Alkaline Battery Leak Cleanup

[Mark Zenier]

In article <slrnk6073v.3ml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com>,
Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Left alone, the base metal will rust
or corrode. I smear on some grease to slow down the corrosion, but
find that it's not really adequate. I wouldn't mind painting the
contacts with clear acrylic after masking the contact area, but that's
often difficult or awkward to accomplish.

I've had reasonable results using the green anti-oxidant grease to
ressurect some old metal flashlights that got seriously crudded up.
I think it's original use is for copper-aluminium connections.

....

If you are in the EU, you can buy a better cleaner called Cramolin, which
used to be sold by the people who sell DeOxit. Post 9/11 the Cramolin
products can not be shipped by air in the US, so DeOxit was created by
their US distributor to fill the gap.

Urban Legend Alert!

I sure as hell wouldn't try carrying it in my luggage, but I've got
an old posting somewhere in my archive from some salesman at Cramonlin,
(made long before 9/11), that they broke off the distribution deal because
the American distributor was claiming they invented it. (There was also
some reformulation going on around that time for the spray can versions,
due to the Freon ban).

"Real" Cramolin is the factory recommended treatment for connection
problems with engine control computers for various German made cars.
"Recommended" might be too weak, more like "Only method allowed".
Try the parts department at your local VW or Beemer dealer.

There is a competing product called Stabilant-22 made in Canada. I have
not used it becuase it is very expensive. You buy a small bottle and dilute
it with alcohol, so the per use price is low. Motorola sells it for
repairing LMR radios.

Available, in a dilute form as "Tweek" at your local high end audio
store. Never really seemed to do that much.

Mark Zenier mzenier@eskimo.com
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

 

[John Robertson]

BeeJ wrote:

What is the best Alkaline Battery Leak Cleanup (AA Copper tops) method
for the metal contacts that were exposed to the battery leakage?

Some contacts are easy to get to and some are not.

Chemical to use? Or ?

Thanks.

I wrote a page on this years ago when pinball game and jukebox computers
were being corroded by leaky alkaline batteries (ni-cads or AA
alkalines). At the time (mid-90s) I called up one of the help lines for
either Eveready, Duracell, or some such company and they passed me up to
an engineer who stated that the best way he knew to deal with the
alkaline was to use a mild acid solution - white vinegar and water 50:50
was about ideal - soak the item with that, then rinse well with
distilled or low mineral water.

https://www.flippers.com/battery.html

John :-#)#

--
(Please post followups or tech enquiries to the newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
Call (604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:33:20 GMT, mzenier@eskimo.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

I sure as hell wouldn't try carrying it in my luggage, but I've got
an old posting somewhere in my archive from some salesman at Cramonlin,
(made long before 9/11), that they broke off the distribution deal because
the American distributor was claiming they invented it. (There was also
some reformulation going on around that time for the spray can versions,
due to the Freon ban).

<http://www.pitt.edu/~szekeres/caigcram.htm>
<http://siber-sonic.com/electronics/caig.html>
As far as I can determine, the only real difference between the Caig
DeOxit product and the original Cramolin is that Cramolin contains
about 5% oleic acid, whilc DeOxit does not. Oleic acid will remove
oxidation products quite nicely, but should not be left on copper or
brass contacts, which it will eventually corrode.

The current version is DeOxit from Caig Labs. It comes in an amazing
variety of forms, and is allegedly non-corrosive.
<http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/.f>
The MSDS data shows the active ingredients as a "trade secret". Oh
well.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[BeeJ]

FWIW

I did some reading and found little advice I thought to be helpful.

So I got out the CLR and some cotton swabs and carefully dabbed.
As soon as the CLR hit the alkaline battery goo it foamed up.
I continued until the foaming stopped.
Then I rinsed with RO water and dried the equipment on a air purifier in a
room with a wall A/C unit so I had really dry air. So far so good. The
batteries were put in and the unit works!

Now that all the alkaline goo is gone, what to do about the corrosion?

In one case I just scrubbed more with the cotton swabs; they are pretty good
at scrubbing.

In another case I got out my Harbor Freight battery powered diamond tip
rotary pen and carefully de-crudded the electrical contact area. That worked
OK too but was a little rough on the surface.

But now I am wondering about use phosphoric acid on the contacts. That will
convert the corroded steel (at least) to iron phosphate effectively stopping
corrosion. But now the questions is, what are the conductive properties of
iron phosphate and will it make a reasonable electrical contact surface?
Anyone know about that? Not just iron phosphate, but about electrical
contacts made of what, converted to whatever phosphate.

