Thespeakerdude8
Super Member
Make sure you poke slits in it with a butter knife or it might explode.
We need pics of this! Was the entire console under water or did your house flood?
Amplifier Soaking wet
- Thread starter Joe Willis
- Start date
Make sure you poke slits in it with a butter knife or it might explode.
We need pics of this! Was the entire console under water or did your house flood?
Don,
With all due respect. Do you have a dedicated large toaster oven for this purpose. I know some old radio guys use em to re-stuff old potted caps.
I don't think this would leave a very savory scent in a regular oven or home used Toaster oven. Imagine that frozen pizza with a hint of PCB's ???
Or grandma's Thanksgiving Turkey with melted whatever smell.
Must be the female in me speaking. You guys do know why WAF is a issue. Its not always that big ass ugly setup.
Frannie
With all due respect. Do you have a dedicated large toaster oven for this purpose. I know some old radio guys use em to re-stuff old potted caps.
I don't think this would leave a very savory scent in a regular oven or home used Toaster oven. Imagine that frozen pizza with a hint of PCB's ???
Or grandma's Thanksgiving Turkey with melted whatever smell.Must be the female in me speaking. You guys do know why WAF is a issue. Its not always that big ass ugly setup.
Frannie
Joe Willis
Active Member
Make sure you poke slits in it with a butter knife or it might explode.
We need pics of this! Was the entire console under water or did your house flood?
Actually, I threw it out when I was cleaning, then I decided I wanted it again, but it had been out in the garbage can sitting in some water.
TEX-Tech
AKAI Deck Lover
Since it has already been soaking for a week or more...
you have nothing to lose here and if nothing else...
will wind up with a pretty chassis
I have had relatively extensive experience in
rescuing water soaked electronics over the years.
If it were mine and had been soaking in unknown
(or known) dirty water, I would do the following;
Find a basin or tub large enough to hold the unit.
(I used to have a 55 gallon drum which had
been cut-off at about 1 foot deep and the edge rerolled…
nice to work for the government... But, I digress...
a wash tub or one of the various plastic tubs you
can get for cheap at the Home Depot
should work great. You will also need;
1. Dawn dishwashing liquid.
2. Paint brushes, acid brushes,
cotton tipped swabs and anything
else you can think of to help
you scrub (gently)
3. Distilled water
(or better yet deionized water)
Enough to fill your tub twice.
4. Optionally; isopropal alcohol
(Be sure to read the caution below before using)
The best location I have found for doing this
is outdoors… backyard, patio etc. It allows you
to be as sloppy as you want without incurring
the wrath of any dwelling sharers. For the purpose
of this tutorial I will assume you are doing this outside,
if you are using the kitchen sink or a bathtub, modify as needed to
maintain harmony and tranquility.
1. Use a garden hose (or similar) to rinse off the unit.
(don’t blast so hard you remove components) just get
rid of any residue you can see on the unit. (if the
water it has been soaking in was clean, you may be
able to skip this step)(But, if it was truly in a garbage can...
I see oils and salt and other terrible things in my minds eye.
2. Put the unit in the tub with sufficient tap water to
cover it. Add approximately 2-3 drops of Dawn per
gallon of water.(it doesn’t take much and the more
detergent you use here the more difficult and time
consuming the next step will be. I’m going to
repeat this so you don’t think I misspoke …
2 – 3 DROPS of Dawn per Gallon of water!!!
3. Using soft brushes, gently scrub the entire chassis.
You are trying to remove anything that might be conductive
or might attract conductive things.( From experience I can
tell you that, in the long run, insulating oil can be just
as bad as Salt, as the oil can trap and hold
many non-insulating substances) Be gentle here, you don’t
want to rip components out or cause shorts. Once you are
sure you have gotten it clean;
4. Rinse with running water until there is no more sign
of detergent or dirt in your runoff.
Depending on the mineral content in your tap water; you
could declare yourself done at this point…
Personally, I never would.
Virtually all municipal water has been doped with chemicals
of some type. None of these chemicals can be considered
“electron friendly” and some are downright corrosive. So, the next step is;
5. If you haven’t already, dump the soapy water and rinse your
tub. Put the chassis in the tub and pour Distilled/D-Eye
water over the chassis, rinsing away the tap water. You should
be able to get this done with around a gallon or so of Dist/D-eye.
But don’t be stingy, there is no point in doing the work you’ve
already done, just to leave residue behind.
6. At this point you are probably around 99% clean. This is probably
good enough, but; if you want to be sure… the next step is to Dump
the water from your tub, Place the chassis in the tub and cover
with D-eye water, agitate the chassis for around 1 minute. Then
let it soak for around 10 minutes, agitate one more time. You can
then remove the chassis from the water and stand it on edge to drain.
