Keith Shirley

The time has arrived for me to reveal one of the best tools for rescuing PC’s that keep blue screening or freezing and rebooting. It’s a weird gooey liquid called Stabilant 22.

Don’t be put off by the rubbish website that has not been updated since 2001. This stuff can work wonders.

What does it do?

I won’t quote their website as they use words like amorphous and polymer. For the rest of us it should be enough to say it’s a contact enhancer. You spread it on electrical contacts where it does not conduct electricity until it comes under pressure. This is important with things like CPU contacts or memory. You would go crazy trying to put something on each individual contact but you need to avoid a short circuit at all costs.

The liquid helps make sure that the rough contacts (at a microscopic level) are smoothed out and the flow of electricity is much better. I’ve used this on a number of machines to fix blue screens  – even where everything else seemed ok.

I’d say the liquid can be used anywhere where good metal contacts are needed – inside PC’s, music equipment etc.

What does it NOT do?

You can’t use it on contacts that are corroded. That makes sense as the signal is failing before it gets as far as the stabilant. It can’t help must if the rest of the signal chain is not in order.

Price

It’s expensive – some will say overpriced. If you need it regularly it’s well worth it. If you just need it for some home equipment then I doubt it’s worth it for you.

The first bottle I bought was 200 Euro for 5ml. That lasted years however. The last one was about 60 Euro and I’m a long way from finished. In the meantime I believe it’s even cheaper. Those prices refer to the “pure” version of Stabilant. There is also one that is diluted with alcohol. This is great for working on pins in connectors – you can put on the diluted liquid and the alcohol evaporates off – leaving you with just what you need. You can also make your own diluted version from the pure version.