[GreenKeys] Rubber Renue

Fri Jun 17 13:35:13 EDT 2016

Pretty much the same toxicity of your typical paint store offerings +
synthetic wintergreen oil, must be the combination that sticks so much

On Fri, Jun 17, 2016 at 10:30 AM, Pete Lancashire <pete at petelancashire.com>
wrote:

> xylene - ... areas include  the .. rubber .. industry, common component of
> ... rubber ...
> ethylbenzene - ... solvent ... rubber adhesives
> methyl salicylate (wintergreen oil) - restoring the elastomeric properties
> of old rubber rollers, especially in printers (no citation)
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 16, 2016 at 10:45 PM, Rick Bensene <rickb at bensene.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi, everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> So, the platen on my wonderful 33-ASR has been giving me troubles for a
>> while now.  It won’t grip the paper reliably to properly advance when the
>> LINEFEED is received.  The paper just slips, and the printing ends up
>> running over the top of the previous line, or it only spaces part way, and
>> then overlaps the previous line.  Not good for clean copy.
>>
>> The platen had almost a glaze about it…kind of shiny looking, and just
>> didn’t have much complexion anymore.  I didn’t know what to do.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, some time ago, I posted my frustration here, and someone suggested
>> using DOT Brake Fluid (not the silicone kind, but the old-fashioned
>> stuff).   I tried it, and low and behold, it worked.  But…only for a little
>> while, and then the same issue started occurring again – after a few weeks,
>> the symptom returned.  Another dose of brake fluid helped a little, but it
>> seemed to have diminishing returns.
>>
>>
>>
>> I had read something on the Golf Ball Typewriter mailing list (e.g., IBM
>> Selectric) that someone had used a product called Rubber Renue to resurrect
>> the platen and power roller in an old Selectric typewriter.   I did some
>> research, and although the product itself is rather scary, it seemed that a
>> lot of people found that it did a good job of restoring rubber in a way
>> that was fairly long-lasting.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, I ordered up a bottle of the stuff.    When it arrived, it came with
>> no real instructions on how to use it, but a whole bunch of information
>> about how dangerous it was, and a slew of warnings about no letting it
>> touch skin, not to inhale any vapors, and that it some ingredients are of
>> concern for causing cancer.   Kind of scary.  I pulled up the Material
>> Safety Data Sheet for the product, and these concerns, along with others,
>> were all verified.   So, after having it around for a few weeks, a few
>> nights ago I decided to give it a try on the platen for the 33-ASR.   I
>> decided I would treat the platen in place rather than trying to remove it.
>> It would have probably been more thorough to remove the platen, but it
>> involves taking apart some of the linefeed mechanism, and that’s something
>> I just wasn’t willing to fuss with.   I’m pretty good with electronic
>> stuff, but intricate mechanical stuff like this I’m not so good at.
>>
>>
>>
>> I followed all of the safety instructions.  I had two layers of nitrile
>> surgical gloves, a long sleeve shirt, a respirator, safety glasses, and
>> also opened up all of the doors and windows in the building to provide good
>> flow-through airflow, and had the HVAC system running in “FAN” mode to
>> further move air around.   I also opened the bottle of fluid outdoors, put
>> a small amount of the fluid on a small piece of clean cloth outdoors, then
>> closed the bottle leaving it outdoors.  I took the cloth inside, wiped down
>> the platen while rotating it around to get even coverage across the
>> entirety of the platen, and also wiped down the roller underneath the
>> platen.   The instructions I found online (on the company’s website) then
>> said that the fluid should be allowed to completely evaporate before the
>> treated item is used.   I took the piece of cloth and wrapped it in
>> aluminum foil, then placed it in a plastic bag and sealed it, and took it
>> outdoors.  This, and the foil safety seal on the bottle will be taken to
>> the local hazardous waste facility for disposal.     I then left the
>> building opened up overnight and came back the next morning to check it
>> out.  Even after evaporating overnight, and the building all opened up,
>> there was still a detectable odor of solvent in the air, probably coming
>> from the platen itself.
>>
>>
>>
>> I left the building opened up  as I investigated the platen.  I didn’t
>> have the respirator on, but figured that after this much time, the
>> concentration was  small enough to not be of much concern, and with good
>> airflow through the building due to a fairly decent breeze outside, I
>> wasn’t worried much about any possibility of problems from the fumes.
>>   The platen was indeed different.  The shiny sheen was gone.  It also felt
>> more like rubber…it had some flex to it, but wasn’t mushy or sticky in any
>> way.   It had a complexion again…that kind of grippy feeling that good
>> rubber platens should have…grippy, but not too grippy that paper would
>> stick to it.   I wiped the platen down with a clean piece of cotton cloth
>> (which will also go to hazardous waste for disposal), and a slight
>> blackish-brown residue came off, but not much at all.   I threaded in the
>> roll of paper, and a paper tape with a bunch of test texts on it, turned
>> the machine to LOCAL mode, and started the paper tape reader.  Linefeed
>> performance was flawless.   I then put it in ONLINE mode, and had it
>> connected up to the HP 2000/Access Timeshared BASIC emulation running under
>> SimH.  I logged in and started a long BASIC program listing.  Perfect
>> linefeed performance…the paper advanced perfectly each time.  No more signs
>> of the paper slipping.    The back side of the paper had no sign of any
>> kind of residue from the treatment, and there was absolutely no sign of the
>> paper sticking to the platen.   I had limited time in the morning, so I
>> powered down the TTY, and closed up the building and headed off to work.  I
>> got home and did some more testing, and all was good.  There was a slight
>> solvent smell in the building, but I left it opened up through the evening,
>> and by the time I closed the building up as nightfall approached, that odor
>> had dissipated.
>>
>>
>>
>> So…although it isn’t a long-term report, I’m really very happy with the
>> results.  Now it will remain to be seen if the treatment is temporary, or
>> holds up over time.     This evening I treated the platen for an old Diablo
>> Hy-Type II printing data terminal.  This time, the platen was removed from
>> the device, and I did the treatment outdoors to avoid the fumes in the
>> building.   The platen was pretty hopeless before the treatment..it had a
>> hard texture with a lot of shine/gloss, and even some shallow cracks in the
>> surface.  It was hopeless for advancing paper.  After the treatment, I
>> think it’s going to be restored to usability.  It’ll air out overnight, and
>> I’ll give it a try tomorrow evening or over the weekend.   If the results
>> of the 33ASR platen are any indication, I think that this platen will be
>> usable again.  It seems to be much better after the treatment, but it needs
>> to evaporate completely before I re-install it and try out the terminal.
>>
>>
>>
>> All in all, good stuff, at least so far.   If you do end up using it, I
>> strongly suggest following all of the safety rules and respect the stuff.
>> Don’t let kids or animals anywhere near this stuff.  It is quite nasty.
>> But, it does seem to do a good job, and if used safely and cautiously, I
>> think that it can rescue platens and rollers in old equipment like this
>> that is either difficult to replace, or expensive to rebuild.
>>
>>
>>
>> Good will to all,
>>
>>
>>
>> -Rick
>>
>> --
>>
>> Rick Bensene
>>
>> The Old Calculator Museum
>>
>> http://oldcalculatormuseum.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
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