Strangely, all the electrical contacts that had goo on them were on the
removable cover and not in the deep innards of the units I am repairing.
Well, OK, there was a little goo in there but not the corrosion.



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Google MSDS for CLR and see what it is. Mild acid plus other stuff.

 

[gregz]

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote:

On Mon, 24 Sep 2012 19:33:20 GMT, mzenier@eskimo.com (Mark Zenier)
wrote:

I sure as hell wouldn't try carrying it in my luggage, but I've got
an old posting somewhere in my archive from some salesman at Cramonlin,
(made long before 9/11), that they broke off the distribution deal because
the American distributor was claiming they invented it. (There was also
some reformulation going on around that time for the spray can versions,
due to the Freon ban).

http://www.pitt.edu/~szekeres/caigcram.htm
http://siber-sonic.com/electronics/caig.html
As far as I can determine, the only real difference between the Caig
DeOxit product and the original Cramolin is that Cramolin contains
about 5% oleic acid, whilc DeOxit does not. Oleic acid will remove
oxidation products quite nicely, but should not be left on copper or
brass contacts, which it will eventually corrode.

The current version is DeOxit from Caig Labs. It comes in an amazing
variety of forms, and is allegedly non-corrosive.
http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/.f
The MSDS data shows the active ingredients as a "trade secret". Oh
well.

I never really tried it, but someday I'll find a use, for the old copper
impregnated grease from Germany. Reddish in color, of course.

Greg

 

[gregz]

BeeJ <nospam@spamnot.com> wrote:

FWIW

I did some reading and found little advice I thought to be helpful.

So I got out the CLR and some cotton swabs and carefully dabbed.
As soon as the CLR hit the alkaline battery goo it foamed up.
I continued until the foaming stopped.
Then I rinsed with RO water and dried the equipment on a air purifier in
a > room with a wall A/C unit so I had really dry air. So far so good.
The > batteries were put in and the unit works!

Now that all the alkaline goo is gone, what to do about the corrosion?

In one case I just scrubbed more with the cotton swabs; they are pretty
good > at scrubbing.

In another case I got out my Harbor Freight battery powered diamond tip
rotary pen and carefully de-crudded the electrical contact area. That
worked > OK too but was a little rough on the surface.

But now I am wondering about use phosphoric acid on the contacts. That
will > convert the corroded steel (at least) to iron phosphate
effectively stopping > corrosion. But now the questions is, what are
the conductive properties of > iron phosphate and will it make a
reasonable electrical contact surface? > Anyone know about that? Not
just iron phosphate, but about electrical > contacts made of what,
converted to whatever phosphate.

Strangely, all the electrical contacts that had goo on them were on the
removable cover and not in the deep innards of the units I am repairing.
Well, OK, there was a little goo in there but not the corrosion.



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Google MSDS for CLR and see what it is. Mild acid plus other stuff.

If I could clean it off, I might try tarn-x, acidified soapy water.

Greg

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Mark Zenier <mzenier@eskimo.com> wrote:

In article <slrnk6073v.3ml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com>,
Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Left alone, the base metal will rust
or corrode. I smear on some grease to slow down the corrosion, but
find that it's not really adequate. I wouldn't mind painting the
contacts with clear acrylic after masking the contact area, but that's
often difficult or awkward to accomplish.

I've had reasonable results using the green anti-oxidant grease to
ressurect some old metal flashlights that got seriously crudded up.
I think it's original use is for copper-aluminium connections.

...

If you are in the EU, you can buy a better cleaner called Cramolin, which
used to be sold by the people who sell DeOxit. Post 9/11 the Cramolin
products can not be shipped by air in the US, so DeOxit was created by
their US distributor to fill the gap.

Urban Legend Alert!

I sure as hell wouldn't try carrying it in my luggage, but I've got
an old posting somewhere in my archive from some salesman at Cramonlin,
(made long before 9/11), that they broke off the distribution deal because
the American distributor was claiming they invented it. (There was also
some reformulation going on around that time for the spray can versions,
due to the Freon ban).

"Real" Cramolin is the factory recommended treatment for connection
problems with engine control computers for various German made cars.
"Recommended" might be too weak, more like "Only method allowed".
Try the parts department at your local VW or Beemer dealer.

Not sure it's related, but german vehicles seem to have plenty of
electrical problems, ranging from harness fires to simple stuff
like headlight connectors burning out. They just don't get it.

I'd steer clear away from anything german+automotive+electrical.

 

[Cydrome Leader]

BeeJ <nospam@spamnot.com> wrote:

FWIW

I did some reading and found little advice I thought to be helpful.

