[Hammarlund] Cleaning Old Radios

[Tisha Hayes]

I have tried many methods of radio restoration, the one I like the best is
demonstrated by Chuck Rippel's method the best when starting with a totally
dirty radio. (this can be seen on his DVD showing a Hammarlund SP-600
restoration).

He takes the radio out back, hoses it down and uses a diluted mixture of
water and Simple Green spread around and brushed into corners to remove the
residue. Then with progressive rinses to remove the dirt and Simple Green he
finishes off with distilled water, blows it out with compressed air and
either lets it sit in the hot sun for a few days or does a low temperature
oven bake on the chassis.

It is quite intimidating to watch on DVD and had freaked me out. I tried it
on an old clunker SP-200 chassis (that never will work because of other
damage caused by rifle rounds). It really did make a difference in removing
the smoke residue and even caked on pigeon droppings.

Since then I have done this on my primary SP-600 JX17 and it was so much
easier than my earlier work with dissecting assemblies and using polishing
agents, Q Tips and tooth-brushes.

One caution is that you need to remove panel meters and anything with a
paper or ink stamp as it will "clean" those up too.

Following up with DeOxIt on switches, pots and tube sockets is essential.
Also a gentle rub-down with a light lubricant (WD-40 sort of qualifies) will
keep exposed and un-plated surfaces from rusting or binding. Keep WD-40 away
from tuning slugs and coils as it causes the slugs to change in value and
can cause the windings to loosen up on forms.
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