The AM Forum

HI AGAIN FROM TIM..QUESTION:WHAT DO YOU USE TO RID THESE OLD RIGS OF NICOTINE?..SEEMS TO THAT THE RIGS THAT SHOW THIS THE WORST ARE RIGS WITH HEATHKIT LIGHT GREEN,AND OLDER YAESU RIGS..I'VE TRIED WINDEX,FANTASTIK,ETC,AND THEY DO WORK,BUT WHAT MIGHT YOU USE THAT REALLY DOES A GOOD JOB?..
  THANKS...TIM...SK...

Tim,

Try using an alcohol soaked rag and a toothbrush to work on that layer - ought to clean it up nicely.  <grin> In fact, I'll suggest a Guiness for you and some Target brand for the rag...

Westley's Bleche-White whitewall cleaner INSTANTLY removes nicotine.  On a cabinet or something that doesn't have silk screeening on it, take the cabinet into the shower or outside with a hose, wet it down, then spray with the Westley's.  Go at it with a stiff toothbrush then rinse well.  The crap will dissolve like magic.

On front panels, you need to make sure the westley's won't attack the lettering.  I have had no problem with 95% of the front panels I've dont but every once in a while it'll attack the lettering.  Wet down the panel, wet down a rag with westley's, and go at it.  If its a wrinkle front panel, go at it with a toothbrush but be gentle around the lettering.

Good luck!

73 John

I know no one here would do this, but when I was a 14 year old JN, I once cleaned up an HT-37 with regular household "409" spray cleaner.

Somewhere out there is a  Hallicrafters HT-37 with a melted plasdick panel meter...  :(

[The CIE home study course never warned about it!]

T

Never ever had Westley's melt anything plastic.  I wouldn't use it on dials, etc., nor on bakelite knobs as it'll take the sheen right off.  Cleans the ham grunge out of plastic knobs FB tho'.

Maybe you weren't wearing your coat and tie when you cleaned that HT-37, T???

I've never tried it but heard from reliable sources that GO JO hand cleaner works well.  The type without pumice......

The "ZM douche" works extremely well.
4 parts water 1 part ammonia, use a paint brush and liberally clean everything. Afterwards, use a garden hose to Power jet clean everything off. Let stand dry for about 2 weeks, and replace ALL paper caps.
Many people don't like the aggresive approach, but it leaves evrything shiny and new, inclucing inside the chassis.

409 is also a great motor cleaner Tom Vu. Works much better than gunk

I've used the ZM method with a hopelessly filthy SX-73 that was apparently stored outside for some years.  I removed the dial and mechanizm, meter, etc., sprayed it with Bleche-white and got what I could with a toothbrush and took it to a carwash and power douched it.  Afterwards I blasted it dry with an air compresser, took the tooning cap apart and re-did the ball bearings (4 of them in this radio), and greased pot and switch bearings.  Turned out rather well but removed the lettering from the chassis (half was gone already anyway).

I have also used the 409, garden hose, air compressor cleaning method to great success. Also works good on TV sets. TVs are even better smoke eaters that ham rigs, amazing how much gunk accumulates, witness the brown stream running down the driveway when cleaning. Glad it is not my lungs

I've always had really good luck with Dow bathroom cleaner (the "Scrubbing Bubbles" stuff). Even takes nicotine off vinyl wallpaper. I once cleaned a whole trailer that way, just sprayed a bead along the top of the walls and let it splooge it's way to the bottom, never looked cleaner!

--Thom
Kraft Advertisement One Zesty Grated Cheese

You've really ruined my day.  As a teenager, I worked in a TV shop.  Fond memories (NOT!)  When I got my driver's license, I got to go out on house calls.  I remember all too well the years of dust and nicotine baked onto everything, sometimes completely covering the tubes (good for cooling!) Then likely as not when you dug into the dust the roaches came scurrying around.

Yeah, thanks for the memory!

A few years ago I brought home a HQ-140XA. Nice shape but very brown. At that time SImple Green was "the" cleaner to use. After many hours of scrubbing with this stuff it still looked bad.

A suggestion from a friend took me to a 50/50 mix of 409 and clear ammonia. I put it on the same area's that I had labored on already and the nico just rolled right off. Make sure that you rinse real good as you should with all of these cleaners.

The drawback is that Heathkit cabinet paint (flat sheen) seemed to melt with this mix so avoid this route.  :o


Since then I have used it on Collins and Hallicrafters with no problem.

Anytime you put anything on your cherished radio you should do a test in a far off never seen location.

I have had good luck with just the "Blue Stuff" Auto Windshield washer liquid. Put some in a spray bottle & go at the work with some tooth brushes. Cleaned up my VERY dirty (Looked like it had been in a fire) valiant chassis. Just rinsed with a little water & blew out the chassis with air. If you are really desperate remove the plastic & run the thing through the diswasher. Set your oven on as low as it will go and dry the radio for an hour or so after the douch job.
Keith

Just got an Apache with EXTREME BROWN.

The front panel was removed.

I hit the chassis with Mean Green (an alkaline cleaner) sold in Mall Wart and Familly Dollar stores, that took off most of the EXTREME BROWN. The rest was removed with some spray (ohmigod!) oven cleaner. That took off the carp from the ceramic too... didn't let it sit long. Hose downs between dousings... finish with brand X version of "Febreze" which kills the remaining residual smell, rinse.

The front panel was nearly impossible.  Nothing seemed to touch it.

Didn't try the Dow, the GoJo, the Westlley's or the Ammonia... didn't have them on hand.
Did try the Mean Green, real Alcohol, Orange cleaner, automotive cleaner/polish(es), and "Formula 88" a monobutylether cleaner - nil effect. Considered MEK and Lacquer Thinner, but passed on them.

