Chassis cleaning

[Steve Harrison]

At 09:35 AM 12/15/98 -0500, Carl Hyde wrote:

>...I used a can of Valvoline Brake cleaning spray.  This stuff really
worked great. It >has a plastic tube so it can be directed into crevices
and it cleans
>oxidation, oil, dust and gunk from the components and didn't harm any of
>the paint or lettering or parts.  It just flushes it out FB.  It will
>also do something with car brakes but I don't know what.

It seems to dissolve grease, oil, brake fluid, and who knows what else.
Brake shoes are absorbent and soak up the stuff like a sponge. As it drains
off the shoes, the grease, oil and brake fluid in the shoes also drains
off. VERY volatile stuff! I'm really surprised it did nothing to any
lettering but it doesn't attack the paint on brake backing plates, so maybe
it's safe for paints. But...

Personally, I like WD-40 although it leaves an oily residue. Then I
sparingly use ordinary solder flux remover to get the remaining grease out.
The solder flux spray is too expensive and dissolves way too quickly to use
by itself; something else is needed to "prep" the chassis. But for a basket
case, maybe the brake cleaner can't be beat!

Years ago, I worked in a stereo repair shop back when stereos were worth
repairing and not throwing out. We used Windex to clean the accumulated
gunk off the cabinet and panels; worked great but there were some
receivers/amplifiers whose lettering would be washed off by the Windex. We
always used a Q-tip on some inconspicious letter somewhere to test the
paint. I still use Windex to clean my computer cases, keyboards, monitors,
etc.; I've never seen Windex harm plastics. It also does a good, but not
great, job cleaning silver-plated cavities. However, it will also change
the hue of the silver plating, making most of them slightly brownish.

73, Steve Ko0U/1

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