Best way to clean electrical switches and connections?

[donnie5336]

Working on a 1994 Marathon for a friend, and the battery compartment is very very dusty and dirty. Brand new batteries in the cart and it runs fine but the F/R switch, speed controller and motor areas are very dirty. Compressed air does little to no good, it's stuck on there. So what is a good way to clean these areas? Is there some spray electrical contact cleaner that works good for things like this? I know water is a no-no in these areas.

On a side note but I believe it's somewhat related, the F/R switch is a little stubborn sometimes. It works both ways, and you can hear the click in both F&R but sometimes switching from F to R it won't go, and you just bump the kick panel right there by the switch and then it works. Is this most likely a bad contact somewhere, due to the dirtiness?

[donnie5336]

Nobody?

[subby44]

Make sure ALL cables are disconected from the batts.. If it has a toggle switch make sure you flip it into the tow mode before unhooking the batts.. then you will be able to clean all of the components 1 by 1.. i would use a wire brush and once they are clean you can put a little bit a dielectric grease on them.. as far as the fnr switch goes, you might have a loose conection on it or it might be dirty as well.. I think it might be a 9/16 to tighten it.. hope this helps you.. remember to make sure ALL power is killed before you start removing connections to clean them.. ESP. the toggle switch if it has one..

[scottyb]

Hi Donnie
I use a small wire wheel on a battery power drill, it is fast and effective. Wear a leather glove on the hand that holds the cable end being cleaned... this will save some skin when the wire wheel jumps up the wire. With a little practice you can get quite fast at this. Apply the dielectric grease to all sides during re- assembly.
You can disassemble the F&R by removing the center shaft. Apply dielectric lube to the rotary contacts and center shaft upon re-assembly for the smoothest operation possible, adjust the tension nut to ensure proper contact.
Inadequate contact pressure will allow arcing which may damage the contacts.
There will almost always be some amount of 'hard to shift' effort needed for this type of rotary contact switch.
I hope this helps

[donnie5336]

Thanks for the replies. And Scotty, not sure what you're implying about the "hard to shift" problem. I could very well be misunderstanding what you're saying too. :) It's not physically hard to turn the lever to reverse, the cart just doesnt "go" when I put it in reverse and press the accelerator. Usually just a little bump on the kick panel and she'll take off.

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[scottyb]

Originally Posted by donnie5336

Thanks for the replies. And Scotty, not sure what you're implying about the "hard to shift" problem. I could very well be misunderstanding what you're saying too. :) It's not physically hard to turn the lever to reverse, the cart just doesnt "go" when I put it in reverse and press the accelerator. Usually just a little bump on the kick panel and she'll take off.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Ezgo series carts are notoriously hard to shift when they have good contact. It sounds like you have a poor connection.

[donnie5336]

Thanks! I'll try to look at it this afternoon.