cleaning up cad plated steel chassis?

[N3DRB The Derb]

does anyone have a easy recipe for getting rid of fingerprints and unwanted schmaltz marks? I got 3 17X13X2 units from RF parts and they all have some issues with fingerprint smudges etc. Dont wanna take the cad plate off.

I guess they would make fine fodder for the powdercoat man, but I actually like the PS decks in any tx I make to be cad steel. Just not crappy looking cad steel.
 
heres photos of one of the chassis top and bottom. this is the worst one.


 

[N2DTS]

Why not just paint it, they look much better that way.
Once fingerprint oil etches the plating, I dont see any way of getting it off other than sanding/sand blasting.

I used to do black crinkle, but it gets dirty and stays dirty, and looks old.
I switched to grey, and it looks good for a long time, plus you can use a P touch to label things and it stays on....

I make all the holes (90% at least) then paint and assemble, looks very nice.

Brett

[N2DTS]

Oh, maybe as a test, try vinager on a small spot and see what it does....

Brett

[ka3zlr]

Derb,

I'd wipe'em down with pure Alcohol it'll pull the finger prints up.


73
Jack.

[WQ9E]

Tim,

You want to avoid over exposure to any materials that result from your cleaning process.  There was a post on the old boat anchors list (porch.com) a few years ago from one of the members who was undergoing treatment because of heavy metal poisoning due to his work with cadmium plated chassis.  I can't recall the exact details but I imagine in his case he had been sanding or wire brushing the chassis.

Rodger WQ9E

[N3DRB The Derb]

yeh, you cant abrade that stuff in any way, the dust will kill ya deader than a stone.  cad is now considered HAZMAT material I think.

 I cant do any of that other stuff anyways. I'm finding I can drill 3 or 4 pilot holes for Greenlee tube socket holes spaced out through an entire day.  more than that and I wind up in bed with my drugs on. 

[WB6NVH]

This might be getting a bit involved, but Eastwood Co. has a cad-plating restoration kit which is some sort of dip-process for producing a finish which resembles, but isn't, the original plating.  They have a website and sell supplies to car restorers.  To have this come out well, I am thinking you would need to glass bead or media blast the chassis first to clean it up before the treatment, and that would require being careful about the dust from the blast process (a blast cabinet would be best.)

In my experience, black fingerprints in cad plating are permanent, as the plating has been compromised.  Attempting to clean them with kitchen cleanser usually just goes through the plating to the base metal, which doesn't work out too well either.

[K4TLJ]

Home Depot sells a zinc containing paint that looks 'right' on vintage chassis. If you find it too dull there is also a stainless steel colored paint that might work. I have had poor results removing 50 year old finger prints let alone rust. Carefully sand (no steel wool!), wipe clean, then mask all parts not to be painted and have at it.

[WBear2GCR]

Derb,

with your health issues, I would stay as far as I could away from any solvents (other than H2O) and potentially hazardous metals... if there is a plating shop anywhere around, I'd just drop it off, they can acid etch it and put some sort of plating on it... better idea, imho.  Either that or the paint idea is ok... a flat or semi lacquer is thin, covers and won't keep lockwashers from making contact where you need it...

                 _-_-bear

Maybe a trip through the dishwasher is worth considering - although it might take most of the cadnium plate off, dunno. Then run it one more time to get the cad out of the dishwasher!!