A product warning to all ham operators

The "Good Ole Daze", LOL!

Wow!

Does that bring back memories, LOL! Back in the 50's, I used Energine Cleaning Fluid, just once. It left a film on the inside of a variable resistor, never to work again. I forget the company's name, but for years we used SprayKleen, in the yellow can. It worked well for pots and TV turret tuners with phenolic strips. When the plastic strips came out, then that would melt the plastic. I can't think of the main ingredient in it, but it was banned.

When cleaning relay contacts, we used to use a folded dollar bill. The cloth is fine woven and will remove crud quite effectively. But, nowadays with electronic tuning and electronic switching there is no need for that.

I'd love to have a warehouse full of old, NOS stuff just to build things with. But, it's way too expensive and my champagne taste cannot be afforded with my water pocket book. The smell of Kester 60/40 solder wafting though my nostrils again, the feel of a 2 watt 470 ohm Ohmite resistor or a .27 mfd Sprague capacitor. The thrill of turning a James Millen vernier dial.........

Respectfully,
73,

Don/KA5LQJ

 

Cleaner

If you can find it Naptha should work to clean it all out. We used this at the Boeing company to clean all kinds of electronic contacts, switches, solder rosin etc.

 

Zippo Fluid (ie Aliphatic Naptha). Works great for everything from taking permanent marker off from a truck's paint job (damn hoodlums) to taking carbon off from a gun's chamber.

If you can't stomach the smell, Satan's Springwater or Everclear. It's medical grade alcholol(90-95%) and will take anything off from metal

I think you should keep the Naptha to a minimum on plastics. Never ruined anything but I remember discoloring a plastics case.