[GreenKeys] spray for cleaning?

[Tom Jennings]

Aerosol lacquer thinner scares me... besides the obvious explosion
hazard, it's unbelievably toxic, as "lacquer thinner" is a mix
of toluol, xylene, etc and other noxious solvents laying around
the refinery.

I am not kidding here -- I use Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap,
a castille soap.  Don't underestimate stuff like this. I built a
6-cylinder engine using only soap as a degreaser (the block was
alkali hot-dipped, but I did all the accessories) plus one can
of freon "brake cleaner" to de-dust right before lube/assembly.

I recently rebuilt my Simplex Printer 2B with Dr. Bronners,
only.  Tools: cheap paint brush with the bristles cut to 3/8",
"scotchbrite"-like pad. Since it's non-lethal, you don't need
gloves, you can take your time.

Rust post-cleaning isn't a practical issue -- though I did get
flash-rust on that engine -- but utterly oil-free steel means rust,
regardless of how you get the oil off -- but good steel doesn't
seem to rust quickly (surface treatments I guess) and anyways,
you'll ahve it dried and oiled before anything will ever happen.

It does mean disassembly though.

I also revived my Model 28 by hosing it down in the backyard with
a hose to get the dust, crud, bugs out of it, dried in the arizona
air for a few days. I got water in the keyboard contactors and that
caused corrosion, but I oiled it and it's been fine for five years
(it wasn't degreased though).

Water is a great cleaner. I used to professionally revive
electronics that had got salt spray damage from operation on
the deck of a ship; lots of warm soapy water is the trick (umm,
remove batteries please).

(There is also a *nasty* detergent, Castrol SUPER CLEAN, available
from NAPA Auto Parts stores, that I swear, is as effective
as lacquer thinner at removing old grease. Technically it's a
surfacant, with NaOH (lye). It will eat your skin, paint, and
(I can attest) 37 year old caked on crud from the firewall of my
Rambler. I hosed it off.  Wear gloves! The mist is bad for you too.

tomj



On Tue, 16 Jul 2002, Don Robert House wrote:

> In the TTY shop we used Triclorethelene and Triclorethane.  Both are 
> dangerous.  The last cleaning job I did I used oderless mineral 
> spirits.  You still need to provide ample ventilation.  You shoud use 
> a small brush rather than spraying it.
> 
> Don
> 
> 
> >Hi folks:
> >
> >There has been previous discussion on machine cleaning and lubrication.
> >For cleaning, I'd rather not immerse a mechanism in a solvent, or take it
> >all apart -- both great ways to clean, but I am lazier than that.  I have
> >had some reasonably-clean machines, and I was able to simply wipe the old
> >oily goop off, and then lube.  But I have some other crustier-looking units
> >that need a bit more cleaning work.  I was wondering if anyone could
> >recommend a spray cleaner/oil that would not leave behind anything nasty?
> >WD-40 is actually pretty good at spray cleaning goopy mechanisms, but it
> >leaves that nasty shellac. 
> >
> >Is there perhaps a spray penetrating oil or a spray solvent that leaves no
> >residue?  Just something that could get the nasty gunk off the machine, and
> >leave nothing sticky behind in the moving parts.  After this spray
> >cleaning, the mechanism would get a proper lube.
> >
> >For lube, I finally settled on 3-in-1 oil for light linkages, 30W motor oil
> >for wicks and heavier oiling needs, and lithium auto grease for cams, etc.
> >
> >thanks,
> >
> >gil
> >
> >
> >;-----------------------------------------------------------
> >;  vaux electronics, inc.             480-354-5556  
> >;  http://www.vauxelectronics.com     (fax: 480-354-5558)
> >;-----------------------------------------------------------
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> 
> 

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