Suggest a good contact cleaner/degreaser

[Nostalgia]

Anyone can suggest a good contact cleaner that will not damage thin wire insulation? Best!

[Phoenix]

Maybe better you warn us about the contact cleaner which DAMAGES insulation?

I have a preference for the Caig DeOxit line, but have also used CRC with success.
Most important thing for contact cleaners is to read the labels, to make sure you are using them correctly. I've known many to assume that DeOxit Gold was a "premium" product, and use it on everything, but it's actually intended for gold and other precious metal plated contacts, and can do more harm than good on things like potentiometers.

[anotherjim]

Servisol and Electrolube contact cleaners have been around for years. They don't seem as widely stocked as they used to be. More generic solvent based contact cleaners can be found at Car/Auto parts dealers. They come in larger and highly pressurized cans that I find somewhat difficult to control (they can blow the pipette/plastic straw thing out of the nozzle).

[italianguy63]

I've always used CRC.

[amptramp]

I use Lloyd's Non-Flammable Electrical Contact Cleaner which is tetrachloroethylene with a CO₂ propellant.  This stuff is made in Canada so not many people will have run into it.  It is not compatible with styrene so keep it away from meter faces like test equipment with meters.

There are a number of cleaners that are flammable and some contain hexane, which will soften and destroy rubber components.  You know that spray you can get to make fan belts in your car more sticky so they won't screech?  That's hexane and it works by making the rubber sticky.  It is also flammable, so if any gets into a power switch, it could linger until you switch on or off and it will blow up.  If the cleaner is flammable or has any flammable components, give it a hard pass - you don't want it.

[PRR]

Yes, you want Electrical cleaner. Brake spray will eat most plastics. Carb spray will eat many plastics. Electrical spray won't eat the plastics commonly used in motors and relays (may well eat cheap PVC wire insulation and foams).

Stiff alcohol on a toothbrush is a better first step. Why do you need a spray?

[anotherjim]

I often spray into the can cap and then apply with a small soft artist brush (which has to be kept clean - never used for paint). To get in between contacts I cut narrow strips of unpainted card and soak it in the cleaner, then rub the strip between the contacts.
For pots, if there is an opening in the casing, I spray in via the straw.

[Nostalgia]

Yes, you want Electrical cleaner. Brake spray will eat most plastics. Carb spray will eat many plastics. Electrical spray won't eat the plastics commonly used in motors and relays (may well eat cheap PVC wire insulation and foams).

Stiff alcohol on a toothbrush is a better first step. Why do you need a spray?

Thanks for the reply guys! I will be cleaning an Echoplex motor which the previous owner greased the Motor shaft.

[PRR]

> greased the Motor shaft.

The bearings should be greased.

If the shaft is also a tape-capstan or belt-pulley, THAT part can be cleaned with an ear-bud and alcohol.

The rest of the motor can stay greasy, unless he packed the guts with axle-grease.