[Hammarlund] Cleaning Old Radios

[Carl]

Since when is WD-40 a lubricant?

IMO its the worse thing to put on a chassis unless you want it to look 
shiny for an Ebay photo.

Instead make the effort to use a metal polish followed up by a non 
yellowing and clear wax buffed out to near perfection. There are several 
excellent products aimed at the antique/vintage vehicle market that hold 
up extremely well in the mild enviroment of an old radio as compared to 
the engine compartment of a muscle car, etc.

All it takes is effort.

Carl
KM1H


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tisha Hayes" <tisha.hayes at gmail.com>
To: <hammarlund at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 8:07 PM
Subject: [Hammarlund] Cleaning Old Radios


>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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