Washing your amps

Sillver79

Well-Known Member
I read here that some of you wash the inside of your amps or tuners with (when you prepare to restore) window cleaning products then rinse with water? Of course you have to let it dry very well before attempting to turn on.

Any insights or recommendations? I have a AU-6900 that is nice and I just bought a TU-666 that I will need to give a good cleaning when I get it.

Thanks

Maurice
 
I use a soft brush and compressed air to clean out the equipment I intend to work on.

If really bad I will, after brushing/air, use circuit board cleaner and a different brush to clean up difficult spots. Rub down with a microfibre cloth and she's all new and clean.
 
Vacuum, compressed air and soft brush with isopropyl alcohol works well for general cleaning. I wouldn't use water or windex on anything on the chassis or circuit boards.

- Pete
 
If it's just dirt, then a brush and vacuum (or compressed air) should suffice. But if the unit was in a greasy or smokey environment that crud has glued itself to the board. Glass Plus and a soft paintbrush does a nice job, followed by compressed air to dry it all.
 
If it's just dirt, then a brush and vacuum (or compressed air) should suffice. But if the unit was in a greasy or smokey environment that crud has glued itself to the board. Glass Plus and a soft paintbrush does a nice job, followed by compressed air to dry it all.

Okay now I see, we can use a type of soft brush to get the dust and dirt of, perfect!
 
Back in the day, we routinely used Carbon Tetrachloride to clean the insides of electronic components. Unbelievable cleaning power, but...unbelievable health risks!

Nowdays, I would use an electronic-specific cleaning product.
 
Back in the day, we routinely used Carbon Tetrachloride to clean the insides of electronic components. Unbelievable cleaning power, but...unbelievable health risks!

Nowdays, I would use an electronic-specific cleaning product.


Carbon Tetrachloride = dry cleaning fluid = brake cleaner you can get at any auto parts store :thmbsp:
 
Carbon Tetrachloride = dry cleaning fluid = brake cleaner you can get at any auto parts store :thmbsp:

So you use brake cleaning fluid? Really? Will it harm the components ? I always thought of it as a very harsh product..I'll try it on my new AU-666 that just got.
 
Don't use brake cleaner or automotive products in general. Stick with isopropryl alcohol.

- Pete
 
While I would be the first to agree that keeping audio components clean is a very good thing, my gut feeling is that electronics and liquids, in general, do not mix well.

Having said that, I recognize that there are times when some sort of solvent is the only way to make a component or parts of the component clean. I'd want to use a product specifically designed for cleaning electronics, and I'd also be careful about how much I used, and just where I put the solvent. For example, I'd be wary of getting liquid inside a transformer, or a meter.

Auto brake cleaner aerosols spray out a fairly generous amount of liquid, with a stream that is somewhat hard to control. For this reason, I'd not use it on my own gear.
 
Whoever does a cleaning job on electronic equipment using whatever means to clean and dislodge dirt, is supposed to know where to use it, and not spray various amounts of whatever everywhere. If someone sprays anything in a meter then he can't blame the spray for messing up the meters plastic. We are talking of cleaning pcb's here , so some caution is required.
 
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Compressed air (use a compressor) without a water trap, causes some condensation to form. It is not much and it requires a closed room and some time to form. That is all the "water" needed to clean up really dirty units.

First step can be an outdoor cleaning with compressed air and a tight nozzle. All dust, fibres, whatever, is better blown outside rather than your workshop. A paintbrush (or an assortment of 2-3 brushes) to focus on specific hard points helps a lot.

Second step, focus on the bench and blow piece by piece. Care should be exercised not to blow things into tuning capacitors (wide blade clearance allows debris to get trapped inside). Condensation helps to "wet" really dirty spots and clean them up with the air. A thin paintbrush can be useful here as well.

Step three, optional and on occasion, depending on equipment configuration: Add on boards can be removed to be cleaned individually for best effect.

Last resort: washing: Years ago I received a Revox PR99 unit. It operated more or less but had issues with the brakes and noise in pots and switches sometimes didn't engage. It was stripped down to pieces (the build of the unit allows for that) and the main PCB (a passive PCB with traces but no components) was brushed with dishwasher detergent in the sink repeatedly so that tar and nicotine would be removed. I also washed the individual pcbs that included even relays. Under the sink, using a paintprush and a toothbrush.

After washing and rinsing with tap water, I rinsed the pcbs with isopropyl alcohol to help remove water and salts. Following that, they were air dried in the oven at 40C/100F for an hour or so. Checked on them from time to time with the compressed air. If any liquid was blown out, they needed more baking.

I would, however, never attempt to put an entire unit in the sink and wash it. Too many things uncontrolled and too many possible locations water should not go without control.

Contact cleaner should only be sprayed under control to the correct points only. Revox switches can be disassembled and cleaned individually. Fixed switches, if on a switch block, could be cleaned in an ultrasonic bath or you can spray contact cleaner through any holes on them but it's hit and miss no matter how much cleaner you waste. And these cleaners are not good to inhale so pay attention.
 
So after all consideration , I did not wash my TU-666 tuner in water I disassembled and cleaned with contact cleaner using brushes and air compressor. I did wash the front plate and the knobs in the sink they came out really nice.

Before



After

 
If you run into some really cruddy stuff, CRC makes an electric component cleaner that is safe and won't harm your electric gear.
 
Thanks that was a very informative thread.

I will admit that I have a hard time dunking Printed circuit boards in water but the truth is I think that is what the manufacturers did when the PCB's were manufactured. Just make sure they are thoroughly dry.
 
I will admit that I have a hard time dunking Printed circuit boards in water but the truth is I think that is what the manufacturers did when the PCB's were manufactured. Just make sure they are thoroughly dry.

by the way where did you get those supports for your earphones? i looking for a pair like that....
 
by the way where did you get those supports for your earphones? i looking for a pair like that....

I don't own them or even rent them. I found the pic on the interweb and it sort of tickled my funny bone (no pun intended).

My last wife was a blonde and I did pay for a pair. They were more fun than a restored Camaro. Tried to get them back in the divorce settlement. Lost that one. Someone else is doing the brrrrimpski now.
 
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