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Originally Posted by TomsSVX
wd40 is a penetrating oil isn't it? I do believe it has corrosive properties that effect rubber. At least that is my understanding of them. I could be completely wrong
Tom
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WD40 = Water Dispersant #40.
WD40 contains a light oil which is a mild solvent. The oil is intended to get rid of water, and is very similar to paint thinner, which is also excellent at repelling the wet stuff. It might have a slightly adverse affect on your rubber hoses depending on what they're made of, but unless they were constantly exposed to fresh solvent, they won't suffer anything more than surface damage.
The oil contained in WD40 is a lousy lubricant, which I believe is primarily because it has a low surface tension. People often use WD40 to re-lubricate things such a bicycle chains, but the solvent-like properties of the oil often destroy and displace whatever original lubricant existed, and when the oil in WD40 finally breaks down and dissipates (which doesn't take long), the lubrication problem is made worse unless more lubricant is promptly added.
I refer to WD40 as the "magical evaporating lubricant" because that's how it performs. When the proper tools are unavailable, I usually use it as a solvent because people seem to have a can of the stuff kicking around more often than they have any proper solvents. It sounds like a cheap and readily available tool for checking for cracked hoses though, and since it seems to magically disappear, that would make it a good choice in my book.