Wife's coffee splashed on to car dash and push button switch sticks any remedies to fix sticky stuck switch button ?

[Mark Gregory]

I have a 2016 Toyota and some coffee splashed on to the dash due to the server giving me a coffee with a loose lid and it went on to the dash air recycle button.

 

Now the recycle button gets stuck when pushed in and finally releases and pops out after about 20 minutes.

 

Is there a spray to loosen it ?

 

I was thinking of a electronic cleaner.

 

I tried looking on the internet and someone suggested brake cleaner.

 

Any suggestions.

[Rusty_OToole]

I'm thinking spray with distilled water then blow dry with an air hose or one of those electronic duster spray cans if you don't have a compressor.

[paulrhd29nz]

Don’t use brake cleaner. Bad for rubber and soft plastic. Mist with water and get a can compressed air ( electronic cleaner ) and dry it out. 

[1937hd45]

Did they ban pipe cleaners?

[padgett]

Tuner cleaner might work if still exists. Nothing new: 61 Thunderbird had the speaker in the console and few lasted past the warranty. SLK won't shift if the console gets wet and its a convertible.

 

ps Try this.

Edited December 5, 2020 by padgett (see edit history)

[gossp]

I would be concerned with some cleaners hurting plastic parts or staining the panel. Perhaps armor-all dash cleaner as the solvent and some compressed air as mentioned, to move it through the gap around the button. 
 

To prevent something like this from happening again try taking your coffee with less cream and sugar. 

[C Carl]

Whoa ! Hold on a minute there Mark. Yes, first , second , and third + wash must be SMALL  amounts of hot water. But DONT blow the crap farther down into the guts of your instrument panel. IMMEDIATELY suck back out using  a powerful vacuum with the most concentrating small aperture fitting. Maybe even sealed with a wrap of duct tape at the interface. Perhaps even a continuous feed/exhaust  if you can rig it , kind of like what the dentist hooks up. Hopefully the coffee was black, as sugar and creamers will compound your woes. Have heard of $ 4 didgit imperative necessities imposed on Mercedes owners due to cokecola thirsty consoles. Water wash the first few times, if you make a mistake and have to flush excess water, use absolute ethyl alcohol available at your friendly chemical supply house. You MUST use polar proper compatible solvents. Water and alcohol. Period. Any chemists out there to second source my recommendations?    -   Carl

 

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by C Carl
Capitalize MUST for emphasis (see edit history)

[C Carl]

AGAIN : VACUUM ALL SPENT/SATURATED SOLUTIONS QUICKLY. ........... HEAR  ?  !!!!!      -    CC 

[Mark Gregory]

gossip

" To prevent something like this from happening again try taking your coffee with less cream and sugar. "

 

I have not had a coffee in 40 years it was for the wife.

 

Believe it or not the server offered me another coffee and was not concerned at all about the coffee all over my dash.

 

For some reason no one can make a cup of coffee at home anymore.

 

I remember Jay Leno saying in one of his opening monologue's about the expense of Starbucks coffee and wishing someone would invent instant coffee.

[Bush Mechanic]

A small soft paintbrush dampened with water or alcohol would be my first try.

[broker-len]

Electric contact cleaner      Home depot-----I use it for allot of stuff----I collect antique clocks   if the bushings are not worn I use it to clean  the works then oil   it leaves no residue

[bryankazmer]

Agree with polar solvent, water/alcohol.  Isopropanol is fine, no need to get denatured ethanol.  Coffee is an aqueous solution - you want a solvent for it.  You do not want a solvent for plastic, so no paraffinics/aromatics.

[Bryan G]

I have a couple cans of electronic cleaner/lube and notice the ingredients list mineral oil. Pretty basic stuff, really. A good start. I might be nervous of what something like Deoxit might do to the plastic. I would be very tempted to just grab the WD-40 as I've found it to be safe with pretty much everything and is so thin that it will flush things out to some extent. She might not like the smell.

[AL1630]

41 minutes ago, Bryan G said:

I have a couple cans of electronic cleaner/lube and notice the ingredients list mineral oil. Pretty basic stuff, really. A good start. I might be nervous of what something like Deoxit might do to the plastic. I would be very tempted to just grab the WD-40 as I've found it to be safe with pretty much everything and is so thin that it will flush things out to some extent. She might not like the smell.

