Servisol 'super' 10
 

Hi all,

Always the skeptic I have never had much faith in squirt and cure techniques. The Ekco A22 had a noisy wavechange switch, not too bad but annoying. Having read good reports on Servisol 'super' 10 I floated a tin on the back of a Farnell order (thank you boss).

Damn good stuff this, one squirt and the switch is as good as new.

Whats WD40 like? (not for switches but in general) may get a tin of that too. The motorcycles side stand is getting a bit stiff.

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

Servisol super 10 is the "industry standard" in switch cleaners,brilliant stuff indeed :)

when i worked for a military contractor,we used a switch cleaner spray called deoxit..it was even better than servisol....i did manage to liberate a tin of the said stuff but havent purchased any more due to its cost :(

wd40 is a good general purpose lubricant for hinges etc,but not so good at freeing stuck/rusted nuts & bolts...would be perfect for your m/c stand,especially as the wd bit stands for "water displacer"

simon

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

We've been here before!

Deoxit is expensive but the BVWS sell it to members at a keener price.

I've always been happy with Servisol Super 10.

WD40?

It's fine for many little lubricating jobs around the house and car, but I can't really think of anything I'd use it for on a radio.

My eyes glaze over when I see posts saying "how can I get this grub screw loose - I've soaked it in WD40 for days". Why am I not surprised? As has been said, WD40 was primarily intended as a water displacement fluid - not a penetrating oil, although the makers do claim that 'it loosens rusted parts'. It penetrates to the extent that it's thinner than lubrication oil such as 3-in-1, but really, something such as Plus Gas Formula A dismantling agent is a much better bet as it has a very low surface tension.

You probably won't find it at Halfords, which markets its own brand of a product it calls 'Shock and Unlock Cold Spray' in 400ml aerosols, which it claims 'combines 'powerfull' (sic - Halford's spelling error - not mine!) penetrating fluids and freezing agents which "shock free" rusted agents and jammed connections'.

Plus Gas Formula A here:

http://www.my-tool-shed.co.uk/m129/P...FaQA4wodvkBBvg


Shock and Unlock here:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165594


David

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

A note of caution if I may -
WD40 and natural rubber do not get on with each other. I once had a customer who tried to 'clean ' the key contacts of his electronic organ by hopefully squirting WD40 along under the keys. The rubber sleeves on the key guides swelled up, and I had to replace the lot. Not very expensive in themselves, but the labour charge for the best part of a day's work (complete dismantling of the keyboards) stopped any further experiments along those lines!. Tony

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

I am very careful with servisol , it can cause the plastic to degrade not immediately but noticed it after several months.

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

I use EML Electrolube, I believe it's largely similar to Servisol but dad can get it from work! :)

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

I've also had problems with Servisol attacking plastic, which has happened mostly on TV control customer panels.

A visit to a TV to spray a noisy volume slider could result in a call the next day as the on/off switch had pushed into the cabinet.

After that had happened a few times it was obvious that excess lube could drip out of the slider onto the fixings for the switch causing the plastic to crumble.

We started to use Philips lube which seems fine on plastic and also is excellent in curing crackly pots.

Servisol should be fine if used sparingly and on sets that don't use thermoplastic parts.

Michael.

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

I can confirm that Servisol does affect plastic, I am now very careful to put a bit of kitchen roll around any area I don't want touched by it.
I also use it sparingly, I haven't tried Deoxit yet, but I know people who swear by it.
:beer:
Mark

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

Servisol and plastic? I can't remember if it was Servisol or Radiospares switch cleaner but whichever, it had a devastating effect on the switchbanks of the early Grundig radios which we used to repair. Grundig took full responsibility for any damage caused and would replace affected units at a cost of six pounds. Including carriage at their UK factory. Well this was around 1960!

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

When I was in the trade, I was astonished by the number of engineers I came across who thought that WD40 was ok sprayed around the innards of electronic equipment. It's horrid stuff, OK only for repelling water and freeing moving parts. It's also good for slowly rotting some plastics.
I once attended a Thorn 1500 which had a noisy volume control, and the owners said 'please don't spray it with that magic spray, it only lasts for a day or two and then the crackling comes back'. So I got the service record out and found that the v/c had been noisy for 4 years and the 'engineer' had been applying WD40 every few weeks over the period.
More worrying was the rot in the corner of the plastic cabinet....
Servisol is much kinder, but still I'm careful to mop up any drips.

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

WD40 is a good solvent (mostly white spirit) and it can be used as a contact cleaner, either in an emergency or if the dirt is stubborn. It does seem to remove crud that Servisol leaves behind. It should be used CAREFULLY and SPARINGLY.

After drying out it will leave a thin mineral oil deposit. In some cases this will help prevent further oxidation but the oil will tend to attract dust.

WD40 got its bad name among professional electronics service people because clueless owners would spray it everywhere inside a VCR or CD player whenever there was what seemed like a mechanical problem. This would require a complete stripdown to clean all the WD40 off. It should never, ever be used in a shotgun fashion like this.

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

Agreed Paul.
Often, when accepting an item for repair I would get the tell-tale whiff of WD40 and ask the customer why the item had been sprayed. 'Er, I didn't spray it, it was the brother in law' etc was the usual reply. I would then warn the customer that if the WD had got onto any rubber parts (it always had...), they would need replacing.
Thus a simple £20 job to cure a squeak became a £60 job involving several new parts and a complete strip-down.
If I had a pound.....

Re: Servisol 'super' 10
 

I've used WD40 as switch/volume pot cleaner since I was in my teens. I've still got things thus treated twenty-odd years ago which have survived.

I agree that it's messy though and bought my first tin of Servisol a few weeks ago and have very impressed been thus far. Thanks for the warning about plastics though.

- Joe