Deoxit?

bill-g

New Member
I hope this isn't the equivalent of restarting the dreaded oil or tire thread on a motorcycle forum that will get me booted out by the admin.

Does anybody actually know what the active ingredient in Deoxit is, and how it works? Enough people seem to like it that I'm guessing it works for them, but I can't help worrying when it's secret sauce (or magic beans?). Are we paying $15 for a can of spray mineral spirits with some lube in it?

I just spent about $50 on Caig's website, and really hope the stuff will help with the many switches in my Pioneer SX-939. I cleaned the switches once but only used the D5 stuff in the spray can. Didn't follow with the Gold.

Will the gold follow-up make a difference? Hope so. I've invested a lot of time in this baby
BG
 
I haven't tried De-Oxit Gold, but regular De-Oxit is the best thing I have found to clean off oxidation. I did a test on some oxidized RCA jacks. I tried:
Rawn Contact Cleaner
Isopropyl Alcohol
WD-40
De-Oxit D5
Marvel Mystery Oil (it's red, like De-Oxit so I thought maybe...)
Tri-Flo Oil
Put all the above on a Qtip and attacked the oxidation on the jacks. None of the above had any effect at all except De-Oxit.
So, I don't know what's in it, but it definitely removes oxidation.
Some kinds of soils it doesn't work on. I don't know what those are, I suspect hardened grease mixed with dust, but sometimes De-Oxit doesn't get controls clean. So I always clean with a non - residue contact cleaner, like Rawn, first, allow it to dry, then follow with De-Oxit. De-Oxit also has a lubricant in it that prevents further oxidation.
 
DeOxit is pure unadulterated virgin snake oil ... but who cares? It works! Apparently, the active ingredient is a closely guarded secret. Probably the same thing the Colonel uses to make his chicken so good.

Speaking of motorcycles. Dyno oil is best, never ride the Dark Side, and use DeOxit to clean and lube your controls, including the ignition switch. :D

The Gold is to improve connectivity electrically AFTER the switch or connection has been properly cleaned. A drop on your RCA jacks and speaker connections works wonders.
 
Thanks for info, dr audio. I'll have to fiddle around some myself. Haven't tried to use it on anything with a visible surface, just the innards of switches so far.

Re Gold, from what I gather on Caig's site, it has less of the magic oxidation eating foofoo, and some protective lube.

It would be great if there was some disclosed science here, but I guess keeping it a secret is way cheaper than defending a patent.

BG
 
As I understand it, Deoxit has a bit of oleic acid in it which breaks down the oxidation on contacts. The acid becomes neutralized as it works on oxidation, leaving behind a lubricant that keeps the contacts from oxidizing.
 
Another interesting red substance is Rail-Zip PT-23, something the model railroaders use to keep oxidation off the tracks for good electrical contact. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a close relative of the ingredients in DeOxit and it doesn't cost too much.

http://www.cleantrains.com/id43.htm
 
According to the MSDS for Deoxit D5L posted on the Caig website, it is 95% peteroleum naptha (which is essentially lighter fluid) and the remaining 5% is oleic acid.
 
What I'm wondering is how much different it is from common contact cleaner you'd buy at a hardware store or The Home Depot. I hear so much reverence for it here that for now I'm paying the premium for Deoxit, but I've always pondered switch over to the generics.
Does anybody have a compelling reason not to?
 
I've read various explanations of which deoxit to use when and where.
I'm still unsure.
It appears Red Deoxit for initial cleaning, then another Deoxit product for lube/protection is recommended.
It seems some recommend Gold as a follow up, others Fader lube.
 
Anyone wanting to try Deoxit, I recommend buying the survival kit. It comes in a handy case with little spray bottles of Deoxit, Deoxit Gold and Fader lube. It also has 3 small squeeze tubes of the same. Deoxit and Deoxit Gold wipes and a set of brushes and swabs.

I've used it in the restoration and repair of various gear over the last year. It is great for the weekend warrior who drags home equipment from the thrifts, garage sales or the curb. I use the wipes on flashlights (you know the ones you have to hit to make the light brighter) and RCA and edge type contacts.
 
