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

[Carl]

> 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,


Mix in a little liquid dish detergent and hot water and it does a fine job 
of killing wasps and hornets also.

Carl



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <WA1KBQ at aol.com>
To: <mikeqrpfun at aol.com>; <hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 9:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Hallicrafters] Power washing a dusty, grimy rig??


> 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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