So I got out the CLR and some cotton swabs and carefully dabbed.
As soon as the CLR hit the alkaline battery goo it foamed up.
I continued until the foaming stopped.
Then I rinsed with RO water and dried the equipment on a air purifier in a
room with a wall A/C unit so I had really dry air. So far so good. The
batteries were put in and the unit works!

Now that all the alkaline goo is gone, what to do about the corrosion?

In one case I just scrubbed more with the cotton swabs; they are pretty good
at scrubbing.

In another case I got out my Harbor Freight battery powered diamond tip
rotary pen and carefully de-crudded the electrical contact area. That worked
OK too but was a little rough on the surface.

But now I am wondering about use phosphoric acid on the contacts. That will
convert the corroded steel (at least) to iron phosphate effectively stopping
corrosion. But now the questions is, what are the conductive properties of
iron phosphate and will it make a reasonable electrical contact surface?
Anyone know about that? Not just iron phosphate, but about electrical
contacts made of what, converted to whatever phosphate.

Strangely, all the electrical contacts that had goo on them were on the
removable cover and not in the deep innards of the units I am repairing.
Well, OK, there was a little goo in there but not the corrosion.



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

Google MSDS for CLR and see what it is. Mild acid plus other stuff.

It seems like the formulation for CLR changes by the week.

it's basically lactic acid at this point. The removed the good stuff
from it.

 

[Adrian Tuddenham]

Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> wrote:

Mark Zenier <mzenier@eskimo.com> wrote:
In article <slrnk6073v.3ml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com>,
Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Left alone, the base metal will rust
or corrode. I smear on some grease to slow down the corrosion, but
find that it's not really adequate. I wouldn't mind painting the
contacts with clear acrylic after masking the contact area, but that's
often difficult or awkward to accomplish.

I've had reasonable results using the green anti-oxidant grease to
ressurect some old metal flashlights that got seriously crudded up.
I think it's original use is for copper-aluminium connections.

...

If you are in the EU, you can buy a better cleaner called Cramolin, which
used to be sold by the people who sell DeOxit. Post 9/11 the Cramolin
products can not be shipped by air in the US, so DeOxit was created by
their US distributor to fill the gap.

Urban Legend Alert!

I sure as hell wouldn't try carrying it in my luggage, but I've got
an old posting somewhere in my archive from some salesman at Cramonlin,
(made long before 9/11), that they broke off the distribution deal because
the American distributor was claiming they invented it. (There was also
some reformulation going on around that time for the spray can versions,
due to the Freon ban).

"Real" Cramolin is the factory recommended treatment for connection
problems with engine control computers for various German made cars.
"Recommended" might be too weak, more like "Only method allowed".
Try the parts department at your local VW or Beemer dealer.

Not sure it's related, but german vehicles seem to have plenty of
electrical problems, ranging from harness fires to simple stuff
like headlight connectors burning out. They just don't get it.

I'd steer clear away from anything german+automotive+electrical.

In the U.K., Volvo use mainly German electrics. The components aren't
all that bad but the overall system looks as though it was designed by
someone on a 'work experience' course having a bad day.


--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

 

[William Sommerwerck]

You have insulted meine Vorvatern.

Some years back, a neighbor asked me to help troubleshoot his Volkswagen
Golf. He had the service manual for several models, and we were definitely
looking at the right model, but we could not trace one of the wires -- the
one that seemed to be causing the problem.

Finally applying the Holmesian rule that, once you're eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains must be true, I suggested we look at the
schematics for other models -- and lo and behold, it turned out that the one
for the Golf was the wrong schematic.

So much for "German precision".

 

[Cydrome Leader]

Adrian Tuddenham <adrian@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote:

Cydrome Leader <presence@MUNGEpanix.com> wrote:

Mark Zenier <mzenier@eskimo.com> wrote:
In article <slrnk6073v.3ml.gsm@cable.mendelson.com>,
Geoffrey S. Mendelson <gsm@mendelson.com> wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
Left alone, the base metal will rust
or corrode. I smear on some grease to slow down the corrosion, but
find that it's not really adequate. I wouldn't mind painting the
contacts with clear acrylic after masking the contact area, but that's
often difficult or awkward to accomplish.

I've had reasonable results using the green anti-oxidant grease to
ressurect some old metal flashlights that got seriously crudded up.
I think it's original use is for copper-aluminium connections.

...

If you are in the EU, you can buy a better cleaner called Cramolin, which
used to be sold by the people who sell DeOxit. Post 9/11 the Cramolin
products can not be shipped by air in the US, so DeOxit was created by
their US distributor to fill the gap.

Urban Legend Alert!

