How to Clean Chassis/Boards
 

What is the recommended best practice for cleaning grime, dirt, etc., from a chassis and/or boards?

My PortaColor has a lot of grimy dust/lint throughout, and it seems to me that that the first step for restoration should be to get it thoroughly cleaned up. Because it is such close-quarters inside, it seems that it would be tricky to do.

Thanks!

Not a big fan of cleaning. Better to diagnose 1st then fix whats needed. This way you do not introduce problems that take a working set (or push over) and turn it into a tough dog.

If I feel the need to clean to ID parts or just want to (against my above statement), I use a very soft brush (girl makeup brush works well) and LIGHTLY dust with a vacuum hose near by to suck up the dislodged dust. That's it, I may gently wipe down wires that have sticky goo on them but only if I need to work on a part that they go to.

PC are very basic sets, not a lot to go wrong besides tubes and controls. Mostly disc caps and being tube based, tolerant of wide variances in part values.

on sets that have markings on the pcb, I will use cotton swaps soaked with a cleaning solution to wipe the pcb clean. takes time but can be done with extreme care. you dont want to break wires or parts from aggressive cleaning.

Well, usually I take a soft paint brush and shop vacuum, gently brushing the dust with the vacuum hose next to it. Another trick is to take the set out, like to your garage or outside, take the blower on your shop vacuum and blow it out and watch the dust fly. Do it inside and you will have dust and lint everywhere. Then there is Windex (or the like) to polish up the tubes, and CRT being careful not to scrub off the aquadag conductive coating. Clean the tube sockets, controls, tuner, etc, with tuner cleaner or another type of electronic cleaner. I have been using CRC electronic contact cleaner usually available at auto parts stores. Also MCM electronics has lots of cleaning chemicals. I wouldn't suggest using compressed air, it probably would be to powerful and cause damage to components.

Ammonia-free glass cleaner (like Glass Plus.) Soak it down. Flush with contact cleaner, let bake in the sun all day. Heat lamp if you have one. Spray down with silicone lubricant spray for that brandy-new look.

I used to refurbish video poker monitors and this is how we'd clean the boards... in many cases they were operated 24/7 for years at a time inside a smokey casino before they came in, and would have this odd brown 'hair' that would grow (especially around flyback and ultor) on it that we called Bear Hair which was some combination of dust and cigarette smoke/tar.

I have done the simple green and water soak to a few nicotine gunked chassis and the best tip I could give would be to take steps to keep the water out of the IF cans by putting a small piece of duct tape over the top and bottom holes :thmbsp:

I always like to blow out what loose dirt/dust there is first before anything else using low pressure air of course and assorted brushes if need be. As for anything beyond that I treat on a case by case basis, and good suggestions are mentioned here. Although I agree with DaveWM just clean enough so you can troubleshoot.

As an aside, I've worked on quite a few vintage Fender guitar amps and there was no way to even touch 'em without getting your fingers all sticky from the nicotine residue besides the reeking smell. For nasty covered metal chassis's a good bug and tar remover will work wonders. As with any solvent use outdoors and nitrile gloves are handy too.

We used to have to take measures to keep liquid out of the focus and screen pots on the flybacks, too... sealed the pots with liquid electrical tape... but not an issue on an older chassis.

Justin,

Not questioning the "ammonia-free" recommendation, but wondering the reasoning behind it. Does the ammonia cause a known problem?

I'm primarily into 40's TVs, but my goal has always been to clean quickly and then get the moisture out of the set. My experience is that ammonia speeds the work. I may have just been lucky, but so far no apparent harm has happened.

James

A vacuum, old toothbrush, rag and a slightly stiff paint brush generally work well for dusty sets.

Chris

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