Dismantling Evo-stik'd parts

[stevehertz]

I've ordered some Evostik cleaner and that'll be my last throw of the dice wrt solvents. If that doesn't work I WILL be spraying the surround in situ as described above. Too much to risk wrt damaging the plastic parts. If they get damaged it's game over. After all, it's them (the surround) that I'm trying to renovate!

[Boater Sam]

I would suspect that this is not Evo-stick but the horrible brown glue that the appliance trade used in the past to stick seals and hoses on washing machines. I can't remember the trade name but it was very tenacious. Sets to a hard brown lump which is a bit brittle, we had to chisel it off.

[stevehertz]

No this is kinda hard yet rubbery, but it doesn't come off with petrol, IPA, Servisol label remover that sort of thing. Let's see what happens with the Evostik cleaner. I'll report back.

[Goldie99]

Whatever you do Steve - work only on a small 'out of sight' area.

The Evostik cleaner also contains Acetone (10 - 30%), so I'd advise caution especially around the clear / transparent parts.

[stevehertz]

That's my worry. The whole point of this, the end goal, is to refurbish (respray) the plastic dial surround. If that gets damaged or the plexiglass dial cover, it's game over, I'd have been better leaving the former with those white bare patches where the silver has been rubbed off.

[Andrew2]

As Sean says, hot water may work without the worry of chemical damage or staining. I had a VFO module that had been liberally doused with Evostik-type gunk and I needed to remove it to carry out a repair. Picking at it with tweezers would have taken all year, so I decided on hot water to soften it. It worked, and after about 20 minutes in a hot water bath the glue was easy to remove.

[llama]

The most vicious cleaner I've used is cellulose thinners. It cleaned years of nicotine stain off a metal electric radiator. However, it may well damage plastic parts. As others say, try on a hidden area if possible.
Graham

[dseymo1]

Might it just be easier to mask the areas that you don't want to paint? A bit fiddly, admittedly, but perhaps quicker and more certain in the end.

[stevehertz]

I guess you must have skipped a few posts, as I described in some detail that that was what I'll be doing after one more try to dissolve the glue with Evostik cleaner.

[sp10mk11]

I always try heat from a hair dryer at first and gently prising the item apart, using petrol based solvents can create other problems with printing and some plastics.
Gary

[stevehertz]

This is a big, long assembly and there are lots of other components mounted in close proximity to the dial surround. Also, there's the screened legends on the front of the panel to worry about - hot water could, just could fetch those off. That too would be a disaster. So dunking it in hot water is out. In which case you're left with trying to apply hot water locally in a limited fashion with cotton buds? The water will lose its heat too quickly, it'd be like using warm water to try and unlock the parts.

[Billy T]

Here in the Antipodes we have a product called Des-Solv-It, which is a citrus-based cleaner that can dissolve all sorts of adhesives (other than epoxy) and is a safe and non-harmful all-round solution to a lot of sticky problems.

You'll never guess where it comes from:

PRODUCT NAME
De Solv It ® All Purpose Cleaner
Mykal Industries Ltd
SUPPLIER
Farnsworth House, Morris Close,
Park Farm Industrial Estate,
Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 6XF
Tel, 0044(0)1933 402822
Fax, 0044(0)1933 402488
e-mail, enquiries@mykal.co.uk
PRODUCT NO.
01014, 01015
INTERNAL ID
APC
APPLICATION
Cleaning agent
CONTAINER SIZE
1 Litre to 5 Litre

You may need a degree of patience as it can take a while to work its wonders, but it is usually worth the wait.

Cheers

Billy

[stevehertz]

Thanks Billy. My Evostik cleaner is ordered and should be delivered soon, so that's my next effort.

[Bazz4CQJ]

Originally Posted by Billy T

Here in the Antipodes we have a product called Des-Solv-It, which is a citrus-based cleaner that can dissolve all sorts of adhesives (other than epoxy) and is a safe and non-harmful all-round solution to a lot of sticky problems.

The only comment to make about those citrus-based solvents is they DO stink!
Harmless, but powerful. Use it in a shed a the bottom of the garden.

B

[stevehertz]

Like I've already said, the orange smelling Servisol label remover does not work on this stuff. I believe that the citrus smell introduced to these substances is there merely to hide the fact that are basically lighter fluid. That's my hunch anyway.

[Bazz4CQJ]

No, the citrus-smelling solvents are based on compounds known as terpenes, and they really are damn good solvents. They were really hot stuff back in the mid-90's when the CFC's had been banned, but the smell was just too powerful and they got pushed to one side.

Gentle solvents, paraffin, the orange stuff etc., can take a while to work, days sometimes. If it where mine I would leave it in paraffin for a week.

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by merlinmaxwell

Gentle solvents, paraffin, the orange stuff etc., can take a while to work, days sometimes. If it where mine I would leave it in paraffin for a week.

Food for thought.. Not easy as the area has to isolated from other components fixed in the same manner. Can be dammed I suppose.

[wireless_john]

I have a wooden radio that had an electrolytic capacitor glued to the base with Evo Stick. The capacitor just pulled away fairly easily and I brushed the remaining glue with a toothbrush that had been dipped in white spirit.

It softened it in a few minutes and was then quite easy to peel off. If that doesn't work for you then it does sound as if your problem isn't Evo Stik even though it looks like it.

John

[WME_bill]

Removing old glues. Old Fashioned Nitromors.
I suspect many of us are regretting the disappearance of the original Nitromors.
It was sold as a paint remover, very effective, but I have used it for softening glues of all sorts and plastics of the PVC, polythene & perspex varieties.
Even softening glues on repaired china before re-aralditing.
The commercial version for sticking perspex is I.C.I. Tensol. Was available from Radiospares.
Can you get it now?
The answer is no, because the vapour is very heavy and people were said to be sniffing it.
Also said to be carcinogenic, if you used it every day for several years and did not bother with gloves and ventilation. In this Health & Safety world, everything seems to be banned.
But there is hope. Methylene Chloride, or Di-chlor methane is the active ingredient. Your chemist will not sell it to you, even if you offer to sign the poisons register.
But you can get it on the web, but only in 1 litre containers. Or probably still in a French supermarket, together with trichlor ethylene and acetone, where I stocked up some years ago , all useful solvents for radio use.
All I want is 100cc. Perhaps this is something BVWS could offer as well as high voltage smoothing capacitors.
Terpenes and Ketones are other solvents. My Builders Merchant sells a version by HG called Sticker Remover.
wme_bill m0wpn