I sure as hell wouldn't try carrying it in my luggage, but I've got
an old posting somewhere in my archive from some salesman at Cramonlin,
(made long before 9/11), that they broke off the distribution deal because
the American distributor was claiming they invented it. (There was also
some reformulation going on around that time for the spray can versions,
due to the Freon ban).

"Real" Cramolin is the factory recommended treatment for connection
problems with engine control computers for various German made cars.
"Recommended" might be too weak, more like "Only method allowed".
Try the parts department at your local VW or Beemer dealer.

Not sure it's related, but german vehicles seem to have plenty of
electrical problems, ranging from harness fires to simple stuff
like headlight connectors burning out. They just don't get it.

I'd steer clear away from anything german+automotive+electrical.

In the U.K., Volvo use mainly German electrics. The components aren't
all that bad but the overall system looks as though it was designed by
someone on a 'work experience' course having a bad day.

It's not a large pool of data, but work on some machines that were made in
West Germany as well as the US version that were completely designed and
made in the USA just after that, around 1990.

The german stuff is as you'd expect, overly complex with everything on din
rails, but lots of tiny ones, there's stuff cabled tied up to the point
you can't trace anything and lots of the cables aren't even labelled. And
of course, since it's german, they use slotted screws for everything so
everything is marred up from screwdrivers slipping all over the place.

They do still work, with mostly new timers and relays.

The american stuff is far superior. There's just one control board,
everything is marked and the nothing is 5 times too large because stuff
isn't forced to clip onto those rediculous DIN rails. They also decided to
not put half the relays on the control board, the other half on the inside
of the control panel and rest somewhere else.

It's just a more thought out design.

 

[Cydrome Leader]

William Sommerwerck <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:

You have insulted meine Vorvatern.

Some years back, a neighbor asked me to help troubleshoot his Volkswagen
Golf. He had the service manual for several models, and we were definitely
looking at the right model, but we could not trace one of the wires -- the
one that seemed to be causing the problem.

Finally applying the Holmesian rule that, once you're eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains must be true, I suggested we look at the
schematics for other models -- and lo and behold, it turned out that the one
for the Golf was the wrong schematic.

So much for "German precision".

If it's a machine and has moving parts, they're pretty good at stuff. If
it's more abstact, like with electricity in wires or software, they're
lost.

japanese companies seem completely unable to product working software
either for some reason, unless it's a video game.

How people are raised to think and operate seems to vary like crazy
between countries, even though nobody will admit it.

I've really wondered why this is the case. It's not like the rest of the
world only produces top notch softare, but it's all better overall.

weird russian software cracking utilities are made with more finesse than
some big ticket programs from Hitachi, a company with more money than the
russian mafia could even dream of defrauding from anybody. I'd run out of
fingers pointing out glaring errors or UI anomolies in just a 45 seconds
with this one program alone.

 

[JW]

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:58:51 +0000 (UTC) Cydrome Leader
<presence@MUNGEpanix.com> wrote in Message id:
<k3vmpq$8aa$1@reader1.panix.com>:

William Sommerwerck <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:
You have insulted meine Vorvatern.

Some years back, a neighbor asked me to help troubleshoot his Volkswagen
Golf. He had the service manual for several models, and we were definitely
looking at the right model, but we could not trace one of the wires -- the
one that seemed to be causing the problem.

Finally applying the Holmesian rule that, once you're eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains must be true, I suggested we look at the
schematics for other models -- and lo and behold, it turned out that the one
for the Golf was the wrong schematic.

So much for "German precision".

If it's a machine and has moving parts, they're pretty good at stuff. If
it's more abstact, like with electricity in wires or software, they're
lost.

I'd make an exception with Rohde & Schwarz test equipment. Every piece
I've ever used or worked on was very well made.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:42:32 +0000 (UTC), gregz <zekor@comcast.net>
wrote:

I never really tried it, but someday I'll find a use, for the old copper
impregnated grease from Germany. Reddish in color, of course.

Grease is normally a tolerable insulator. Many rotating devices are
capable to generating sufficient static electricity to create small
spark between the bearing surfaces. That eventually pits the bearings
and causes failure. To prevent arcing, greases are often made
conductive by adding graphite.
<http://www.nyelubricants.com/products/elec_conductive.shtml>

However, for applications where the bearing is expected to actually
conduct some current and/or some heat, copper is used. You can get it
at the auto shop as anti-seize:
<http://www.permatex.com/products/automotive/lubricants/specialty_lubricants/Permatex_Copper_Anti-Seize_Lubricant_b.htm>
or:
<http://store.caig.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1598/.f?sc=2&category=185>
Lots of applications. I sometimes use it for lubricating the bearings
or bushings in adjustable capacitors and potentiometers.

