cleaning the boards

[charles w. morehouse]

John,
You are right. Do a lot of restorations and often use liquid dish soap
and wash the whole thing. With mil spec equipment often run it through
the dish washer. Luck and 73.
Wayne;
W4GBW

John  wrote:
>
> Two years ago I bought a Pioneer audio preamp and power amplifier on
> eBay. I thoroughly questioned the seller about the units via e-mail
> before placing my bid. I was assured that they were in "mint" condition.
> Now that I'm an experienced eBayer, I realize the word "mint" is a
> meaningless term at eBay. But at the time, I was expecting to receive
> some really nice vintage silver face vintage Pioneer gear. What I got
> were two pieces of silt covered smelly equipment. I took the covers off
> and you could barely see silhouettes of the components under a layer of
> thick silt. These pieces had been in a fire - not subjected to extreme
> heat - I couldn't find any heat damage. But the smoke must have been
> intense. Of course, I immediately e-mailed the seller. The seller
> replied they WERE MINT and just needed some cleaning.  He reminded me
> that they were sold as-is and that I should have asked him about smoke
> damage if it was a concern of mine. He was not willing to make any
> concessions and never answered another e-mail from me. All I could do
> was leave negative feedback. He has since been removed from eBay,
> although he's probably back doing business under a new name.
>
> Anyway, the only way to salvage this "mint" gear was to give it a
> serious cleaning. I took all the covers off. Put aluminum foil over the
> pots and switches. Then I made a STRONG solution of laundry detergent
> and water. Out in the backyard, I slobbered the soap all over the
> equipment using wide and narrow paint brushes, working it in everywhere.
> I rinsed it with the garden hose. The process was repeated until
> everything was squeaky clean. For the next five days, I put both pieces
> outside in the sun all day - everyday. I made sure all the surfaces got
> plenty of exposure. During this period, I cleaned the controls and
> detailed hard to get at areas. On the 6th day, I plugged in both units
> (no variac - that's for wimps). Both the amp and preamp worked fine and
> are still working perfectly. It's been my experience that soap and water
> are O.K. on most electronics as long as you can bake the moisture out
> quickly and thoroughly. Apply power before the moisture is gone and you
> will be making toast.
>
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