Can I pour 99% isopropyl alcohol onto my light socket contacts? Safe?

[Tonya]

https://anannymouse.imgur.com/all/

Here are the photos of my two lightbulb sockets hanging down from my over-the-range microwave (they're supposed to provide light for when you're cooking on the stovetop), so you can see that I could just put a big bowl underneath to catch any drips, whether it is 99% isopropyl alcohol, or 70% isopropyl alcohol (my electronics hobbyist friend said this is ok to use, but I would think getting water on it is not good). I've also heard that Simple Green Crystal is safe to use on electronics, but some people wrote that it didn't remove any grease. What about the non-Crystal Simple Green, the one that isn't a clear white color, but a green color? The cleansing liquid would have to be safe for plastic, because I don't want it to melt the hard black plastic that the electrical contacts are mounted on. I want to get rid of the cooking grease that was airborne and had adhered to it, as well as a bit of dust that adhered to the grease, and some airborne cotton fibres that landed on them when I was rubbing the walls of the microwave with the cotton balls.


https://imgur.com/1sHf7dD
http://imgur.com/1sHf7dD

https://imgur.com/xQcQKNO
http://imgur.com/xQcQKNO

I tried posting photos both from my harddrive and from Imgur, the image hosting website, but when I tried posting from imgur, it would show a small icon of a photo with the bottom corner torn, which is the symbol meaning it doesn't work. Weird, because in a previous post about my microwave, I was able to post thumbnails.

Let me know if you can see the photos! I've been having problems and uncertainty with getting people to see photos. I think you should click the links that don't have the "s" after http, but I don't know.

 

[Harald Kapp]

99% isopropyl alcohol, or 70% isopropyl alcohol

is o.k. as long as you disconnect mains power fromn the sockets while working on them. Let them dry thorughly before reconnecting mains.

 

[duke37]

A petroleum product such as white spirit is better at removing grease than alcohol. Take note that many solvents are inflamable and water is conductive.

 

[Bluejets]

inflamable

Just note that this has now been replaced by the correct "flammable".

 

[duke37]

My Oxford pocket dictionary says inflammable means "easily set on fire or excited".
Flammable = inflammable.

Either way, putting in a container which is liable to spark is not to be advised.

 

[bushtech]

Apologies for the ot. Thanks duke37, learnt something new today re inflammable

 

[Tonya]

is o.k. as long as you disconnect mains power fromn the sockets while working on them. Let them dry thorughly before reconnecting mains.

The thing with microwaves is that their capacitors can hold their charge for years after the microwave is unplugged from the wall outlet. I also read that a microwave capacitor can hold a charge as great as 3000 volts. I don't know how much of this voltage it would've lost since the microwave has been unplugged from the mains supply for a couple weeks or so now. Wouldn't it start sparking and sizzling or catch on fire or whatever if I was too pour 99% alcohol on it, since it's still getting some electricity from the capacitor? Wouldn't I need to discharge the capacitor first if I wanted to clean the lightbulb contacts?

"
"Even an unplugged microwave can kill you," said Hudson Mulford with Lakeside Appliance in North Side.

Mulford said a lot of people fix their own appliances such as their washers and dryers, but once they are unplugged, they aren't an electrical risk.

Not so with a microwave.
"
- https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8235796

Did any of you look at my photos? It's not clear from your responses.

 

[duke37]

I knew a chap who emptied a petrol tank and then stream cleaned it. When he tried to weld it, there was a collosal bang and the tank shot across the garage. Putting any liquid in which can generate an explsive atmosphere is not to be advised.

I have not looked at any photos which have not been attached to the thread.