ESSEX TWENTY ATE (SX-28) CLEAN & POLISH CHASSIS??

[WBear2GCR]

Ok, Guru/Experts,

Thanks to the eagle eye of John KC2FXE and his and Steve W2TRH's efforts, I scored a pretty decent condition Essex 28 receiver (that's a Hallicrafters...). It does need to have its ears cleaned, and I have yet to look at the notorious RF/IF caps...

...but my question today is about cleaning & polishing that chassis!
It's pretty grainy oxidized. No corrosion evident, at least not enough to notice any rust spots so far. Afaik, it is Cad-kneee-ummm plated steel. The IF cans look to be aluminium.

So, what method and materials are proven to give a very good to excellent result. I want to so something that leaves no signs of wiping/rubbing/scratches. Bright-ish and clean, not expecting chrome like results of course.

So far I have two candy-dates.

One from the web, a site showing and excellent looking result.
That person suggests using a combo of ammonia + 409 and a rough cloth.
Perhaps some #0000 steel wool.

Tim, HLR suggests WD-40 and maybe very fine scotchbrite, followed by a 409 degrease & dry out.

What say you??

Pix to show the condition...

[Ed WA4NJY]

Try some of the polish used for smooth top stoves on the steel chassis.  It may do ok on the aluminum also.

Ed

[K9DXL]

I'd avoid the steel wool.  Itty bitty pieces of metal here and there to spark things up.  The Scotchbrite sounds better.

[WBear2GCR]

Try some of the polish used for smooth top stoves on the steel chassis.  It may do ok on the aluminum also.

Ed

Ed,

I've used that stuff on the stove top, it seems scary abrasive/hard to me.
Perhaps I'll give it a shot on some sacrificial chassis first, but I am skeptical since I expect it is hard enough and abrasive enough to remove the plating.
Dunno.

[WBear2GCR]

Forgot to mention FXE and TRH found the Essex Twenty Ate at NEARFEAST.

[Jim, W5JO]

Check with Brian, W5AMI who has been down that road a few times starting with a 28A.  His website is Arkansas Airways dot com  Look at the restorations including chassis.

[KA0HCP]

Flitz Polish
Simichrome paste

Both are long time, high quality polishes.  They are available at good hardware stores.

[W8KHZ]

This is just my opinion but the chassis doesn't appear all that bad to me... just dirty.  If it were me, I'd just gently clean with water and a mild detergent and not polish the chassis.  I've never seen a chassis that has been polished that looks original.  Whenever I encounter a radio that has been aggressively polished on the inside, I'm always a bit disappointed... I'd rather see some imperfections in the chassis than polished...  again, just my opinion.

Brian - W8KHZ

[Opcom]

Very nice results with 'scotchbrite' for cleaning but not to hard or the plating or coating can be ruined causing a mottled appearance.

Steel wool is good for polishing blank panels. I don't use it on assembled gear due to the mentioned metal fragments, or dust. A very highly polished aluminum front panel can be had with it, using soaped 'brillo' pads and water with alcohol and a lot of elbow grease. Also, flipping over a meter scale, the reverse can be polished to match the panel's appearance as can CRT bezels, handles, and other metal hardware. Using alcohol somehow helps the polishing action.

[K1JJ]

Just a reminder to test procedures before actually using them on critical surfaces...

If you ever come across an HT-32 with a frosted-looking meter, it may have been mine back in 1966.

I used a bottle of 409 to clean the rig. It's hard to believe, but it actually melted the plastic meter front cover surface.  I did my best to polish the rippled surface out, but NG.

Live and learn.

T

 

[KB2WIG]

"  Using alcohol somehow helps the polishing action.  "

Yes, it does.

klc

[Tom WA3KLR]

I have a Navy version of an HP-608 rf generator and it had a frosted face on one of the meters.  I used automotive rubbing compound on it and that cleared it up.

[n1ps]

I have polished a number of chassis (including some 28s) and settled several years ago on a metal polish.  My favorite is a product called Blue Magic, available in some auto parts stores.  In extreme cases where there is some pitting in the cadmium plating, I polish with a Dremel tool using the polish and polishing pads.  There is an extension attachment for the Dremel that really helps to get into tight places.  It always seems to come down to elbow grease though using the polish and cotton rags.  I will at times wrapped a small piece of rag around the eraser end of a pencil to get in difficult places.  I recall one 28 where I sent out several chassis parts to an antique car service shop for re-plating.  The tuning caps are usually difficult to clean.  Don't forget to oil up the bearings.

Good luck. 
Peter

[Mike/W8BAC]

For inspiration have a look at the May 2014 Electric Radio article on page 22. It is a 7 page spread showing an SX-28A getting the full treatment. Very nice job by John/W3HPW and a full rundown of chemicals he used. 

[WBear2GCR]

Regarding the concerns with "over polishing", I'm not looking to get a high sheen/reflective result. Pretty clean and not grainy/oxidized is where I would like to be when all is said and done.

