[Hallicrafters] SX-62

[Gerry Steffens]

I have put mine in 91% alcohol and sloshed them around with no ill effects.
Most discount stores & pharmacies sell 70 % and 91% (or something around
91%) alcohol.  Stay away from the 70% stuff.  While in the bath, one can
always draw a single thickness cloth through the rotor to help clean it out
or in some cases pipe cleaners if there is room.  Compressed air is good for
drying.

Because of the fumes and of course the flammability of the higher percentage
alcohols, this is best done outside and away from fire (no smoking!).
However because of slightly cold temps here at times (colder than -20 F) I
sometimes do it inside anyway.  40 years of it has not gotten me into
trouble with it yet.

The higher the percentage of alcohol the better.  Being more pure, it leaves
fewer residuals.  At one time I used laboratory grade reagent alcohol which
is 99.998 free of residuals (great for cleaning tape recorder heads and the
like).  Lost my affordable source for it though.  Many times the 70% alcohol
will have aromatics in it (that's just more residuals when it evaporates).

This of course will remove the lubrication from the bearing surfaces.  These
should be re-lubed.  I like dripless oil (every few years you will need to
relub it to keep it at peak performance.  Be sure in lubing the cap that you
don't get oil on the wiper that makes the contact with the rotor as that can
cause continuity problems down the road.

I have also experimented with graphite powder for this purpose. It can be
really messy though.  I have successfully lubed the wiper with the graphite
though.

Gerry

Collecting & Restoring since 1959
Gerald Steffens P.E.
Rochester, Minnesota