According to the MSDS for Deoxit D5L posted on the Caig website, it is 95% peteroleum naptha (which is essentially lighter fluid) and the remaining 5% is oleic acid.


It looks like they've listed the remaining 5% as "Trade Secret".
Where did you get Oleic Acid from, and how do they get away with "trade secret" for a product ingredient on an MSDS?
 
According to the MSDS for Deoxit D5L posted on the Caig website, it is 95% peteroleum naptha (which is essentially lighter fluid) and the remaining 5% is oleic acid.

That's actually kind of scary as I use it a lot around soldering irons at 700 degrees. I'm gonna hafta start being more careful...
 
It is 95% naptha, which is a fast-evaporating mineral spirits that you can buy at the hardware store.

The Oleic Acid part is also what I've heard. It's a fatty acid and a main component of olive oil. So a very weak acid that acts more like an oil than an acid. It makes up virtually all of the remaining 5%.

I've also understood that there are approx. 5 other trace ingredients that are indeed trade secrets.

A guy I know (antique radio hobbiest) was selling his version of it to other hobbiests and got a cease and desist letter from Caig because he mentioned the DeOxit name. He didn't have the other 5 ingredients.

I tried his idea and it was pretty good for first-flush, cannon-fodder type cleaning.

I like to use anything cheap for initial cleaning and follow up with Faderlube for pots or Gold for switch contacts. That's what I learned at AK anyway.
 
I hope this isn't the equivalent of restarting the dreaded oil or tire thread on a motorcycle forum that will get me booted out by the admin.

Does anybody actually know what the active ingredient in Deoxit is, and how it works? Enough people seem to like it that I'm guessing it works for them, but I can't help worrying when it's secret sauce (or magic beans?). Are we paying $15 for a can of spray mineral spirits with some lube in it?

I just spent about $50 on Caig's website, and really hope the stuff will help with the many switches in my Pioneer SX-939. I cleaned the switches once but only used the D5 stuff in the spray can. Didn't follow with the Gold.

Will the gold follow-up make a difference? Hope so. I've invested a lot of time in this baby
BG
According to Craig Labs Deoxit D5 is 75% Naphtha (odorless mineral spirits) and 25% Propellant. I make my own by putting Naphtha in small 2 oz. bottle with a needle cap for less than $1... to use If I don't need the spray can with the red extension tube. I still buy D5 spray can to clean hard to reach potentiometers, button switches ect. in Audio equipment.

Deoxit F5 has a little light weight oil in it. I make my own "F5" with 95% Naphtha & 5% 3 in 1 oil.

FYI, I found the ingredients doing a google search for "Deoxit ingredients".

I haven't had a need for the Gold (not sayin it's snake oil) just a little pricy :)
 
If memory serves, the original product was called Cramolin. I believe that the active ingredient was cranberry juice...thus the red
 
In 2017 I posted in an earlier De-Oxit thread:

"Cans of electrical contact cleaner are refrigerant based. DeOxit is no different. It contains mineral oil, and so might CRC, I'm not familiar with it but I do use MG Chemicals and the lubricant theirs contain is silicone.

I jumped on the DeOxit wagon a while ago due to the hype it got on electronics forums, but I jumped off after 3 cans. It does nothing any better or last any longer than the competition.

I have gotten to know some retired radio techs who spent decades in the trade and are now just hobbyists. Not one endoresed DeOxit citing the product was not worth the cost
Another tech I met more recently who just went independant with his own shop, is also a DeOxit detractor, again because of price.

Up until recently, there was a local family run electronics shop which was in business over 40 years. They did not carry DeOxit until the last couple of years of their existence. That was my go to place for a lot of stuff but when I succumbed to the DeOxit buzz, I had to go elsewhere. That shop did eventually start sellngDeOxit no doubt because other customers, like myself, were requesting it.

The internet has been very very kind to Caig but their contact cleaner is not necessarily a benchmark product.

It's not a bad product, just an overpriced one.

Where I live in Canada, a can of DeOxit 5 sells for $24. I can buy the same size can of MG Chemical,s for about $8 less."


EDIT: 2017 was 7 years ago and since then, prices have gone up. I believe the last time I noticed De-Oxit in a shop it was about $40 per can.
 
Back
Top Bottom