Cleaning Solutions.

[Charged]

I did a search, and did not find a thread on this topic.

I’d like to ask the members on this board there thoughts, and recommendations on cleaning products.

I'm a rookie, and need advice.

I’m in the process of cleaning a vintage amp.

With the cover of, I do not see much corrosion, but everything looks dusty, even after compressed air.

Tonight, I just spent 3 hours, with cotton swaps and deoxit. After all my rough housing, I pleasantly surprised it is still working. I got all the big stuff cleaned up, but I still have a lot of work left to do.

1st question: Are there any products out there, that are designed to safely spray down an entire systems components?

2nd question: Once I’m done cleaning, would a light spray of silicone be harmful, or helpful? Or are there other products, that are designed for this purpose?

If anyone can point me in the right direction, Id really appreciate any help.

[jackinnj]

ever heard of a dishwasher?

vintage ham gear is often put in a dishwasher -- just wait a couple of weeks before you turn it on.

[Charged]

Ok, I got your point. I guess there are no shortcuts in this buisness.

You may find this link of particular interest.

http://www.surrealgourmet.com/html/recipes/salmon.html

I'm basically interested interested in finding the products, the members here are using, and having sucess with.

[AndrewT]

Hi,
is that dishwasher suggestion serious?
Or, do I not recognise my leg being pulled (maybe both of them)?

[pinkmouse]

Quite serious. I've used it a couple of times on pro-amps where the PCB has become heavily contaminated with smoke machine fluid.

[SY]

Before doing the dishwasher routine, ensure that the vintage amp does not use paper insulators in its transformers nor paper capacitors. And do not use a rinse agent!

[miguel2]

I use a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water for cleaning laptops and other stuff (exterior), including lcd's. Maybe you can use it. It is at 50%.

[jackinnj]

Originally posted by AndrewT
Hi,
is that dishwasher suggestion serious?
Or, do I not recognise my leg being pulled (maybe both of them)?

it is particularly useful if you acquire something used by a chain smoker -- the tobaco smoke residues are very difficult to remove -- you don't use more than a teaspoonful of detergent --

of course you have to use your common sense - a lot of dial markings aren't going to like the harsh treatment of a dishwasher -- neither are analog meters -- and just like it says on Antiques Roadshow -- you can really impair something's value by cleaning it up.

both Heath IP-17 HV power supplies I own went through the Maytag dishwasher, so did an Eico CW transmitter. All three of these reeked before the process (I am a former cigar smoker.)

[Bobken]

Hi Charged,

Your Question #2.

In spite of the fact that silicone-rubber products are used in electronics, and sometimes silicone grease is recommended too, I would avoid using silicone products anywhere in audio equipment.

A component in (some?) silicone products is Siloxane, and this together with heat generated in many electrical devices, can migrate and cause un-reliability problems with electrical contacts of all kinds, like motor commutators/slip-rings, relays, plugs/sockets/switches etc.

Apparently, silicone dioxide is formed under certain conditions on these contacts, and this is an electrical insulator which is responsible for the reliability problems and their subsequent intermittent operation.

Regards,

[Charged]

Thanks for the replies, you too jackinnj. I hope you didn’t find my poached salmon link too offensive. At first I thought you were trying to trick me, I realize now that you were offering advice

I’ve been having good luck with DeoxIt D5, I’m finding this stuff amazing. I have even used it to clean the aluminum exterior face plates, on my Marantz equipment, it worked very well, and left all the lettering intact. I followed the advice in this forum, and did not apply any silicon internally, but I did rub some onto the outer metal case, and it shined things up nicely.

Internally I have most the components cleaned now. I have been using the Deoxit with cotton swabs, toothpicks, and old paintbrushes. Things are looking, and sounding much better. Now I just need to get some newer blue bulbs, the current ones I have look faded, and almost shine white.

Once I do that, the equipment will look almost brand new. I'm having a hard time convincing my freinds now, that its 30 years old.