spraying contact cleaner while it's Live

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zappy

zappy

Senior Member
Location
CA.
The float switch is sometimes working sometimes not. I think maybe the contacts are dirty, any advice? Doesn't say on the can anywhere not to use on energized equipment. Thank you for your help.
 

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Does it say aything about "flammable"? When last I looked -- admittedly some time ago -- contact cleaner contained alcohol and Freon™.

I'm quite sure the propellant is something different today, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Many modern refrigerants (propellants) are flammable, and a flash fire is only half your problem; incomplete combustion is also likely, which will leave carbon soot on the contacts.
 
drcampbell said:
Does it say aything about "flammable"? When last I looked -- admittedly some time ago -- contact cleaner contained alcohol and Freon™.

I'm quite sure the propellant is something different today, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Many modern refrigerants (propellants) are flammable, and a flash fire is only half your problem; incomplete combustion is also likely, which will leave carbon soot on the contacts.
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ty
 
Got a lighter? Hold it up to the spray (safely pointing it away from everything) and see it it ignites. I’m going to bet that it does…

Also, being a float switch, it might be moisture intrusion. I would first do a quick spritz if WD-40, which is a water displacer (that’s what the WD stands for) and is electrically inert. But don’t spray that live either.

Safest bet is to never spray ANYTHING around a live electrical circuit.
 
Jraef said:
Got a lighter? Hold it up to the spray (safely pointing it away from everything) and see it it ignites. I’m going to bet that it does…

Also, being a float switch, it might be moisture intrusion. I would first do a quick spritz if WD-40, which is a water displacer (that’s what the WD stands for) and is electrically inert. But don’t spray that live either.

Safest bet is to never spray ANYTHING around a live electrical circuit.
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Good grief! We would have been sacked for having a lighter in the industrial world we lived in!
 
Lawyer around the corner from me won a 1.5 million judgement for a teenage girl that got badly burned by hairspray because it used propane for propellent.

This case arises from a tragic accident involving
appellant Faberge's hair spray product, Aqua Net. The appellee
Alison Nowak punctured an aerosol can of Aqua Net near a flame
and suffered severe injuries from the resulting fire. The jury
found that a defective valve system and inadequate warnings on
the hair spray can proximately caused Alison's injuries. She was
awarded damages of $1.5 million.
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You really have to be careful with aerosol can propellants
 
retirede said:
We use hairspray as the propellant in potato guns.

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Potato-Gun
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Yeah, I've seen that done back in the day.

This lawyer told me all about the case. They were using a CFC propellant and wanted to switch back in the 80's. There was a non CFC, non flammable propellant that they were going to use, but it altered the smell while spraying. They felt this was going to hurt customer loyalty. So they went with the propane even though internal memos revealed that they knew it was far less safe.

 
I learned that from James Bond (Roger Moore vintage) in Live and Let Die.

I did try that trick using a cigar for ignition, it wasn’t as easy as depicted but it happened. so now I am trained and ready. Every time I think about giving up cigars, I think about how that could save my life some day. Unfortunately nobody in my house has used hair spray since the 90s. Luckily so far, zero deadly (or otherwise) snakes in my bathroom to try it out on since 1973.
 
Jraef said:
... Safest bet is to never spray ANYTHING around a live electrical circuit.
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Non-conductive wasp spray exists specifically for use on live apparatus. Is it also non-flammable? I don't know.

There may be a non-conductive and non-flammable contact cleaner out there, but why would anybody consider working on live equipment when it isn't absolutely necessary?
 
drcampbell said:
Non-conductive wasp spray exists specifically for use on live apparatus. Is it also non-flammable? I don't know.

There may be a non-conductive and non-flammable contact cleaner out there, but why would anybody consider working on live equipment when it isn't absolutely necessary?
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I looked up the SDS of two brands I have bought in the past and what's currently in my kit (Spectracide Pro, rated to 47kV). All flammable.

 
I was a maintenance electrician for 50 enjoyable years and spraying float switches and other controls are at best a short temporary fix. Best to replace it. I ripped a Ford so called mechanic when he told me that he fixed my brake switch by spraying contact cleaner on it. Less then a week later his so called fix failed.A few days later after complaing to Ford they told me they just came out with a recall and they would replace the brake switch. Only time that I used contact cleaner was on an old starter contact that we did not have either a replacement starter or set of contacts. Would use a contact file to clean contacts then spray but always replaced them ASAP.
 
garbo said:
I was a maintenance electrician for 50 enjoyable years and spraying float switches and other controls are at best a short temporary fix. Best to replace it. I ripped a Ford so called mechanic when he told me that he fixed my brake switch by spraying contact cleaner on it. Less then a week later his so called fix failed.A few days later after complaing to Ford they told me they just came out with a recall and they would replace the brake switch. Only time that I used contact cleaner was on an old starter contact that we did not have either a replacement starter or set of contacts. Would use a contact file to clean contacts then spray but always replaced them ASAP.
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I really only use that kind of stuff to clean out gunk and dirt that is binding the mechanical operation. of contacts
 
drcampbell said:
Non-conductive wasp spray exists specifically for use on live apparatus. Is it also non-flammable? I don't know.
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Its flammable, a local hvac tech found out the hard way.
Never spray anything on energized circuits.
I just use 99% IPA as contact cleaner and the method pton described in post #5.
 
tortuga said:
Its flammable, a local hvac tech found out the hard way.
Never spray anything on energized circuits.
I just use 99% IPA as contact cleaner and the method pton described in post #5.
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drcampbell said:
Non-conductive wasp spray exists specifically for use on live apparatus. Is it also non-flammable? I don't know.

There may be a non-conductive and non-flammable contact cleaner out there, but why would anybody consider working on live equipment when it isn't absolutely necessary?
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These must be really handy
 
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