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Old 27th Jun 2005, 6:50 pm   #1
YC-156
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Default Cleaning up moulding wire insulation?

Hello gang,

Well, here is a question I probably wouldn't have ever thought I would have to ask, but here goes:

Does anyone have experience cleaning up wire bundles, where the insulation has grown a nice, thick layer of fungi/mould?

Recently I received what I quite well knew was a near wreck of a set, which has obviously been left in damp surroundings for quite a while. Initially I had expected the set to be a total write off, but closer examination reveals that it might be salvageable. (Transformers not yet hi-pot tested tough...)

But the silk insulated thin hookup wire that the German manufacturers loves so much, has grown a nice coat of ... mould. I will spare the audience the horror of showing a photo of what this looks like. No way around calling it that. My first reaction was that all the wire would have to be replaced, but there is quite a bit of it in this set. Some of the wire is made into nice, complex bundles for easier assembly at the factory.

So I tried soaking a small section of the mould infested wire insulation with denatured alcohol, using a cotton swab. That ought to kill the mould stone cold, and then, after the alcohol had evaporated, it was no problem to clean off most of the residue, revealing a rather fresh looking insulation below. The question now is if anyone have tried something similar, and how the wire insulation stands up to a hi-pot test after a treatment like this.

The set in question is slightly out of the ordinary, and I believe it will be difficult for me to find another one like it. So I'm prepared to go the extra mile to get this nice (though abused) 16 valve set back into working order. It will never be mint again, but I am prepared to settle for less.

Any other common problems worth keeping an eye out for in a set, which has been stored in a damp location? (Veneer case, so no woodworm. ) Not that I will start working on this set in earnest any time soon, but I like to know what I am getting myself into.

Rust is obvious and present to some degree, but I'm mostly worried about the large and complex bank of mechanical switches and the associated switch surfaces, which would be hard to get at.

Frank.
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Old 28th Jun 2005, 12:44 pm   #2
Nigel R
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Default Re: Cleaning up moulding wire insulation?

Hi

How about trying to get access to an ultrasound cleaning tank? I've seen some restoration work (somehwere on the web, can't quite remember where) and the results are amazing. Also seen it used to clean up modern PCBs where SMD capacitors have leaked across the board.

N
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Old 28th Jun 2005, 9:17 pm   #3
Brian R Pateman
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Default Re: Cleaning up moulding wire insulation?

Try a solution of vinegar (white wine is fairly pure) as a mould remover / inhibitor.

I'm not sure that this would work on your wires, although I've used it, with some success, on electronic instruments with very sensitive parts in the past.

I didn't want to use a solvent for fear of damaging the varnish.

I've also used it on varhished cases (and the grout between the tiles in the shower)!


Brian.
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