I'll give consideration to all of the ideas, and may test (as previously mentioned) on some "test mule" old buzzard chassis that are available, and similar in condition/age. Pretty sure I have some close to original model HP sig generators with chassis in about the same shape. I'll dork with them.

Maybe even do sections, like on the back apron or sides and post the results of the various treatments, unless I magically hit a great result at the outset. Then I'll just show that.

The key here is that I do not want to spend a lot of time on it. ("...sittin' in the ol' lazy bastard recliner is where I wanna be..." - sing that tune!!)

I've seen this before, it's not just surface dirt/dust, it's 60 years of oxidation too.

Most metal polishes leave icky residues (from the actual polishing media) that are a PIA to get off, but we'll see what works.

Open to more ideas.

                   _-_-

[w3jn]

Westley's Bleche-White whitewall cleaner and a toothbrush does the best at cleaning off the crud.  i use a small screwdriver wrapped in a paper towel that's wet with Bleche-White to get into the little hard to reach nooks and crannies.

Polishing a cad plated chassis, unless you remove all the components, is just gonna look horrible because there's a thousand places you won't get to.  Then there's the issue that cadmium is toxic, and while it's not an issue just sitting there if you're polishing the hell out of something and breathing dust and/or getting it on your fingers and possible ingesting it, it could possibly pose a danger.

[WQ9E]

I remember shortly after I joined the original BA mailing listed hosted at theporch.com one of the list members reported he was undergoing treatment due to cadmium poisoning, as I recall it wasn't very successful.  He had been using some pretty aggressive tools to clean/polish the chassis for years and it caught up with him.

To me polishing a cad plated chassis isn't worth the risk of heavy metal poisoning.

[N8UH]

I've always used WD-40 with rag, and sometimes a Scotch Brite pad if things got stubborn. Works great except for the worst corrosion. Clean with denatured alcohol afterwards or just leave the WD to dry. Anything else I have tried has been too much of a PITA to clean up unless I was taking everything off the chassis. Like others have mentioned, I believe that getting too aggressive or trying to polish the chassis will only make things worse.

My $.02 

[WBear2GCR]

FYI,

Westley's Bleche-White

Ingredients from MSDS/Label
Chemical                 CAS No / Unique ID   Percent
Isopropanol         000067-63-0   
2-Butoxyethanol         000111-76-2   
Sodium metasilicate  006834-92-0   
Water                 007732-18-5   
Sodium silicates         013472-30-5   
Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate   025155-30-0

[WBear2GCR]

Now, I am assuming it's Cadmium, but it could have been bright zinc over steel too.
That might be more like it. Dunno.

[WBear2GCR]

So, Wikipedia sez:

2-Butoxyethanol was introduced into the industrial industry as a solvent for paints and surface coatings, as well as cleaning products and inks. Other products that contain 2-Butoxyethanol include acrylic resin formulations, asphalt release agents, firefighting foam, leather protectors, oil spill dispersants, degreaser applications, photographic strip solutions, whiteboard cleaners, liquid soaps, cosmetics, dry cleaning solutions, lacquers, varnishes, herbicides, latex paints, enamels, printing paste, and varnish removers, and silicone caulk. Products containing this compound are commonly found at construction sites, automobile repair shops, print shops, and facilities that produce sterilizing and cleaning products.[3][5][6] It is the main ingredient of many home, commercial and industrial cleaning solutions. Since it has both a non-polar and a polar end, it is useful for removing both polar and non-polar substances, like grease and oils. It is also approved by the FDA in the United States to be used as direct and indirect food additives, which include antimicrobial agents, defoamers, stabilizers, and adhesives.

Looks like the key to Westley's is the combo of alcohol and this stuff, which is commonly found in other "degreasers" like Mean Green, etc...

             _-_-

[ka4koe]

409 + ammonia is a trick passed on to me by one of the big name restorers. For the really tough spots, I acquisitioned one of K4SMN's dental scraping tools for tough to reach places (used for cleaning teeth) and a roll of paper towels. Any tool used to remove dental plaque and last year's lunch does wonders. Just don't get too crazy or you will scratch things with it.

[WBear2GCR]

Now is that 409 *mixed* with ammonia?

What ratio?

Or 409 *followed* by ammonia?

I am wary of this, and wish a chemist could advise.
I know ammonia + bleach = Phosgene nerve gas!

[ka4koe]

No issues. No bubbling. Phosgene isn't a nerve agent, btw. It blocks O2 transfer in the lungs and is a suffocatiing agent.

Ammonia + bleach is a nasty reaction, regardless...

http://chemistry.about.com/od/toxicchemicals/a/Mixing-Bleach-And-Ammonia.htm

I seem to remember it was Howard Mills who suggested ammonia + 409. You may want to email to confirm. The mix was 50/50.