(20-09-15, 12:04 AM)Val link Wrote: I cannot stress how bad for the contacts and the ignition barel WD40 is :eekThanks very much for your input and please don't think I am dismissing your advice. I do find WD40 to be pretty good at cleaning and flushing out dirt and moisture, its also going to protect against corrosion and water penetration. The downside as you say is it does retain dirt over time though only on the outside of the connector blocks as they are pretty well sealed, I tend to repeat external cleaning about once a year which is sufficient to keep a handle on dirt build up.
WD40 is oil petroleum based, it can remove water, but if you think you are cleaning the contacts you are wrong.
I strongly sugest use electrical contacts cleaner and clean the WD40 soon. In the sockets within a couple of months WD-40 turns into a gummy substance that attracts all kinds of dirt.
As I see it the issue with using a product that strips off oils etc like the Halfords contact cleaner is that you are then leaving the components unprotected from water penetration and corrosion, which I'm not sure is a good idea. And I'm not sure whether applying a further product afterwards to address this isn't then going to have the same dirt build up issue of WD40 over time.
Before rushing out and purchasing some contact cleaner and dielectric grease I'd appreciate some other peoples feedback on whether this is necessary (I see Slim has already had his input). Any comments on this product - http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorcycle...-50-grease if I were to go down the suggested clean and grease route.