Sunday, February 3, 2019

DeoxIT Notes

Everything you need to know about cleaning and maintaining tiny linear servos from RCGroups:

Questions:

1) CAIG Laboratories, Inc. make DeoxIT in a number of formulations. I've seen mention of D-series and Fader F-series on RCG. Can somebody please tell me what to buy, exactly?

2) Other than cost, is there any down side to using DeoxIT of any formulation? Will it attract and hold dust?

3) Will any formulation of DeoxIT attack foam?

4) How careful must I be with DeoxIT of any formulation regarding the servo motor? Will it soak into the motor housing and strip lubricant from the shaft?

5) Does it evaporate or must it be wiped away?

6) I saw an old video (2015) wherein the gentleman removed the actuator from the PCB to perform a thorough cleaning. Is it necessary to remove the actuator if I use the correct formulation of DeoxIT?

Answers:

1. D5 to clean. F5 to lubricate. 
2. Nope
3. Nope
4. Spray it on there liberally
5. Put a paper towel around the servo to catch the black gunk that comes out
6. Not necessary
  • Yes, I spray the D5 and work the servo back and forth a bunch. I usually don't do so with the F5, just when every other servo's cleaned up, I give each a quick shot of F5 and place the plane back on its rack.
  • That's how I discovered it! Spent 40 years in the music industry as an audio engineer - both live mixing & studio recording. Hundreds of sliders & pots....
  • After using regular old "TV tuner cleaner" & finding that the noise soon returned & the stuff actually caused more problems - I stumbled upon DeoxIT products. For decades, D5 & F5 are the only things I've used for cleaning pots & sliders, sliding contacts, commutators, etc.  Back when the first UMs came out, I tried it on a jittery UM linear actuator & it worked perfectly! I've been spreading the news ever since!