[ARC5] Cleaning Capacitor Oil Leakage

[Leslie Smith]

Hello David,
This stuff (the inside of capacitors) is very bad ju-ju.  You need more
than chicken feathers to deal with it.

Anyway, joking aside, I'd establish the nature of the goop, in
particular, whether it will dissolve in water or organic solvents, and
I'd begin by cutting open a flower-pot in the workshop and experimenting
with the content.  I'd try CCl4 (nasty stuff), methylated spirits and a
quaternary ammonium cleaning compound, such as Dot's bath cleaner.  

In the past I cleaned the inside of a BC-454 using Dot's bath cleaner,
metho and (at the end) pure water.  Dot's stuff sprays out as a white
foaming mess of bubbles.  It takes real courage to spray this inside a
"command" set, but I can say I have seen only good medium-term results
(but this is only after a year or so).  I can't speak about the result
after 5 years or 10 years (yet).  Also I worked really hard with clear
water (in a spray bottle) to remove all quaternary ammonium after using
it.  I worked Dot's cleaner around with a 1 inch paint-brush.  (Hey!  If
you guy's don't have Dot's bath-cleaner over there, - I understand. 
It's a very exotic "thingy".  Available in only the best stores.  Look
for "quaternary ammonium" in the ingredients.)

Regards,

  Les
  vk2bcu at operamail.com


On Sat, Oct 27, 2012, at 23:46, David Stinson wrote:
> What's the best stuff to get sticky, nasty capacitor
> oil off the inside of my set without damaging stuff or
> creating some toxic sludge that's going to 
> make my rear fall off or something.
> Come to think of it... that might not be so bad...
> 
> Mineral spirits?  White gas?  
> Half a bottle of Vodka (The other half has....
> other priorities.  Well...maybe two-thirds...)?
> 
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