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Hints, Tips and Solutions (Do NOT post requests for help here) If you have any useful general hints and tips for vintage technology repair and restoration, please share them here. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE! |
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11th Jul 2012, 9:45 pm | #21 | |
Nonode
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Edinburgh, UK.
Posts: 2,008
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Quote:
Cancel that. I have just had a look at the PW site. The article is in the August issue out tomorrow(12th). Did you get your issue early? Thanks Al
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I won't tell you how I discovered that. Last edited by Alistair D; 11th Jul 2012 at 9:49 pm. Reason: Update |
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12th Jul 2012, 6:18 pm | #22 |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 648
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Re: Switch Cleaner
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13th Jul 2012, 6:39 pm | #23 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,935
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Can anyone enlighten us non-PW readers as to the latest horror story? Poor old WD40 - always seem to be in trouble . Of course, the WD40 company has launched a new range of Wd40 products including a new releasing agent and a dedicated contact cleaning agent http://wd40specialist.co.uk/ but I never see them on sale anywhere; their launch seems to have been all but secret.
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14th Jul 2012, 10:09 am | #24 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,554
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Re: Switch Cleaner
It is the mess we have to clear up when one of their customers gets a video cassette stuck in the machine.
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14th Jul 2012, 5:39 pm | #25 |
Hexode
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Devon, UK.
Posts: 307
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Re: Switch Cleaner
I use Lubec -originally made by Crown Johnson Ltd - which seems to do the job really well. As the company was dissolved ( appropriate for a chemical company) in 1999 the chemicals are almost certainly banned now but I got a case of the stuff off the internet a few years ago. With luck I have enough to last me out.
Has anyone else used the stuff? Phil |
14th Jul 2012, 6:59 pm | #26 | |
Heptode
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK.
Posts: 648
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Quote:
In essence, Harry Leeming (who, it must be said, has quite a lot of experience in radio servicing) describes how he discovered that WD-40 will, on occasion, successfully clean contacts that other things won't. He emphasises that it's a cleaner of last resort but one that can save the day. For me the most important thing is that, once WD-40 has done his stuff, he then washes it off with Servisol Aero Klene and adds a little Super 10 "to lubricate it". That would seem to get over the problem of the nasty, sticky residue that WD-40 leaves behind. Hugh |
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14th Jul 2012, 11:54 pm | #27 | |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,935
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Quote:
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15th Jul 2012, 4:50 am | #28 |
Hexode
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: South Manchester, UK.
Posts: 262
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Never been impressed with the exotic stuff, and compared it directly with servisol 10 you can see the results here...
Servisol wins on this occasion!! Where possible I always opt for a manual clean then spray some lube for final protection... Tandy use to do two cleaners in small cans, one with a lube and one without. The one with was fantastic! |
20th Jul 2012, 7:16 pm | #29 |
Diode
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Staffordshire.
Posts: 8
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Hi all , I always found the Phillips brand contact cleaner (in the red can) really good , however I recently used the last of the can(from 1982 !) and was unable to find a U.K. source of supply. A search on the internet turned up this supplier so I got a few cans which made the cost of postage worth it.I always found that the Phillips cleaner didn't cause the plastic to crumble the way other cleaners did.
Mike. http://www.retroamplis.com/epages/62...367/Categories |
20th Jul 2012, 9:42 pm | #30 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: W.Butterwick, near Doncaster UK.
Posts: 8,935
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Re: Switch Cleaner
The WD40 issue is in P/Wireless is August 2012. PM for copy if I am allowed to scan it?
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20th Jul 2012, 9:51 pm | #31 | |
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 27,970
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Quote:
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20th Jul 2012, 10:10 pm | #32 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,865
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Interesting experiment, LXSTEIN45, thanks.
If direct access to the sliding contacts and wipers is available, I use Brasso on a cotton wool bud, followed by a blast of IPA to wash off the residue, and finally, a very light application of Servisol 10 as a lubricant, as Hugh's described. Nick. |
27th Jul 2012, 2:15 pm | #33 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: North Wales, UK.
Posts: 6,927
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Hi
The old RS one was interesting - drip some onto a polystyrene tile and whoosh - no tile! I found Servisol to be quite useful but only used as Nick outlines above as it will cause plastic crumbling eventually. After seeing this thread I've found a half-full tin of our old favourite - the Philips red can! I'll use it very sparingly. I think anyone who's ever repaired VCRs for customers has a knee-jerk reaction against WD40. Unfair, I know, but just the smell brings me out in a cold sweat... Glyn |
27th Jul 2012, 7:00 pm | #34 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,554
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Re: Switch Cleaner
WD40 gets a bad reputation because the non technical spray it all over the item before they bring it for repair.
I had a VHS recorder with a borrowed tape stuck in it. Water had got into the tuner via the coax and there was half a can of WD40 in through the cassette hatch. I managed to copy most of the two halves of the tape onto another blank one and carefully swapped the reels over into the shell with the label on it without ripping the label that went over the join. The recorder was a write off. |
4th Aug 2012, 1:13 am | #35 |
Retired Dormant Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: New Bern, North Carolina, USA
Posts: 346
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Re: Switch Cleaner
At my job, we use automatic transmission fluid; the blue stuff used for Chevrolet. We mix it with 99 percent alcohol, apparently it's a 90:10 ratio of alcohol to ATF. Use a squeeze bottle with a blunted syringe needle tip to get it into tight spots in switches. The stuff just WORKS and it prevents previously cleaned pots and switches from getting gunked up and scratchy shortly thereafter.
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4th Aug 2012, 1:38 am | #36 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,935
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Re: Switch Cleaner
That sounds about one million times cheaper than De-Oxit! Of course, it has also been claimed that a mixture of ATF with acetone makes a great releasing agent for rusted bolts.
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8th Aug 2012, 6:34 pm | #37 |
Pentode
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Camelford, Cornwall, UK.
Posts: 188
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Re: Switch Cleaner
I was told by my camera repair friend that WD40 is 90% white spirit and 10% clever stuff.
When cleaning camera mechanisms we used to squirt a few mils in a pot, let it settle and remove the white spirit. The clever stuff was then used in minute quantities as a lubricant. It spreads miles if you put too much on. Trouble with spraying WD40 onto metal is that the white spirit washes off oils etc and the metal is then prone to rust. Contect is I believe a better metal protector. |
9th Aug 2012, 8:47 am | #38 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,902
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Re: Switch Cleaner
Some solvents in cleaners have the effect of making polycarbonate plastics extremely brittle... the old "Inhibisol' and 'Ultraclene' sprays were problems.
It's servisol switch cleaner/lubricant I keep around the place. And I use their foam cleanser quite a lot. Never had any problems. David
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