Uses of Evapo rust

[66FBCharger]

Has anyone ever used Evaporust to clean electrical wire connectors? The other night i was going to a cruise night with the family. My wife said, "Do you have the headlights on". I said "Yes". The headlights were not working but they had worked previously. I looked under the hood and found that the headlight connector near the battery had a dirty connection. I took it apart and put it back together a few times. that solved that problem ( for now).
So I got to thinking, I wonder if I soaked these connections in Evaporust, would that clean up any corrosion on the terminals. Does anyone know why this would not be a good idea?
I also wonder if I could soak something like the headlight rheostat. Obviously I would make sure it was dry before putting electricity through it. I thought that might clean up the resistance coil easier than any other method.

[bakerhillpins]

From the Electrical section.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,70039.0.html

[Musicman]

I would contact them first of course, but I should think that it would work great since it only eats rust and only rusty.
Just be sure to use a Conductive grease like NO-OX or similar when putting things back together. I have heard of many guys using Dielectric grease, which may work OK in many cases, but Dielectric grease does not conduct electricity and can cause issues further down the road. Dielectrics are meant to be used externally, they act as a barrier to help seal out moisture and dirt.

[66FBCharger]

Thanks bakerhillpins.
i forgot about that thread. I was interested in the Evaporust because it works great removing rust on steel and iron parts. It is not supposed to remove metal/ It is not an acid. So I figured it would not weaken the connector and it would be less of an issue having to worry about neutralizing it when finished soaking the part.
Music man, thanks for the tip about the grease.

[bakerhillpins]

Thanks bakerhillpins.
i forgot about that thread.

but Dielectric grease does not conduct electricity and can cause issues further down the road. Dielectrics are meant to be used externally, they act as a barrier to help seal out moisture and dirt.

Could you please explain further?    I would have thought this was a fine example of a reason to use it. 

[Chatt69chgr]

I'm not sure if the electrical contacts are solid brass or just plated.  But it they are brass or a copper material then the CLR would do a good job probably.  You might need to brush them somehow to remove surface greases and oils.  Now that you have a nice clean surface and a dry one after you have used your air compressor to blow dry the part you would need to protect the terminals from oxidation.  The only way to do this that would be easy would be to load the connector with silicone dielectric grease.  I use Dow Corning DC4.  Comes in a green tube.  You need to make sure that you get the connector fully loaded since any air spaces could collect water and hold it against the part you are trying to protect.  You would not want a grease that did conduct electricity as it would short the whole mess out.  When the connector halves are mated together the pins form a interference fit.  The dielectric grease won't prevent this---just prevent the terminals from tarnishing and getting you back to the same point you are now.  The terminals can be removed from the connector shell, cleaned mechanically, and reinserted if you want to do it that way.  And you can buy the terminals at NAPA----or you could a few years ago when I got some there.

[Musicman]

Could you please explain further?    I would have thought this was a fine example of a reason to use it. 

Dielectric Grease is a barrier product which means it is great for keeping out dirt and moisture. It does not conduct electricity however so it should not be used on the actual contact surfaces of electrical connections since it will act as an electrical barrier, reducing the efficiency of the connection. Dielectrics should be used on the sealing surfaces on external plug connectors to keep dirt and moisture from entering there and fouling the internal contacts. It should also be used at the back of plug connectors where the wires enter and go into the crimps etc, to keep dirt & moisture out and away from those as well.

An electrically conductive grease like NO-OX etc should be used on the actual metal contact surfaces of electrical connections to protect them from corrosion and to insure a good electrical connection. Conductive greases like NO-OX can be applied very sparingly... a one molecule layer is good enough but a little more won't hurt obviously. Just don't gob so much on there that you end up shorting two connections together... it is conductive after all.

[bakerhillpins]

I read you were making an improper use point rather than one suggesting to avoid its use.

Thanks for the clarification! 

[b5blue]

Try the salt and vinegar it works, any really caustic solution like CLR is going to clean but then accelerate oxidation later. Follow the examples in my topic and if you really want the best product made for this purpose it's called Caig Industry's DeoxIt Gold, it's used in new computers and many high tech assembly's industry wide. The problem with things like CLR is they get inside the crimp and compressed wire strands and can't be neutralized, the residual continues to corrode. I do not recommend any anti rust solutions be used!  Be sure to follow the flushing and drying process I outline.     

[covet66]

Soaked the trunk hinges of my 66 Charger in Evaporust and they cleaned up nicely, installed new decklid and next time i went to open it both hinges are shot- I have not pulled them out yet but I think ( hope) that the evaporust just ate through the cotter pins loading the hinges and not the hinges themselves....

[Musicman]

Evaporust eats rust and only rust...
Evaporust does not continue working once the part has been removed from solution.