[Hallicrafters] Power washing a dusty, grimy rig??

[WA1KBQ at aol.com]

Radio equipment is roughly 50% mechanical construction and 50%  electrical. 
Each part has different cleaning requirements and you will  have to decide 
how far you want to go and what you wish to accomplish  with it. Weigh your 
options and know the outcome of various methods to  avoid damage. In my 
experience cleaning jobs on new stuff coming in  here do not all follow the same 
plan as there are just too many variables  to consider. The cleaning 
procedure will usually vary depending  upon what type of cleaning is needed, 
degree of decay if any and condition of  original finishes. If I plan to save the 
original finishes I will  follow a different plan than if refinishing or 
replating is called for.
 
The first step is remove all plug-in parts, tubes, crystals, and covers,  
etc., and blow out all the dust which I usually do outside on a card  table 
using an assortment of brushes and a shop vac with a blow nozzle. You will  
be in a better position to assess the job with the dust out of the way first 
and  if additional cleaning is required you should plan to further 
disassemble  your equipment as far as is practical in order to clean individual  
parts. This way you won't be adversely affecting something else when it was  
together and you will achieve far better results reassembling clean  parts than 
you otherwise would trying to clean it as an assembly. 
 
I've tried most of the favorite snake oils over the years but these  two 
are worth repeating. The best cleaning agent I have ever used for tough  jobs 
was recommended to me years ago by N4XO; a 50-50 mix of 409 and ammonia in  
a plastic sprayer bottle, brush as required with water. Be very careful as 
this  is an extremely aggressive formula and will wipe out silkscreens and  
printed nomenclature immediately. Incidentally 409 changed their formula a  
few years ago and is not very good anymore so substitute Westle's Bleche-Wite 
 and you are in business. The best liquid polish I ever used is OZ which 
came  from Dave Boyd at an AWA Conference in NY several Years ago. OZ has no  
silicones, is completely reversible, dries to the touch and will turn back 
the  clock on wrinkle/ crackle finishes and Bakelite parts which have become 
dull due  to oxidation and ultraviolet light.
 
I also use various light acids with neutralizing depending upon what the  
material or plating is, aluminum, copper, brass, steel, nickel, cadmium or  
zinc. 
 
Regards, Greg
 
 
In a message dated 9/30/2011 5:00:10 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
mikeqrpfun at aol.com writes:

I  purchased an SR-400/PS-500 at a local estate sale but it is in need of  
restoration. The undersides are quite pristine but both top chassis are very 
 dusty and full of grime (luckily no smoke smell). I first plan to dust it 
with  a dry brush followed by compressed air as mentioned on the Hali site. 
I've  also read about the use of Windex, 409, soap and brasso but this could 
be  quite labor instensive. I didn't find anything on using a power washer 
(on low  to medium pressure). I've cringe at using water on vintage 
electronics but  recall folks drying these boat anchors in an oven. Does anyone have 
any  suggestions if this approach is advised? My electric power washer has 
a small  tank where I can mix in "cleaner" to the water flow. Any ideas on 
what type of  cleaner to use? What about compressed air drying instead of 
oven baking? A  good friend of mine and fellow member suggested covering the IF 
cans before  spraying with water (sounds like good advice). Thanks in 
advance. Mike  WB6UTW
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