Peter...I am looking to clean the inside of a radio I just picked up at
a hamfest. This thing looked like it was rolled around in tar. I
managed to get the outside nice and clean with windex and simple green,
amazing.... there was a real nice radio under all that crud!
Now, the inside I managed to blow some stuff away but there is still a
muddy, gummy film that I would like to get off, everytime I fire this
rig up with the heat of the tubes my basement stinks like an ash tray
and I want to stay away from the soap and water wash if possible.

Thanks...Gil





You know, years ago I was a heavy smoker. I NEVER achieved any
degree of buildup in my radios, most of which I still own. Some
Windex would remove whatever buildup occured on the outside
of the boxes at the time. I wonder what the hell these guys were
doing to achieve that level of contamination!

Gil, try a cloth dampened in Windex, that should help.


Peter

Now, the inside I managed to blow some stuff away but there is still a
muddy, gummy film that I would like to get off, everytime I fire this
rig up with the heat of the tubes my basement stinks like an ash tray
and I want to stay away from the soap and water wash if possible.

I have used rubbing alcohol and a soft toothbrush under a chassis a couple
of times. I'm with you in not wanting to get things too wet, but the alcohol
evaporates quickly and doesn't seem to harm anything.

I'm not sure if it will work, though, depending on what sort of goo you
have. I think the worst radios come from a house where there was a lot of
smoke plus a lot of greasy cooking and poor ventilation. Smoke alone
couldn't create the greasy layers that I've seen on some radios. The last
SX-28 that I did smelled very strongly of cigar or pipe smoke but was not
greasy. Anyhow, I kept cleaning and cleaning as I was restoring it, and the
smell eventually went away.

Regards,

Phil Nelson