Cleaning and Maintenance of Connections.....

As with all things, it's concentration that matters.e

Agreed. With HFl, I would CONCENTRATE real hard on making sure I didn't get any on myself or the metalwork on my gear.

Swamp,

HIFI was suggesting no cleaners of any kind in AC outlets.

Caig Pro Gold is safe for this if someone is wanting to clean an outlet. If it's a concern, avoid it. It's only a suggestion in direct response to the topic at hand.

As for the copper cleaner I agree Hydrofluoric Acid is dangerous, but many products contain it such as rug cleaner (Whink), spray oven cleaner and wheel brightener for automobile mag wheels.

An episode of "Modern Marvels" talked about making soda cans. One of the key steps was a quick dip of the can in Hydrofluoric Acid.

Also, this from the EPA assessment in 1991, a report on safety in the aluminum soda can market:

Present Practice
The reagent used to treat the
surface of the cans contains 2%
to 4% ammonium fluozirconate

Proposed Action

Substitute a nonhazardous reagent that
contains nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid for the hazardous reagent currently used.

If this is acceptable around the food business then my suggestion that careful handling and the concentration levels are the deciding issue. I've used the product for twenty years and I've had no problems. My guess is concentration levels are very low. I have no doubt pure Hydrofluoric Acid is everything you stated.

Albert- Not to worry. No big deal. I am sure you are correct; it just raised my eyebrows cause I remembered an old medical show on TV where somebody spilled a bottle of HFl, it ate thru the floor and some poor bastard got a bunch of it on his arm. It's kinda like radiation poisoning, no immediate pain. By the time he found out what it was he was doomed. There is no antidote and the changes to your body's calcium metabolism are irreversible. They were able to give him morphine to control the pain when it hit, but they had to tell him that he was gonna die w/in 24 hrs. It freaked me out then and it still does.

BTW, just because something is safe to use in an industrial setting (even in the food industry) does not mean that you necessarily want to be getting it on your skin. I know that as a photographer you know how to use chemicals safely but not everyone does. As for me, the safety nanny will now keep her mouth shut ;~)

I agree with Hifihvn, There is no need to use chemicals on the AC plug. If you want it to look nice polish it with clean steel wool. I also agree with his comments regarding Caig products. Caig products all leave a film which thickens over time. I prefer a good electrical contact cleaner that leaves no film for speaker cable and IC connections. You can find these cleaners at Radio Shack or any good electronic supply outlet.