To save it getting lost in my Resurrection thread, I thought I'd ask for some advice here on one particular aspect. Cleaning the plug and socket pins on the connectors. I'll use C0636 on the engine ECU as my example as that's the one I'll be focussing on tomorrow.

My normal way of cleaning these things is to just hit them with my fave spray- WD40 Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner, let it dry and that would be it, but I'd like to do something more physical as well to be sure.
How can get in/ what should I use to clean the individual pins and sockets. I don't want to get as drastic as actually removing individual wires from the connector, but does anyone have a favourite way of physically introducing something onto pins/ into sockets to help the spray cleaner do its stuff?
Only idea I have at the moment is to spray the connector then, rather than let the spray evaporate, make and unmake the connector several times with it still wet, then hit it with some clean dry air, then spray again with cleaner and let it dry.
Anyone have any better ideas?

The last sentence reflects exactly the way I do it. (with contact cleaner)

Spray with contact cleaner / lube then make and unmake a few times. Repeat if necessary. But check the instructions on the cleaner. Some say leave to dry some say mate / un-mate wet. Unfortunately the elfins seem to have banned the real good stuff.

Was what we used to do at RARDE / DERA / DRA / QintetiQ & DSL (same place same lab just different names for the firm) on military and experimental gear. Always got stuff working, eventually, despite squaddies best efforts. Was willing to work very hard to avoid re-making soldered up, fully sealed, MIL standard Plessey and similar circular connectors with 50 or more inputs and outputs. Molex and similar extractable ones are easy in comparison.

Clive

If I want to be really thorough, I spray with contact cleaner and then use a bronze tipped inductor trim tool (intended for trimming the inductors in transmitter PA stages) to simulate the pin that would go into the socket. But, having just search the entire interweb, it seems you can't buy them anywhere these days, only plastic ones. You could trim a piece of a feeler gauge and use that instead.

Maybe one of the fine fibreglass "scratch" brushes would work inside the socket. Smallest seems to be about 2 mm diameter so there is a chance it would get in OK. 4 mm next size up which ought to be decent at doing the male end and housing, could be trimmed to get inside sockets I guess. On my to try list should I ever get a really filthy connector to clean. 4 mm refills are about 30 p each in tens, 2 mm about 80 p each and holders in the £5 to £10 range so not gonna break the bank.

Clive.