Found a 1972 Zenith portable color set

[TVTim]

I have to know Doug, how do you clean the insides to make them look showroom new?

[Findm-Keepm]

Dunno what Dooug uses, but we used a canister vac and a soft-bristled brush on sets we serviced. We carried a small 1-gallon wet vac in the service van for service calls. Nowadays, with the air-in-a-can, you could probably take it outside and blow out most dust. A rag moistened with either IPA or naptha will wipe away sticky stuff.

I got caught by my Dad while cleaning the HV area of an Admiral tube color set that belonged to a police officer. We had replaced the boost rectifier and a cap, and I wanted to make the whole area look as good as new - Dad told me not to waste my time, but I finished the job, and the set went back to the cop. We went over to his place a few weeks later to play Atari (they were new then) and Dad told the story of me cleaning the caps in the HV section. The cop, one of the funniest men I've met - gave me the moniker "capacitor cosmetologist" - and it stuck....the cop, now retired, is a missionary to the poor with his wife - really wonderful guy....

[TVTim]

Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm

The cop, one of the funniest men I've met - gave me the moniker "capacitor cosmetologist" - and it stuck....the cop, now retired, is a missionary to the poor with his wife - really wonderful guy....

Thank you too!

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by TVTim

I have to know Doug, how do you clean the insides to make them look showroom new?

Most of the sets were pretty clean, when he gets them.
Look at the homes they come from! Not exactly, the poor section of town!

[drh4683]

The sets coming from a clean non-smoker home is the key. If it's got grey fluffy dust inside, like most sets from clean homes, then they come back looking like new with minimal effort. I use a very small portable electric air compressor regulated down to about 20 PSI so any loose labels don't get torn or blown off. I do that in combination with a soft bristled paint brush throughout the chassis. After that, the tops of tubes are carefully wiped off with a water dampened cloth being careful not to wipe off any of the original markings on the tube. That's about it.