Cleaning Nicotine off old radios
w3jn:
Yeah, every REAL ham had a pack of Pall-Malls at the ready during those midnite DX sessions... and many of the boatanchors you see nowadays show real evidence of chronic nicotine exposure. Nicotine is hard to remove. The first time I came across this was a Hammarlund SP-600 that had a green front panel. Never saw one in green before - the reason was a think, guncgy coating of nicotine. 409 and LOTS of scrubbing barely made a dent in it.
I tried a bucnh of different things and the BEST cleaner for removing grease, nicotine, or ham grunge is Westley's White Wall Cleaner. Available at your local Wally World or hardware store.
Here's what you do. Wet down the item to be cleaned, then spray Westley's liberally... the gunk will instantly disolve and start to run off. Wipe off with a wet rag, then rinse well. If the item is still attached to the radio (front panel, chassis, etc.) you can use a rag wet with Westley's, then plenty of wiping wiith a wet rag. Wax afterwards on front panels makes 'em look like new.
C A U T I O N: Westley's WILL take the sheen off bakelite! Don't use it on bakelite, printed dials, and avoid silk-screened lettering. *MOST* of the time it doesn't bother lettering but every once in a while it'll dissolve silk-screening... so BE CAREFUL. Also don't spray westlkey's right onto something as it will leave light colored spots where the droplets first hit.
Jim, W5JO:
With a little more elbow grease, you can get some rubbing compound and do the flat paint. When finished you not only have a clean surface, but it shines better too.
KB2WIG:
carb cleaner works...... dont use it on the outside unless u want to do a repaint/finish ...... klc
WQ9E:
I have also found that the "scrubbing bubbles" bathroom cleanser works well and seems to be pretty kind to paint. I just started working on a Pierson KP-81 which had not only the usual layer of nicotine but some thicker spots that I thought were from some form of corrosion. The "bubbles" took it right off and left a beautiful panel and knobs underneath. Now I just have a lot of molded paper caps and some out of spec resistors to replace before I try the first power up. This should be an interesting radio to get going, it is the only sliding coil catacomb radio I have seen that was not either a National produced or at least National design (as in the RAO series produced by Wells-Gardner) and others. Rodger WQ9E
Jim, W5JO:
Try Pledge furniture wax.