[R-390] RF Deck, Module Washing (dishwasher)

[Ben Loper]

Someone told me to drop a dishwasher tablet into a crock pot and let it sit
for a few hours to loosen up the food.  Sure enough in  a few hours it
rinsed right out that when I realized dishwasher (not dish washing) fluid,
granules, tablets are a lot stronger.  Ever since that I have resisted using
the dishwasher for anything other than dishes.

On Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 1:33 PM, Tisha Hayes <tisha.hayes at gmail.com> wrote:

> While reviewing the latest draft of the R-390A inspection process I found a
> few references to cleaning the RF deck in a dishwasher (Page 9, Section 4,
> activities 8,9). This brings up an interesting point for discussion and I
> wanted to share with the reflector on my experience with cleaning a radio
> in
> the dishwasher.
>
> I have a bunch of ARC-5 stuff, one item that joined my collection was one
> of
> the ARC-5 transmitters that was in pretty rough condition as far as being
> loaded up with dirt. Worried about things like Haunta-Virus (from rodent
> droppings) or the many other things that can go wrong I decided to give
> this
> thing it's own cycle in the dishwasher. I pulled the tubes and the crystal
> reference plug-in and set it all by itself in the dishwasher. Since it IS a
> dishwasher you cannot use detergents that foam up so I dropped a Dawn
> dishwashing packet into the machine and let it run through a cycle.
>
> This was set to the most aggressive cleaning cycle on the dishwasher
> (heavy)
> with heat drying at the end. What came out looked really nice, the aluminum
> was even shiny. I had pulled off the bottom plate so the soap and water
> could get up inside, below the tube sockets and removed the tube removal
> plate on top and left open the front IF coil adjustment window and the
> little flip-door at the back top of the radio. The antenna tuner worked
> really nice and it even cleaned up most of the tarnish on the contact wheel
> and the turns.
>
> Not thinking much more about it, and wanting the thing to sit for quite a
> while before I applied B+ to wiring that still had some moisture in the
> cloth I left it to sit on top of a heating register in my office for a few
> weeks.
>
> When I got back to it the aluminum had taken on a terrible, tarnished look
> (greyish-black in appearance). It seems that the aluminum did not like the
> dishwashing method. Strange since my kitchen cookware is also aluminum and
> it does not seem to mind.
>
> The point I am trying to make is that a dishwasher is probably not the best
> way to wash radio modules or the RF deck. Any kind of detergent that is
> rated to run in a dishwasher (non foaming) is fairly aggressive. I do not
> think you can run Simple Green in a dishwasher, at least not MY dishwasher.
>
> Can other folks elaborate upon their attempts to clean modules in a
> dishwasher? (if you have tried it) What were your experiences?
>
> It is one thing to mess up an ARC-5 (that I have almost a dozen of),
> something completely different to put an RF deck or R-390/A module in
> there.
>
> Maybe it is best to stick with the Simple Green, parts brush, garden hose,
> followed with distilled water routine. If the dishwasher is a bad idea we
> may want to remove references to that technique from the R390A Inspection
> Process guide.
> --
> Ms. Tisha Hayes/ AA4HA
> -
> Optimist: *The glass is half full.*
> Pessimist: *The glass is half empty.*
> Engineer: *The glass is not sized correctly AND we need a backup system.*
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