1954 Admiral C2226 project

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by Ncotham

One question - is any of that gooie, sticky mess inside these old units toxic or anything like that? Any precautions needed in that area?

Most of the gunk is a combination of stuff floating around the air in a house -- dust, condensed clouds of cooking grease, tobacco tar, etc.

Sometimes you'll find that an old capacitor or transformer has leaked melted wax or oily stuff and dripped underneath. Generally nothing to worry about.

If the chassis metal is covered with a powdery yellow-green layer, that may be cadmium oxide. Cadmium is a heavy metal that you don't want to eat or breathe in as dust. It cleans off pretty easily, but I would wear rubber gloves and avoid licking your hands while cleaning. Don't use a Dremel tool or abrasive material that will turn it to dust and spread it around. Throw used paper towels in the garbage.

I doubt you'll find anything more ominous in that particular model. Isopropyl alcohol cleans up typical household grime without leaving a residue. Naval Jelly is good for surface rust. Avoid steel wool; you don't want thousands of tiny metal hairs all over your radio or TV.

Phil Nelson