birchoak
Hi-Fi Nut
I am no tech but I do love working on vintage hi-fi. The more we do something, the more we alter our tools/work environment (I do, anyway). I thought I'd share a few things I do, with the caveat that I am not a trained tech and do not pretend to be. Use my ideas at your own risk.
Firstly, to help dig old crud off the backs of PCB boards I sharpen the end of my wooden artist's brush in a regular pencil sharpener. I figure the wood is pretty soft, I can get a nice, sharp tip to get in between narrow joints, and it can be re-sharpened as needed. I also use that tip to apply dabs of flux to solder joints. In a pinch, I can whittle the tip a bit and use it as a non-conductive trimmer tool (after sharpening it again to get flux off--make sure it's dry, of course). I seem to always have the artist's brush nearby to rinse solder joints with acetone, so it made sense to me to do something with the other end of it.
Don't want to take that board out to work on (because there are 32 tension-wrap connections on it) it but fret about the mess? Get it as far out of the chassis as you safely can without stressing any wires/connections/etc., zip-tie it to something on the chassis so it doesn't try to slip out of position, and put clean shop towels under it. If you're spraying cleaner, etc. on the board, change out the towels as they get wet--don't leave a saturated towel in place.
Work area: man, it took me a while to upgrade this. I now work on a 4x8' sheet of 3/4" melamine, with a 4x4 screwed to the top of the back edge so nothing can skid off. Plenty of LED shop lights. If I lay an old bath mat down first (a pretty big one), the receiver is well cushioned and if a part jumps it doesn't seem to travel far. I can spray cleaners, etc. and the bath mat absorbs it. In a pinch, I can jot notes directly on the melamine and clean it off later.
Really, really dirty pcb boards? Try an old electric toothbrush. You can even buy fresh heads if you're in super OCD mode. Whatever you're cleaning with, you can float the scum off with Windex, tilting the board so it runs onto your clean towel (I don't use paper towels; only 100% cotton). You can lightly "rinse" any Windex residue off with distilled water in a spray bottle, but frankly, Windex seems to leave very little trace of itself. NOTE: clean boards at your own risk! Some people will say, "For the love of God, do not touch or mess with anything that you don't have to!" and they're probably right. It's been working that way for 40 years, right? But sometimes I can't see what's what when I'm resoldering because the board is so unbelievably dirty with old flux, grease, dust, etc. that I just go ahead and clean it, knowing that I could also ruin the board if I'm not careful.
Do you have any tricks to share? Horrified at anything I've suggested? Chime in/scold away as needed! We're all here to learn and share.
Firstly, to help dig old crud off the backs of PCB boards I sharpen the end of my wooden artist's brush in a regular pencil sharpener. I figure the wood is pretty soft, I can get a nice, sharp tip to get in between narrow joints, and it can be re-sharpened as needed. I also use that tip to apply dabs of flux to solder joints. In a pinch, I can whittle the tip a bit and use it as a non-conductive trimmer tool (after sharpening it again to get flux off--make sure it's dry, of course). I seem to always have the artist's brush nearby to rinse solder joints with acetone, so it made sense to me to do something with the other end of it.
Don't want to take that board out to work on (because there are 32 tension-wrap connections on it) it but fret about the mess? Get it as far out of the chassis as you safely can without stressing any wires/connections/etc., zip-tie it to something on the chassis so it doesn't try to slip out of position, and put clean shop towels under it. If you're spraying cleaner, etc. on the board, change out the towels as they get wet--don't leave a saturated towel in place.
Work area: man, it took me a while to upgrade this. I now work on a 4x8' sheet of 3/4" melamine, with a 4x4 screwed to the top of the back edge so nothing can skid off. Plenty of LED shop lights. If I lay an old bath mat down first (a pretty big one), the receiver is well cushioned and if a part jumps it doesn't seem to travel far. I can spray cleaners, etc. and the bath mat absorbs it. In a pinch, I can jot notes directly on the melamine and clean it off later.
Really, really dirty pcb boards? Try an old electric toothbrush. You can even buy fresh heads if you're in super OCD mode. Whatever you're cleaning with, you can float the scum off with Windex, tilting the board so it runs onto your clean towel (I don't use paper towels; only 100% cotton). You can lightly "rinse" any Windex residue off with distilled water in a spray bottle, but frankly, Windex seems to leave very little trace of itself. NOTE: clean boards at your own risk! Some people will say, "For the love of God, do not touch or mess with anything that you don't have to!" and they're probably right. It's been working that way for 40 years, right? But sometimes I can't see what's what when I'm resoldering because the board is so unbelievably dirty with old flux, grease, dust, etc. that I just go ahead and clean it, knowing that I could also ruin the board if I'm not careful.
Do you have any tricks to share? Horrified at anything I've suggested? Chime in/scold away as needed! We're all here to learn and share.