Cleaning up

[jackinnj]

I got in a real "smoker" of a Crown IC-150a the other day. The nicotine stains on the anodized aluminum were such that it looked as if they made a model with a bronzed front panel.

Taking a few tablespoons of TSP-pf (sodium silicate) in warm water and a soft cloth removed the nicotine effortlessy. What is surprising is that the front panel looks as if the preamplifier is brand new.

[wintermute]

Completely different type of cleaning, but if you want good joints when soldering, rubbing the component legs with a bit of 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper and then a wipe with a little alcohol before putting them into your board will work wonders. Takes a bit of time to do every component, but a lot less time than troubleshooting a cricuit that isn't working properly due to a bad solder joint

Tony.

[vdi_nenna]

rubbing the component legs with a bit of 400 grit wet and dry sandpaper

Any risk of damaging active components with this method?

[jackinnj]

i meant sodium metasilicate in my first post, sodium silicate is what they are putting in engines for cash for clunkers.

[wintermute]

Originally Posted by vdi_nenna

Any risk of damaging active components with this method?

I guess there is a risk if they are static sensitive... but just handling them has a risk, so if your ground yourself at your workbench probably no biggy I just give them a very light rub to remove any oxidation that may have formed on the component legs I never used to do it, but when I started it made a big difference.

Tony.

[auplater]

I love the oxymoronic marketing of products like this... sort of like Pseudofed-PE, which can't be used to make meth, but supposedly has all the benefits of the original... except it's a different compound altogether...

Isn't it great living in the US of A...