Note that there are different types of copper used. For
non-lubricating applications, random dust is fine. For anything that
moves or requires electrical conductivity, flakes are required. You
can test for which one with an ohm-guesser. The dust is not
conductive. The flakes overlap and are therefore conductive.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[josephkk]

On Sun, 23 Sep 2012 16:24:08 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:

I prefer household ammonia, followed by an isopropyl alcohol flush.

Ammonia is a base, as is the electrolyte -- like dissolves like.

If you care to get more chemically correct ammonia is a weak acid.

?-)

 

[josephkk]

On Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:54:50 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
<grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:

Distilled water is a really strong solvent, it just seems harmless
as it doesn't burn your skin off and smell bad like other stuff.

What is the chemical reason for the potency of pure water?

It is actually physics as much as chemistry. It is largely due to the
slightly bent shape giving the molecule modest polarity combined with
strong hydrogen bonding capability. Superpure water used in several
applications like drug manufacture and semiconductor manufacture is known
to dissolve all metals and almost all plastics including PTFE Teflon.

Many good chemists call it the ultimate solvent for good reason.

?-)

 

[josephkk]

On Wed, 26 Sep 2012 19:58:51 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
<presence@MUNGEpanix.com> wrote:

William Sommerwerck <grizzledgeezer@comcast.net> wrote:
You have insulted meine Vorvatern.

Some years back, a neighbor asked me to help troubleshoot his Volkswagen
Golf. He had the service manual for several models, and we were definitely
looking at the right model, but we could not trace one of the wires -- the
one that seemed to be causing the problem.

Finally applying the Holmesian rule that, once you're eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains must be true, I suggested we look at the
schematics for other models -- and lo and behold, it turned out that the one
for the Golf was the wrong schematic.

So much for "German precision".

If it's a machine and has moving parts, they're pretty good at stuff. If
it's more abstact, like with electricity in wires or software, they're
lost.

japanese companies seem completely unable to product working software
either for some reason, unless it's a video game.

How people are raised to think and operate seems to vary like crazy
between countries, even though nobody will admit it.

I've really wondered why this is the case. It's not like the rest of the
world only produces top notch softare, but it's all better overall.

weird russian software cracking utilities are made with more finesse than
some big ticket programs from Hitachi, a company with more money than the
russian mafia could even dream of defrauding from anybody. I'd run out of
fingers pointing out glaring errors or UI anomolies in just a 45 seconds
with this one program alone.


See the Whorf - Sapir hypothesis.

?-)

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Ammonia is a base, as is the electrolyte -- like dissolves like.

If you care to get more chemically correct, ammonia is a weak acid.

I will leave that alone for the moment.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugate_acid

It's been almost 50 years since I took high-school chemistry. I was good at
it, but don't remember much about conjugate acids.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:37:40 -0700 (PDT), whit3rd <whit3rd@gmail.com>
wrote:

On Tuesday, September 25, 2012 12:29:02 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
The current version is DeOxit from Caig Labs. It comes in an amazing
variety of forms, and is allegedly non-corrosive.

Those 'forms' are mainly volatile solvents, the residue is the
same old stuff.

I'm not so sure. The original Cramolin label also has its multiple
mutations:
<http://www.itwcp.de/cleaners.html>
The German safety sheet at:
<http://www.itwcp.de/detail-1011411-en.html?file=tl_files/downloads/cramolin/reiniger/contactlean-safety-data-sheet.pdf>
shows (slightly edited for spelling):
Isohexane : Aeromatic solvent carrier.
Propan-2-ol : Isopropyl alcohol
Aliphatic hydrocarbons : Probably ethylene
Paraffin waxes and Hydrocarbon waxes :
Carbon dioxide : Propellant
Kinda looks like Coleman camp fuel.

The MSDS data shows the active ingredients as a "trade secret". Oh
well.

It isn't much of a secret; the patent dates back to late sixties; it's a
liquid semiconductor that makes a tenacious film/coating.

I couldn't find a German patent. What's a liquid semiconductor?

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[whit3rd]

On Tuesday, September 25, 2012 12:29:02 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

The current version is DeOxit from Caig Labs. It comes in an amazing
variety of forms, and is allegedly non-corrosive.

Those 'forms' are mainly volatile solvents, the residue is the
same old stuff.

The MSDS data shows the active ingredients as a "trade secret". Oh
well.

It isn't much of a secret; the patent dates back to late sixties; it's a
liquid semiconductor that makes a tenacious film/coating.