Cleaning Wiring harness connectors
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Professional
Joined: Sep 2005
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Cleaning Wiring harness connectors
Hey, I have had some problems getting voltage to my drivers side rear brake light / signal light. On a 1994 dodge ram cummins.
Its showing me voltage at the light bulb with a voltmeter, but its not enough to light up a test light or light up the light itself.
Anyways I've been working through the system, and I think I have it isolated to a bad 10 pin (think its 10 pin) connector. The pins / holes where the connection is made on them is showing alot of signs of corrosion (greenish oxidization krap). I cleaned them best I could using small bits of sandpaper and the bulb lite up (very faintly) for a small amount of time. The connector is located under the truck at the rear of the front driver fender, on the outside of the frame.
My main question is... how do I clean this connector?? Sandpaper isn't getting in there enough due to the small pins/holes.
I heard of a hot water and baking soda trick but I'm not 100 percent sure how this is preformed...?
Help...?
Its showing me voltage at the light bulb with a voltmeter, but its not enough to light up a test light or light up the light itself.
Anyways I've been working through the system, and I think I have it isolated to a bad 10 pin (think its 10 pin) connector. The pins / holes where the connection is made on them is showing alot of signs of corrosion (greenish oxidization krap). I cleaned them best I could using small bits of sandpaper and the bulb lite up (very faintly) for a small amount of time. The connector is located under the truck at the rear of the front driver fender, on the outside of the frame.
My main question is... how do I clean this connector?? Sandpaper isn't getting in there enough due to the small pins/holes.
I heard of a hot water and baking soda trick but I'm not 100 percent sure how this is preformed...?
Help...?
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 480
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From: edmonton, a.b
hot water and soda sounds good. or you could get your self some Electrical connection/contact cleaner..
disconnect negative lead from battery and then take your hot water soda solution- (in a cup) and dip the connector into the cup.
Or same thing with the battery-- and spray some contact cleaner into the pin connectors.
disconnect negative lead from battery and then take your hot water soda solution- (in a cup) and dip the connector into the cup.
Or same thing with the battery-- and spray some contact cleaner into the pin connectors.
Legend
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 8,663
Likes: 8
From: Central Oklahoma
Pin connectors disassemble with a bit of effort. Careful inspection of the backside of the connector will show there's tab that locks the pin in the connector case. A thin jeweler's screwdriver or a tool used to depress these tabs (I have one I can post a picture of later) will aid in disassembly. Exercise care so as not to break the wire or damage the pin. Once removed, 0000 steel wool, brasso, or even a fine wheel on a Dremel will work well to remove corrosion. When finished, I'd recomment using di-electric grease before reinserting the pin.
To properly clean those types of connectors, here's a method that works, is safe and, it won't induce failure later on.
The baking soda method is for another application. That is to be used to stabilize an acidic connection at the battery. It's a base therefore, it neutralizes the acid. That's where that comes into play.
To clean those contacts, you'll need to buy a can of DeOxit. Remove all power from the system before cleaning.
Chemical Cleaning
Take the can, spray in connector. Mate and Unmate until a clean surface is achieved.
Abrasive Cleaning
NOTE: depending on how this is done and, on what pin / contacts, it will have a negative affect on the outcome. This method will induce failure quicker as there are more oxides thus leading to more corrosion over a shorter period of time due to the fact that when you sand anything, material is being removed and, depending on how much material is removed, it may be removed to the point of exposing the base metal or, worse yet, the contact-interference fit will be compromised thus ending up with CKT faults.
I do not recommend sanding any pin contacts / molex connectors / multi-pins etc due to intermittent connections and or voltage drops and / or open CKT conditions.
If it is green, there's already a problem. This is an indicator that the base metal has already bled through the Ni / Au plating at the interface where mating / contact is made.
If that's the case and, it's that bad, my only recommendation is to replace the bad connector. It will save you a ton of headaches and frustration down the road.
If you insist on sanding, do so ever-so-lightly. If you've got to sand and sand to remove the green / galvanic corrosion, then, it's going to require a lot of sanding to remove it which, by the time your done, you've removed most of the Ni / Au plating thus exposing the Cu base metal. You can certainly try it and, make sure that the pins are coated in a sealer that is conductive afterwards for, if they are not sealed 100%, Cu bleeds like a mother in air. It will turn green faster than you can imagine. It will corrode in a matter of days in the presence of air.
CM
The baking soda method is for another application. That is to be used to stabilize an acidic connection at the battery. It's a base therefore, it neutralizes the acid. That's where that comes into play.
To clean those contacts, you'll need to buy a can of DeOxit. Remove all power from the system before cleaning.
Chemical Cleaning
Take the can, spray in connector. Mate and Unmate until a clean surface is achieved.
Abrasive Cleaning
NOTE: depending on how this is done and, on what pin / contacts, it will have a negative affect on the outcome. This method will induce failure quicker as there are more oxides thus leading to more corrosion over a shorter period of time due to the fact that when you sand anything, material is being removed and, depending on how much material is removed, it may be removed to the point of exposing the base metal or, worse yet, the contact-interference fit will be compromised thus ending up with CKT faults.
I do not recommend sanding any pin contacts / molex connectors / multi-pins etc due to intermittent connections and or voltage drops and / or open CKT conditions.
If it is green, there's already a problem. This is an indicator that the base metal has already bled through the Ni / Au plating at the interface where mating / contact is made.
If that's the case and, it's that bad, my only recommendation is to replace the bad connector. It will save you a ton of headaches and frustration down the road.
If you insist on sanding, do so ever-so-lightly. If you've got to sand and sand to remove the green / galvanic corrosion, then, it's going to require a lot of sanding to remove it which, by the time your done, you've removed most of the Ni / Au plating thus exposing the Cu base metal. You can certainly try it and, make sure that the pins are coated in a sealer that is conductive afterwards for, if they are not sealed 100%, Cu bleeds like a mother in air. It will turn green faster than you can imagine. It will corrode in a matter of days in the presence of air.
CM
Last edited by cmckenna; Jul 7, 2010 at 05:36 PM.