Then a plastic bottle of Suntan lotion of the generic variety accidentally fell off a shelf and onto my scanner, where it depositied a clear, greasy looking blob on the plastic cover... where it sat overnight. I tried to clean it with Mean Green, which usually disolves oily and greasy things, almost no effect! After rubbing it off with paper towels, I discovered that it had eaten some of the plastic!

Using infinite ham wisdom I decided to test the remaining clear goo from the suntan lotion bottle on an "inconspicuous" area of the panel... let a small area sit for a while. Then I gently rubbed it with a soft cotton thingie - HEY! That looks cleaner! And, the paint isn't coming off!

I coated the panel with the remnants, let it sit for about 3-4 hours, wiped off, finished with some Alcohol, and viola! Virtually clean!!   ;D

Wazzup wit dat?

What's in that "suntan lotion"??    ::)
I sure as heck don't want that on my skin!!  :-*
Wierd.

But the panel is pretty darn clean, and the silkcreening is still there.

        _-_-WBear2GCR

BUG DOPE....(mosquito repellent) The aerosol variety..Cutters,etc... Removes Felt marker, nicotine, crayon, paint, skin,fingernails,.....Be careful...

Bear,
     What SPF do you prefer???





           

This was SPF 45...

 Makes me think of Repo Man (the movie)...

           :P

                 _-_-bear

My doc gave me a bottle of "OMBRELLE" SPF30... its got oxybenzone in it... I wonder if the oxy part clears away the grime....  lots of this junk has a  volitile vehicle.. maybee this is what cleans of the grime..... Diesel fuel will take it off( the grime) I've used wd-40 to clear away stickers, gums etc....  maybe try this stuff...  a carwash may help.... try the no touch wash accross from Crossroads Ford....   klc

astroglyde works wonders..

ooops wrong forum

wrong chassis



klc

Windex ... I will not use anything else.

Some alcohol's, any petroleum based products, Formula 409, Fantastik all will either soften or remove paints. Nicotine (actually tar) has two types of solubility. The primary component is water soluble, while the others are lipid based. Windex takes care of both of these and leaves very little residue (especially if wiped down with water after) and doesn't remove paints or damage plastics. It will break down water soluble adhesives though. So be careful with some types of panel lettering.

If the cigarette products have worked its way into the paint, you're pretty much out of luck unless you remove a thin layer of the paint surface that has been permeated by the tar and other by-products of smoke. The paint used by Heath was very very prone to this condition.

I have been restoring vintage analog musical keyboards since I was kid and this has always been a topic discussion in that area. Windex seems to be the fluid of choice in that area.

The main trick is to make sure you apply the Windex directly to the surface, versus spraying it on the rag. It seems that the Windex losses some potency on the rag since it probably attacks the rags own carbohydrates. Just make sure (duh) the gear isn't plugged in, and that you give it adequate time to dry. Also make sure you avoid any lubricated parts, of course.

John
W2WDX

What is the long term effect of ammonia, do you know?

Jim ... honestly, no I don't. Are there any? I haven't observed any, but that doesn't mean anything.

John

I don't know either and hoped someone here had seen effects after a period of time.  I know vinegar can be corrosive as amonnia can be.  I suppose if it is rinsed very well to remove all residue then it should be ok. 

I just wonder if it will soak into the paint.

I've been using Windex on all my equipment boxes since the beginning of time. I haven't keeled over yet nor has any of the equipment paint fallen off. I also use Windex on all my external computer hardware. Spray, wipe, and move to the next piece of equipment. I don't rinse anything. Also, great for cleaning bird crap off the cars.

smoking tobacco is one of the worst addictions there is. I wish they would make it illegal to sell it ready-to-smoke, or entirely..

spoken as one who has tried many times to quit..

I can think of several that might be considered worst. And, various types of addictions pervade the amateur radio society.

Actually smokers are  less likely to suffer from dementia according to hushed up studies.  At least that is what I read in a report a couple of years ago that I can't find now anywhere.

Yup .... they don't tend to live long enuff to get it (dementia, that is) ... the price of tobacco is gettin high enuff to attract organized crime .... my pop called his ciggies 'weed' ...took him 60 years to be able to quit ....lived for about 10 more ... that was 20 years ago ....I still miss him ...73 ...John

My old man smoked every form of tobacco there was (I think). He still ended up with dementia, although he didn't begin to go down hill until after he quit smoking and drinking (cold turkey!)  after he retired on his doctors orders.

I used to smoke (pilfered some of the old mans cigars one day, man my younger brother and I got SICK off of those El Productos!)  I guess it was still prevelent in the army back when I first joined too.  Took a long time to get off those death sticks, and damn they still smell good sometimes...


My old man would KNOW when I had been out carousing the night before. He'd get me outta bed, make a batch of runny eggs "for breaksfast", and while I was sitting at the table, he'd light up a stogie and begin to interigate me about the previous nights activities.   Wasn't long before I'd be the same color as green linoleum flooring and would spill my guts... both ways.

The wife is a pastel artist and sells framed paintings which are nothing more than colorful chalk on paper.  I told her about the discussion of cleaning nicotine and she gave me a different approach.

She says that Windex is not all it is cracked up to be.  She started using equal parts of water, alcohol and vinegar.  This cleans smudges, dirt, nicotine and everything else and does not ruin paint, provided it is not latex paint.  She has tried everything in the book including the aerosol cleaner for polycarbonate.  The mixture makes the glass shine like new.

The good thing about the alcohol is it displaces and absorbs water.

Plain amonia, rite out of the bottle.  Nothing works better.  Rinse if you want. 

Mike