What are you using for cleaning?

rkic

Active Member
What techniques and what cleaning solutions are you using to clean up the crud and mouse pee on the chassis, the face plate, etc...? and while we're at it what contact cleaner?
 
Takes some experimentation, IME. I usually find some "hidden" area of the chassis, and try Windex and/or isopropyl alcohol, to make sure it doesn't want to start lifting or fading priting or lettering. Once I've determined one or the other is safe, I usually scrub the unit down with an old toothbruch and the cleaner of choice from above.

As for glossy painted surfaces- automotive cleaner/polisher/waxes seem to work great. Sometimes, I'll use Windex or alcohol, immediately followed by wax, on stubborn stuff.

BTW: Don't use Windex on clear plastic faceplates! Alcohol is fine, but Windex (ammonia- based cleaners) will sometimes cloud or dull the plastic!

As for contact cleaner: DeOxit all the way, IMHO.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Be real caredful with any rodent infested gear. Make sure you wear respitory protection as breathing the dust from the droppings can infect you with a deadly virus. I would use a leaf blower on it before anything else.




Fact Sheet Environment, Health and Safety Information for the Berkeley Campus No. 26
Revised 08/15/02

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a potentially fatal viral infection carried principally by deer mice, but also found in other rodents. There have been over 322 known cases of HPS in the United States as of June 2002 with almost 40 percent resulting in death. However, the survival rate is greatly improved when proper diagnosis and medical support are rapidly obtained. The disease is relatively difficult to get and easy to avoid by taking the necessary precautions. In California, many hantavirus cases have occurred in the central Sierra Nevada.


Symptoms of HPS begin to manifest themselves one to five weeks after exposure to the virus. Similar to those of the flu, early symptoms include fatigue, fever, and muscle aches. About half of the HPS patients also experience headaches, dizziness, chills, and/or abdominal problems. Four to ten days after the onset of the early symptoms, the infected person experiences coughing and shortness of breath as the lungs fill with fluid. Without immediate medical attention, the victim may die.
Be sure to tell medical personnel of the patient’s possible exposure to hantavirus so that they can consider it as a possible diagnosis. With proper and immediate medical help, victims can survive the infection, but time and the correct diagnosis are critical.


Deer mice are the primary carriers of the hantavirus that causes HPS. They inhabit wildland areas throughout the United States except in the southeast. Deer mice live in human-occupied buildings when available or when conditions in the wild become difficult. They live side by side with other types of wild mice and are difficult to distinguish from them.
Humans contract the virus by inhaling the feces, urine, or saliva of infected mice after these excretions have dried onto dust particles or become dust themselves. Activities that disturb dust and make it airborne are particularly dangerous, especially near rodent burrows or in enclosed spaces such as seasonal dwellings. People have contracted HPS after sweeping out summer cabins or other infrequently used facilities that the mice have infested.


Since it is difficult to distinguish deer mice from other types of wild mice, you should avoid contact with all rodents. You can prevent exposure to hantavirus by making your workplace or campsite unattractive to rodents:
Plug all access holes on the outside of buildings using steel wool, wire cloth, or other materials that mice cannot penetrate. Check rafters, eaves, and overhangs as well as ground level areas for entry points because mice can get into holes as small as a quarter-inch wide (the diameter of a pencil).

When camping, set up tents and other shelters away from rodent burrows. Carefully control food use and storage to discourage rodent visits to your campsite. Clean up spills and dropped food. Do not keep food in your shelter.
If you discover rodent dropping or dead rodents, use caution. You can prevent exposure to hantavirus by taking these precautions:

Avoid directly handling wild mice, either dead or alive. If you must dispose of a dead mouse, spray the carcass with a solution of one and one-half cups of household bleach per gallon of water before handling. Use rubber gloves, spraying them with bleach when you have finished.

Do not sweep or vacuum up dust if there is any evidence of mouse droppings or other signs of an infestation. Spray the area to be cleaned with bleach solution (1.5 cups bleach to 1 gallon water), then wipe up feces and other larger particles using paper towels soaked in bleach solution. Finally, wet mop the area with bleach solution.


Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer Mouse)
Photograph courtesy of Sevilleta Long-Term
Ecological Research Project, University of New Mexico


For more information about HPS, visit the Centers for Disease Control web site: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/generalinfoindex.htm or contact the Office of Environment, Health & Safety at 642-3073.
 
Gee, you scared the hell out of me Thatch Ear!!!
I hope my Marantz 8B wasn't infested by mice.
I didn't wear any protective gear while restoring it!
 
Well, the nice thing, is that by dousing the unit with ammonia (Windex) or alcohol before scrubbing it, you're probably "disinfecting" it from this kind to thing pretty well. Probably well enough, in most cases.

Sounds like a job for Lysol, anyone?

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I have walked on some pretty nice gear that rodents have got into. It isn't worth the chance, at least not where deer mice are found. I watched a thing on PBS and a healthy man died from sweeping out his cabin in NM.
I am out to scare anyone, just be careful when handling anything that rodents have used for a toilet. I don't want to lose any of my AK buddies over something as simple as not using a dust mask.
Go to the Dollar Store and get masks and gloves to just have around for things like this.
 
There's another neat little nasty you can get fooling around w/mousies: Leptospirosis. I had a friend die from its effects a few years back. He handled a dead rat & that's where they think he got it. Most doctors haven't seen it, & it's frequently mis-diagnosed. -Sandy G.
 
Lately for the faceplate I found out that Tub and Tile cleaner works better than anything else I've tried. Hasn't removed any lettering yet. I've also been trying out some carb cleaner spray to clean pots and the inside, it's only about $1.78 a can and works pretty well. Doesn't leave a residue either. Although maybe a little more toxic to use than some so-called electric cleaner but at nearly $20.00 a can I can just get a fan.
 
If you are going to use automotive produvts you mught want to spray a couple of drops of WD-40 in those pots after you get done with the carborator cleaner. The Gum Out certainly will clean and flush but will also completely strip all the oils from the layer of graphite in the pots and the graphite will quickly rub off leaving you with a useless pot.
 
Yea, I had one that I had to do that with, although I didn't use WD-40 I used contact cleaner with lubricant. It worked quite well after the carb cleaner. One pot I sprayed was so bad just a touch on it caused terrible noise, after the carb cleaner it was just like new.
 
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