How to remove corrosion from copper?

[Perithead]

Well, today I decided to rewire my running lights on my Mac 25 since I couldnt figure out why they didnt work. Pulling new wire was a bit of a pain but I had it done pretty quickly. I wired the new wire to the light and went and flipped the switch on my fuse panel and went to check them and ...... nothing. I was disapointed but I didnt give up. I got my volt-meter or whatever and checked the wires right as they attached to the light, they were "hot". So I thought, what else could it be. Checked the bulb again, good. Then I thought about some things I have read and I scraped the copper where it connects to the bulb and it worked.

So, I have all new wire (that wasnt needed) to my bow light. Man if I would have just thought of checking that first. Silly me.......

I was wondering if there is an easy way to get the corrosion of other than scraping it with a flathead shich is what I did. Sandpaper would be good but I was wondering if there was any solvent solution that would help do the job better? Because still the light doesnt work perfectly and needs to to be wiggled a little sometimes to get the connection.

Thanks!

[sailingdog]

Is the wiring tinned marine-grade wiring or is the wiring plain copper that has corroded. Are you talking about the contacts inside the light fixture itself???

BTW, a mild acid, like vinegar will often help remove corrosion. Another way to do it is to use a wire brush on a Dremel. Using a good contact cleaner solution wouldn't hurt either. BTW, you need to coat the contacts/wire with a good electrical grease to protect them from corroding further. You can also buy fiberglass contact cleaning brushes... which work quite well at getting rid of corrosion...

[Perithead]

The corrosion I am talking about is the copper that touches the bulb itself.

[sailingdog]

That's not wire... that's a contact in the light fixture itself... and if the contact isn't tinned, you'll probably want to tin it with a soldering iron after cleaning it properly. A wire brush on a Dremel is probably the best way to get it nice and shiny.

[sailaway21]

Hi, Billy Mays here for the Copper......

[MacGyverRI]

After it's all clean use "dielectric grease" (electronic ignition grease) on the entire base of the bulb and in the socket to keep it from getting corroded again. Any auto parts store carries it.