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Tarnished?

Rush2112

Rush2112

It's a Pioneer...Dude
Is there anything I can do about the shiny buttons on my old pioneer stuff? My Sx-3700, CT-F550 deck and my equalizer all the buttons are all coated looking. I know that they used to be shiny back in the day, is there anything I can do about it?
 
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Coated looking? What do you mean? Can you take a pic or two? They might just need to be cleaned...great username BTW!
 
Thanks Rush is one of my fav bands. Anyways, I can take my finger nail and like scratch a little off. Where can I find new buttons?
 
Rush2112 said:
Thanks Rush is one of my fav bands. Anyways, I can take my finger nail and like scratch a little off. Where can I find new buttons?
Click to expand...

Probably your best bets are to look for a parts unit that you can get the knobs from or try ebay. You can also place a wanted ad here in the AK Classifieds. If you dig a little you will find what you need.
 
I wish I could just clean em cause I hate raping other systems for parts. I dont know when Im gonna see another CT-F550 tape deck. I havent seen another one for sale. Time to start hitting the goodwills again...
 
Have you tried cleaning them with anything? Start with T-shirt type cotton rag wrapped around a finger or 2 or Q-tips and Windex, 409, Simple Green.
That takes of nicotine pretty well. I think they were clear caoted, and if the coating is gone, it could be oxidation showing. I would stay away from anything abrasive as it will remove the clear coat. Soft scrub at the worst.
 
If you use Simple Green, Greased Lightning, or the like, make sure it's well diluted. Used full strenght, that stuff will discolor the aluminum. I speak from experience. I tend to stick with 409 for cleaning knobs and such.
 
Try soaking them in Coke. I used it to clean up the parts on a 1950's Coleman lamp I rebuilt. Worked like a charm.
 
I would suggest the simple green as well, or some kind of non abrasive metal cleaner/polish?

Oh, and I echo Broons great user name comment! I of course am a Rush fan as well, and a fan of vintage Pio equipment too. :thmbsp:

Good luck! Nothing like a shiny Pio pumping out the Rush tunes! :yes:
 
Coke and Pepsi were used effectively during WW II to polish brass buttons. I have found that a polish called Noxon 7 works quite well, but I start with Joy and hot water.
 
Use a mild detergent like dish soap to go over everything first, then use a metal polish like Mothers or Bluemagic. It's best to take everything apart as it's hard to keep the metal polish out of the cracks and holes. A toothbrush or old cotton t-shirt to apply the polish works great for getting tar, nicotine and dirt off old equipment. I like to dilute the blue magic some with water also so it doesn't dry out when you are applying it. Once you get all the gunk off, wash it off under running water with some dish detergent and then go back over it with another old shirt and buff everything out. With a little elbow gease, you will be surprised at the results. I've had a couple pieces that I thought there was no hope for because it looked like the knobs were starting to get pitted and this really does the trick to bring them back. Actually chrome under all the gunk!!
 
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Well.... I got ,ixed results using just cleaner. I just took an old scanky t-shirt and lysol cleaner. The knobs came off very clean and shiny, and the face looked okay, but I had to keep going over the same areas becuase it looks crappy if you let it dry. The buttons on the SX-3700 and the CT-F550 didnt change... they still have that green look to them. I think the polish will help the face look better.
 
I've found using a toothbrush to scrud the knobs helps and gets into recesses well. I also use Meiguar's colour restorer polish. Seems to take off surface films.
 
After reading this thread yesterday I decided I would clean my ct-f1250 since I had it tore apart for repairs. I didn't take a full before shot but took a quick pic of one of the small buttons on the display panel to show how bad some of the buttons on this looked. I disassembled everything and polished all the buttons, knobs and the faceplate. Overall it didn't look too bad before but the after pics will show you how well the bluemagic polish works with a little bit of elbow grease!:yes:

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