Brake cleaner on electrical components?

[Mr Mud Flaps]

Is it a good idea to use brake cleaner on electrical components, like inside the fuse box or on other electrical contact points?

If not, what’s the worst that could happen?

 

[hoser]

Brake cleaner can eat certain types of plastic. Your 100 can catch fire and burn to the ground!

 

[GTV]

I wouldn’t. But you can get electrical parts cleaner.

 

[TahoeZ]

Caig deoxit d5

 

[Mr Mud Flaps]

Brake cleaner can eat certain types of plastic. Your 100 can catch fire and burn to the ground!

This is what I was most concerned about. I would never use brake cleaner on anything delicate, but the Toyota dealer near me apparently does.

My tail lights were out and the fuse blew every time I replaced it so I took it to them to have the electrical issue diagnosed ($680). They (maybe) solved it by replacing the fuse box ($2,500). On my drive home I noticed most of my gauges weren’t working so I drove it back. The tech who works on it said that he had used brake cleaner to clean the electrical contact points when he did the install. Apparently he ‘wiped some of it off’ and that got the gauges to work again.

I should be worried, shouldn’t I? lol

 

[2001LC]

Best practice, is to use a cleaner that states on can the "plastic safe".

 

[mrsleeve]

To be fair many of the good contact cleaners contain the same chlorine compounds that the good brake clean products contain.

So the danger may or not be something to worry about given the other solvents in each container. Also that said dont weld on anything that you have cleaned with contact cleaner that is not chlorine free.