7. Now for the alcohol… and a big caution here… The alcohol can dissolve
paints, lacquers and waxes. This could cause more problems than benefit.
Personally, I would skip this step. But if you think a slightly
accelerated drying time is worth the risk… then fill a spray bottle
with undiluted alcohol and mist the whole chassis until it appears
wet this will mix with the water and speed drying.
8. You can put it in an oven to accelerate drying, but; you need a
commercial style over that you can reliably hold at 100 degrees.
Melting stuff out is a very real danger; wax covered, oil filled
caps will not only loose the wax but also the oil, oil filled cans
with plastic seal could leak, many IF Xfrmrs were made with wax
impregnated wire (well, actually, the insulation was impregnated)
which held the wire in place, overheating could
cause the wire to shift... detuning your IF stages (perhaps to the
point that you can't retune them.
Much easier to just put it in the sun for a couple of days. After
it appears dry do the desiccant/Rice trick mentioned by several
folks. You can seal it in a garbage bag, cardboard box, the tub
you used to wash it in or any other appropriate sized container.
Let sit for three days to a week (or more) (BTW, the idea of
turning it over periodically is a good one.)
9. When you turn it on, use a dim bulb test or a variac and bring
it up slowly stopping at any sign of excess current draw
you have nothing to lose here and if nothing else...
will wind up with a pretty chassis
I have had relatively extensive experience in
rescuing water soaked electronics over the years.
If it were mine and had been soaking in unknown
(or known) dirty water, I would do the following;
Find a basin or tub large enough to hold the unit.
(I used to have a 55 gallon drum which had
been cut-off at about 1 foot deep and the edge rerolled…
nice to work for the government... But, I digress...
a wash tub or one of the various plastic tubs you
can get for cheap at the Home Depot
should work great. You will also need;
1. Dawn dishwashing liquid.
2. Paint brushes, acid brushes,
cotton tipped swabs and anything
else you can think of to help
you scrub (gently)
3. Distilled water
(or better yet deionized water)
Enough to fill your tub twice.
4. Optionally; isopropal alcohol
(Be sure to read the caution below before using)
The best location I have found for doing this
is outdoors… backyard, patio etc. It allows you
to be as sloppy as you want without incurring
the wrath of any dwelling sharers. For the purpose
of this tutorial I will assume you are doing this outside,
if you are using the kitchen sink or a bathtub, modify as needed to
maintain harmony and tranquility.
1. Use a garden hose (or similar) to rinse off the unit.
(don’t blast so hard you remove components) just get
rid of any residue you can see on the unit. (if the
water it has been soaking in was clean, you may be
able to skip this step)(But, if it was truly in a garbage can...
I see oils and salt and other terrible things in my minds eye.
2. Put the unit in the tub with sufficient tap water to
cover it. Add approximately 2-3 drops of Dawn per
gallon of water.(it doesn’t take much and the more
detergent you use here the more difficult and time
consuming the next step will be. I’m going to
repeat this so you don’t think I misspoke …
2 – 3 DROPS of Dawn per Gallon of water!!!
3. Using soft brushes, gently scrub the entire chassis.
You are trying to remove anything that might be conductive
or might attract conductive things.( From experience I can
tell you that, in the long run, insulating oil can be just
as bad as Salt, as the oil can trap and hold
many non-insulating substances) Be gentle here, you don’t
want to rip components out or cause shorts. Once you are
sure you have gotten it clean;
4. Rinse with running water until there is no more sign
of detergent or dirt in your runoff.
Depending on the mineral content in your tap water; you
could declare yourself done at this point…
Personally, I never would.
Virtually all municipal water has been doped with chemicals
of some type. None of these chemicals can be considered
“electron friendly” and some are downright corrosive. So, the next step is;
5. If you haven’t already, dump the soapy water and rinse your
tub. Put the chassis in the tub and pour Distilled/D-Eye
water over the chassis, rinsing away the tap water. You should
be able to get this done with around a gallon or so of Dist/D-eye.
But don’t be stingy, there is no point in doing the work you’ve
already done, just to leave residue behind.
6. At this point you are probably around 99% clean. This is probably
good enough, but; if you want to be sure… the next step is to Dump
the water from your tub, Place the chassis in the tub and cover
with D-eye water, agitate the chassis for around 1 minute. Then
let it soak for around 10 minutes, agitate one more time. You can
then remove the chassis from the water and stand it on edge to drain.
7. Now for the alcohol… and a big caution here… The alcohol can dissolve
paints, lacquers and waxes. This could cause more problems than benefit.
