Re: Safe to use WD40 as switch or potentiometer cleaner?

From: mitch perkins (mitchsperkins_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 08/26/04 

Date: 25 Aug 2004 23:27:00 -0700

"Keith Willcocks" <keith.willcocks.nospam@btinternet.com.nospam> wrote in message news:<cgiuod$o62$1@titan.btinternet.com>...
>
> "mitch perkins" <mitchsperkins@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:64dddc3d.0408230726.1103075f@posting.google.com...
> > "Richard Henry" <rphenry@home.com> wrote in message
> news:<cmQVc.123523$sh.72032@fed1read06>...
> > >
> > > Just this week I used WD-40 to lubricate the garden gate hinges and
> sprayed
> > > some on the cutters after pruning some shrubs.
> > >
> > > Years ago in youthful ignorance I tried to clean a coffee spill out of a
> > > computer keyboard with it. I eventually just got a new keyboard.
> >
> > If you can manage to sneak a squirt of WD40 into your slot-car motor
> > just before a race, victory will be yours! Not, however, if the track
> > is full-living-room sized and the race is more than 15 laps. Also the
> > resulting aroma, while exceedingly pleasant, will give you away.
> > Make sure not to spill any on the rear wheels, or you're *done*.

> You reminded me that you can drastically extend the life of a worn out
> ribbon on a dot matrix printer by opening the cassette and spraying the
> ribbon with WD40. Sounds daft but works extremely well, a friend has
> ribbons that have been sprayed 3 or 4 times and are years old and still
> working.

  Really? Me? I had an old VCR that had an audio-dub feature. We would
tape Star Trek and The X Files and then dub in the most ridiculous
dialogue. Always something to do with hats or cheese or the captains
Bovril stash. Those two shows were perfect because the actors are so
*serious*.
  Anyway, when it began to die, (the thing had a fake wood finish!), I
somehow got the idea to open the tape slot and - *spray everything
inside with alcohol*.
  Punchline: it added at least a year to the life of a dear old
friend. (I think the alcohol "re-stickied" the belts.)
  Moral: they don't make 'em like they used to.

  Mitch