up) is hose it down with hot water with just a drop of soap in it. Then a hot water thorough rinse, then an alcohol rinse. Then dry with a hair dryer. I remember one particular TV chassis that I ended up taking to the car wash (no wax!). Afterwards I replaced any heat-sink grease, just to be safe.

 

With switches & pots you would want to use a lubricating-type cleaner as well, but not on the conductive plastic contacts that are unfortunately so common for the keys.