Personally, I would skip this step. But if you think a slightly
accelerated drying time is worth the risk… then fill a spray bottle
with undiluted alcohol and mist the whole chassis until it appears
wet this will mix with the water and speed drying.
8. You can put it in an oven to accelerate drying, but; you need a
commercial style over that you can reliably hold at 100 degrees.
Melting stuff out is a very real danger; wax covered, oil filled
caps will not only loose the wax but also the oil, oil filled cans
with plastic seal could leak, many IF Xfrmrs were made with wax
impregnated wire (well, actually, the insulation was impregnated)
which held the wire in place, overheating could
cause the wire to shift... detuning your IF stages (perhaps to the
point that you can't retune them.
Much easier to just put it in the sun for a couple of days. After
it appears dry do the desiccant/Rice trick mentioned by several
folks. You can seal it in a garbage bag, cardboard box, the tub
you used to wash it in or any other appropriate sized container.
Let sit for three days to a week (or more) (BTW, the idea of
turning it over periodically is a good one.)
9. When you turn it on, use a dim bulb test or a variac and bring
it up slowly stopping at any sign of excess current draw
Last edited:
Joe Willis
Active Member
Thanks Mike, I'm planing on gutting it and rebuilding, so My main concern is the transformers. I will definantly try the dawn in an effort to get some grunge off the chassis.
That's a great detailed description of the cleaning process TEX-tech.
The only comment I would make is that I would not invest in distilled water for the wash cycle, since there is probably more conductive crap on the chassis than there is minerals in the water. Plus, you're rinsing with the hose, so it seems to be a moot point. I would save the distilled for the final, last rinse, the last time water touches it.
I see why you use a very small amount of soap, so as not to get it in the transformer, etc. at high concentrations since it is basically conductive salts. If there is greasy residue anywhere on the chassis, one can always spray that area with heavy duty cleaner (409, etc.) and rinse well.
I like the alcohol rinse idea - it will remove some of the residual water and will evaporate faster than water itself, speeding the overall drying process.
The only comment I would make is that I would not invest in distilled water for the wash cycle, since there is probably more conductive crap on the chassis than there is minerals in the water. Plus, you're rinsing with the hose, so it seems to be a moot point. I would save the distilled for the final, last rinse, the last time water touches it.
I see why you use a very small amount of soap, so as not to get it in the transformer, etc. at high concentrations since it is basically conductive salts. If there is greasy residue anywhere on the chassis, one can always spray that area with heavy duty cleaner (409, etc.) and rinse well.
I like the alcohol rinse idea - it will remove some of the residual water and will evaporate faster than water itself, speeding the overall drying process.
TEX-Tech
AKAI Deck Lover
I meant to say use tap water at that stage... it does now
Also the alkaline soap will to some extent eat the steel and will eat the aluminum. Keep it weak, avoid trouble. 409 or even a stronger mix of Dawn or my personal favorite... Simple Green will all work for spot cleaning. And, you do want to get every bit of oil and grease off.
Yeah, but, be careful. if you get too much down in the tranformers, where it may not evaporate as rapidly, it might wind up with enough time to affect the insulation on the windings.... A long shot, but; why tempt fate.?
(Murphy lives in my backyard.)
Joe Willis
Active Member
Ok Here are some pics
Dave C
Super Member
Dry it out wrong and you might loose that nice "liquid" tube sound.
Joe Willis
Active Member
I think some of the parts are swollen, should have a nice fat sound when I'm done.
So, you carry your tunes in a bucket.
Thespeakerdude8
Super Member
Actually, I threw it out when I was cleaning, then I decided I wanted it again, but it had been out in the garbage can sitting in some water.
:screwy: I'll be sure to look through your trash when you throw out some $100 bills next time
bobbyonions
AK Member
I like TEX-tech's thorough procedure and instructions. The only other thing I could imagine working as a dryer is putting it in a closet with a de-humidifier close to the intake, or maybe hide it in some duct work or the air handler of the HVAC for a week.
TEX-Tech
AKAI Deck Lover
I have to agree. If your not going to clean it right now, I would, at a minimum, take the four bolts out of the corners and remove the end bells on that power xfrmr and allow it to dry out... and I would do that now before you wind up with a small boat anchor (literally).
Joe Willis
Active Member
Ok, Time to turn this into a build thread.
Opened up the power tranie and it is full of potting compound. sealed right up. should be ok.
Here are some more pics.
Removing rust from PTX
de-cruding endbells
Little paint
First coat,
Opened up the power tranie and it is full of potting compound. sealed right up. should be ok.
Here are some more pics.
Removing rust from PTX
de-cruding endbells
Little paint
First coat,
