Re: [sdiy] Key cleaning

[Glen]

At 12:43 AM 9/20/04 , =?iso-8859-2?Q?Roman?= wrote:
>
>I cleaned the strips with alcohol and I can assure you it's safe.
>But I always remove the rubber pads (which are actually a silicone I guess) 
>and then the black pads can be easily cleaned.
>I also cleaned those conductive rubber circles with alcohol, and never found 
>any bad thing happening to them.

I remember in the service manuals of some of the very first synths that
used rubber contact strips, they actually suggested cleaning the strips
with alcohol. Much later, some organs were made with rubber contact strips
which would definitely deform if exposed to alcohol. I've seen it happen
myself. After they lose their original shape, they no longer make reliable
contact and have to be replaced. There was apparently a variety of
different "rubber" materials used in key contacts over the years. Some of
these materials seem to withstand alcohol okay, and some of them are
permanently deformed after coming in contact with alcohol. I swear, I've
personally seen it happen more than once. So no, you can't assure me that
it's always safe to clean "rubber contacts" with alcohol.


take care,
Glen