I've used electronic contact cleaner on computers and other electronics that have plastic with no issues, I think it evaporates so quickly it doesn't have much of a chance to damage anything.

[Digger914]

7 hours ago, C Carl said:

Whoa ! Hold on a minute there Mark. Yes, first , second , and third + wash must be SMALL  amounts of hot water. But DONT blow the crap farther down into the guts of your instrument panel. IMMEDIATELY suck back out using  a powerful vacuum with the most concentrating small aperture fitting. Maybe even sealed with a wrap of duct tape at the interface. Perhaps even a continuous feed/exhaust  if you can rig it , kind of like what the dentist hooks up. Hopefully the coffee was black, as sugar and creamers will compound your woes. Have heard of $ 4 didgit imperative necessities imposed on Mercedes owners due to cokecola thirsty consoles. Water wash the first few times, if you make a mistake and have to flush excess water, use absolute ethyl alcohol available at your friendly chemical supply house. You MUST use polar proper compatible solvents. Water and alcohol. Period. Any chemists out there to second source my recommendations?    -   Carl

 

 

I'm not a chemist but I did own a circuit board repair business and if the coffee was sugared up. the switch will eventually fail. This won't undo what was done, but it can get you years of good use and  I suggest isopropyl alcohol 99%, or the best % you have handy as a second source for CCarls recommendation. Absolute ethyl will also do the job, but you do want to test its affect on your vinyl in an inconspicuous area as it can also pull color.

 

Years ago there was a spray cleaner that would do the job and I still have some, but like everything else that used to work it was found to cause cancer and you can't get the good stuff anymore. 

[bryankazmer]

mineral spirits is non-polar.  Excellent chance of attacking any olefinic plastic, hard or soft

[Rusty_OToole]

Years ago I bought a late model Dodge Sportsman van that had been dunked in a river. The whole interior was full of silt including the gauge cluster, radio, and controls. I took the dash apart and figuring I had nothing to lose, washed everything in warm water then left it on the radiator in the house to dry for a week. Put everything together and it all worked perfect. You could do the same if you can get the dash apart. Just don't plug anything in until it is thoroughly dry. Or, try cleaning it in the car. Water will wash off coffee, even with cream and sugar. You don't need any exotic solvents.

[C Carl]

15 hours ago, Digger914 said:

.....................  I suggest isopropyl alcohol 99%, or the best % you have handy as a second source for CCarls recommendation. Absolute ethyl will also do the job, but you do want to test its affect on your vinyl in an inconspicuous area as it can also pull color. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

............................washed everything in warm water then left it on the radiator in the house to dry for a week............................Water will wash off coffee, even with cream and sugar. You don't need any exotic solvents.

Very good points which speak to the issue at hand. We are trying to remove the coffee mess in situ , and dispose of it , leaving as little residue behind , with no collateral damage.

 

Agree heartily with using isopropyl rather than other alcohols. Agree it is less likely to “pull color”, etc. I have experimented with a number of different alcohols and other solvents for cleaning optics. Used reagent grade/absolute sourced from a chemical supply company. Certainly did notice that the isopropyl would not dissolve some contaminants which were soluble in other alcohols, etc. Isopropyl still has a great affinity for water, though, and that is the intended purpose for the final flush with alcohol. DO use at least industrial grade isopropyl . NOT the 91% stuff from your handy grocery or pharmacy. You do not have to pay the freight for reagent anhydrous isopropyl, but you want it very free from imbedded/dissolved water. The purpose for the alcohol flush and extraction , is to remove the water and it’s dissolved and suspended contents, leaving a clean, dry switch behind.
 

There is no finer solvent than hot water for the job at hand. But you really have to consider potential collateral damage. That is why I suggest vacuum extraction, rather than risking a further invasion to areas behind the current “ battle lines”. Whereas gradual drying might be an acceptable option in the case of a dismantled instrument panel, that luxury should be avoided in the best case scenario here. We want to take the easiest way out as possible. That is why I think a final alcohol wash with strong aspiration would work well.

 

Anyone remember when the last Boeing 307 crashed short in salt water about 20 years ago ? I was in Seattle at that time. Actually had seen it flying over at an earlier point. Not far from home , Sandy and I went to see the poor thing, tail up and dry, in its temporary bath. Never to be flown again, it was taken out for yet another restoration. First washed with unlimited quantities of fresh water to dissolve the salt, next flushed with alcohol to remove the water. This is S.O.P. for some marine salvage operations.

