The AM Forum

Thought I'd share yesterday's triumph.

Went to clean an apparently never cleaned SX-28 cabinet. Grey wrinkle finish. Went through the age of tobacco, got to be 65 years old or more. Was darkened with the usual stain looking spots.

First I ran the usual Mean Green cleaner which is my "go to" for getting tough stuff off. It left some brown stains behind.

I had shopped earlier in the day, and based entirely on the stupid latenite TV ads for ZEP bathroom cleaner (results too good to be true - and it cleans copper too...) I got not that, but ZEP 505 Industrial Cleaner & Degreaser.

Tried it on the already cleaned with Mean Green surfaces. Brown stuff literally just released and poured off (I was spraying with a hose to clear it). Use gloves with this or any other chemicals that are strong enough to do anything. I do. That was impressive! The resulting paint is really free of stuff. There's half a shade between the paint that was under the trim (lighter) and the rest.

Thought I'd pass this along rather than keep it as a closely guarded and proprietary trade secret & competitive advantage! :D

               _-_-bear

I've used some spray stuff called "Super Clean" which is probably similar to what you purchased.  And it works wonders.  In addition to tobacco stains and generic gunk, it worked really well de-mousifying a couple of things, too.  I wouldn't use it on a plastic or painted dial, but never had any issues with it disturbing painted metal.  It's pretty nasty and hard to rinse off of your hands — but does the job.  Good idea to protect ink printed info on chassis though.

Auto parts stores generally stock these types of strong cleaner/degreasers. 

Westley's Whitewall Cleaner.  Best stuff ever.

Don't spray it on directly, wet the cabinet first wth water otherwise it'll create spots.

Watch your nose and eyes from fumes,,,but a good great cleaner was a tip from W3HM, Howard....Ammonia and 409 about half and half and a paint brush or scrub brush. Washes it all away. Even brightens up the chassis inside ...the usual protection of I.F. transformers and meters. Seems to be safe to plastic. Just slop that stuff around and and the grime melts away. a good rinsing and drying in the how summer sun or a visit to the kitchen oven for a few hours at 200 F

The problem with that is that "409" is no longer the same "409" as it was years back, as far as I can tell. They've added "anti-bacterial" stuff, and who knows what else. As has Fantastik spray cleaner. Why? No clue. But I'd be very cautious about adding ammonia to these new products. There may be unintended reactions with fumes let off that may or may not be dangerous.

The idea that it brightens chassis, is excellent, but again, I'm worried about the unknown chemical composition of the new formulations.

It's not the reason I posted about the ZEP 505, but it dovetails in nicely...

            _-_-

iirc combining ammonia with bleach will release chlorine gas which is poisonous...

combining brake fluid with HTH will start a hot fire ....

gotta watch those oxidizers !!

Red fuming nitric acid for me!  ;)

Seriously, Tnx for the tips guys.

Bear, youse'm AFU.

ZEP is not ZAP, the crap on TV.

No wonder it works, ZEP is all professional stuff.

Sheesh!

73DG

Zep, Zap, Bip Bapp, you say tomato, I say tomatoe...

Good thing I didn't realize that... are you sure it is ZAP on TV?
I think you're thinking of ZAP Comix...? Dunno, but whatever it is, it works.

I'm going to try it on another chassis maybe tomorrow if the rain holds off... will maybe take pix this time and report back to control!

                  _-_-