[Heathkit] Tom Cat Urine

[Phil Lefever]

>409 is ok for covers but not for insulators. I washed a J-38 key base with 
>it and
>it was useless for grid block keying after that. A friend told me that 409 was
>heavily ionic. I'm not a chemist so maybe someone can verify this.

I would doubt there would be any ill effect provided the plastic isn't
too porous and that you rinse well...

The finest cleaner I have found for things that can get wet is S100 total
motorcycle cleaner. What this stuff does is simply amazing, it even works
on my motorcycles! I have yet to see it attack any surface I have used it
on too. A while back I brought home a very crusty HM-2102. It was horrible
dirty after 15 years in a garage but I bought it because these VHF models
are a bit scarce. I tore it apart and hit it with the S100 and a soft sponge.
After rinsing and drying it appeared to be freshly painted! The S100 also
leaves behind some silicones to prevent corrosion which is especially good
on plated chassis. Buy it at motorcycle shops. Just don't apply it to any
open cuts...

Also recommended is Novus #2 plastic polish. Its pretty amazing how deep a
scratch can be polished out of a meter face with the stuff.

Another must have is Wenol metal polish for shiny metals like chrome or
bright nickel. I have usually used the red tube which is designed for
harder metals like Stainless steel. They have a new blue tube product
that is less abrasive and probably better for softer thin plating (its
less abrasive).

Finally a can of Caig Labs De-Oxit D5 is a must for contact cleaning etc!

As for the cat urine problem I would recommend stripping the radio apart
as much as possible then carefully cleaning each subassembly. Hopefully
there aren't too many parts that absorbed the urine, the hard parts will
clean up pretty easily. Years ago I refurbished a VCR that was used as a
litter box and its still working today!

73

Phil

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Phil Lefever    KBØNES                          Twin Cities Repeater Club
kb0nes at tcrc.org                                 Burnsville,MN