[Elecraft] Cleaning a K3

[Don Wilhelm]

Dick,

That was possible, and done commonly back in the old days of vacuum tube 
gear with open inductors and not too much else to be harmed by the water 
(once dried out), it worked just fine as long as lubricants were added 
to things like capacitor shafts after the 'washing'.
Today with ICs mounted to PC boards, and shielded inductors and other 
components that will not dry out readily, I do not recommend "washing" 
the PC boards.

A cleaning with air may be helpful if there is a significant dust 
accumulation - I recently did that with my computer and it was 
successful - the computer was shutting down due to temperature.

You may have to think of your K3 more like a computer if you consider 
the various cleaning methods.  Use some common sense. Heat sinks can be 
washed if you take care to keep any attached electronics away from the 
water - thoughts like that can be beneficial when contemplating a 
"cleaning".

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/27/2016 8:07 PM, Richard Fjeld wrote:
> I read about guys whose rigs were flooded a few years back, and they 
> washed them in water and dried them somehow.  Said they worked fine 
> after that.  Hard to imagine though.
>
> Dick, n0ce
>
>
> On 7/27/2016 1:15 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:
>> My S3-line acquired a chronic case of creeping fungus on the chassis 
>> while packed up and stored in the Philippines for 4 years.  Returning 
>> home, I took it to the DIY car wash a couple of times and then dried 
>> it in the sun.  Seemed to work really well, except for the fungi 
>> living in the IF cans.  YMMV, I won't be doing that to my K3 however.
>>
>> I'd be real wary of any kind of solvent(s), circuit boards used to be 
>> washed with distilled water, maybe still are.  Here in No NV, our 
>> humidity runs in the single digits in the summer, things dry in the 
>> sun very fast.
>>