 

I think this is all I can add, but in any case, I absolutely must go out right now and finish hanging my Christmas lights.     -    Carl 

Edited December 6, 2020 by C Carl
Syntax (see edit history)

[Mikefit]

I had a mid 80s Ford radio /tape player that a cup of ice and coke poured in it radio repair said junk it. I took it home put it dish washer on rinse and dry. Worked good no further problems

[bdc]

There's 1 remedy that solves this problem, and it's a lot less work than all the other suggestions....

Trade your vehicle for a clean one. 😄

[padgett]

Used to be a joke about trading for clean ashtrays.

[Frank DuVal]

On 12/5/2020 at 5:56 PM, Mark Gregory said:

For some reason no one can make a cup of coffee at home anymore.

 

??? I make coffee at home everyday. From one cup (K-cup maker) to full 12 cup pot. It's not rocket surgery, and wwaaaaayyyyy cheaper than Starbucks.👍

 

Cold non-diet soda does the same sticky mess. I'm sure ice cream sodas are equally problematic.😁

 

Water and vacuum is best if the object of the spill is not removable. Of course, with a shop manual the sticky object should be removable for better cleaning.😉

[nick8086]

https://www.amazon.com/Spill-Proof-Coffee-Mugs/s?k=Spill+Proof+Coffee+Mugs

 

 

Christmas is a great time to by one for the wife or you?? 

 

I think we got some for my wife's wine..

Edited December 7, 2020 by nick8086 (see edit history)

[padgett]

a) on my fourth or fifth Keurig. Prefer dark roast with at least .43g of coffee

b) have several pushbutton Contigo travel coffee cups (hard to find 20oz or better). Others with a slider on the top do not seal well.

[TAKerry]

I have a cup every morning straight from my Kuerig. Great coffee maker as I am the only one in the house that drinks that stuff. But, a few years ago I stopped at the kwikie mart and grabbed a cup, what the heck they were the same price so i opted for the 24oz model. I didnt have the lid on tight, as I was placing it in the center console of my f150 the lid popped off and the entire cup spilled over everything. Made quite a mess. I did learn a lesson.

[Mark Gregory]

Well I finally got the air recycle switch working properly.

If it was warmer I would have had quicker results but winter is here.

I sprayed the switch over a few weeks time frame and it works.

 

I used Asalco SUPER WASH cost $20 

 

I should of used a vacuum cleaner like Carl suggested right at the start. 

If it ever happens again I would.

Rusty's idea with compressed air is a good idea to push the cleaner into switch spring area.

Digger's idea of a good cleaner was very helpful.

Thanks to everyone's advice.

[1912Staver]

I did the same thing with a cup of tea. Everything eventually worked again except the CD player. The radio buttons still stick now and then but jump back out after 5 or 10 seconds. You have to take 1/2 the dash apart to change the radio but they are cheep on ebay. I plan on buying a replacement once I can cross the border to pick it up. Lets hope the post covid part of our lives begins soon, Merry Christmas !

 

Greg

[John_Mereness]

"tuner cleaner" 

[CarFreak]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:04 AM, padgett said:

a) on my fourth or fifth Keurig. Prefer dark roast with at least .43g of coffee

b) have several pushbutton Contigo travel coffee cups (hard to find 20oz or better). Others with a slider on the top do not seal well.

 

You might consider to try Death Wish if you like dark roast, strong coffee.  Its the only thing they drink at the office. 

 

I prefer tea.

[padgett]

Ordered a box to try but is only .44oz. Have REVV No Surrender which is .47oz.

[cheezestaak2000]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:39 PM, Mark Gregory said:

I have a 2016 Toyota and some coffee splashed on to the dash due to the server giving me a coffee with a loose lid and it went on to the dash air recycle button.

 

Now the recycle button gets stuck when pushed in and finally releases and pops out after about 20 minutes.

 

Is there a spray to loosen it ?

 

I was thinking of a electronic cleaner.

 

I tried looking on the internet and someone suggested brake cleaner.

 

Any suggestions.

give her a cup of CRCpenetrating oil and hit the same bump

 

[padgett]

Don't put sugar in your coffee.