What's the best cleaner, or mixture of cleaners to do cleanup of "fire damaged" T.V.'s, VCR's, stereos, computers, & monitors? I've heard people say, use spray-9, & glass cleaner, & aftershave mixed together! Anyone have a special mix? Rono.
Rono,
Having had some fire damaged equipment myself, I can say there is no easy answer. Rubbing alcohol removes a lot of the soot very well, but can damage some plastics and finishes. Anything mechanical, like a VCR will probably have so much junk in the bearings and moving parts that they are not worth the effort, as cleaning will remove all lubrication. Also, however much cleaning you do, expect some residual odor forever, especially in hot, humid weather.
To clean out a preamp of mine, which was not easily replaced, I had to remove the 4 PC boards, scrub them down with alcohol and rinse them off with water, then use a fan to force dry the boards. The metal work had to go in the sink with lots of hot water. The preamp took 6-8 hours, but was an expensive unit that was easy to take apart, and had no moving parts other than the switches and controls which I was able to relubricate.
The soot is likely to have some conductivity, as it is mostly carbon, so it can cause all sorts of problems in high impedance circuits and high voltage circuits.
In general, there is a good reason that insurance companies "TOTAL" equipment that has been through fires.
Regards, Tim Schwartz Bristol Electronics
R>
If you are in the UK, Australia or New Zealand I would recommend Domestos
Domestos will absolutely remove all the soot from any item. I even use it to wash complete printed boards with the aid of a nylon bristle paint brush to scrub it in. Of pcbs need to be thoroughly rinsed in clean water and then air dried using a heat gun.
However, Domestos isn't available in the USA since the relevant authorities classify it as unsafe or environmentally harmful. You can get some hospital grade cleansers with a much lower amount of the main bleach agent in it. Clorox Ultra Bleach is the one I think
Simple Green works very well for cleaning just about anything, just dilute it with some warm water and scrub gently.
I'd salvaged a fire damaged vcr a couple of months back. Entire front plastic cover was melted, everything else was fine besides being soot covered. I use a cleaner similar to simple green called mean grean. Much like fantastik or 409 in that it doesn't harm plastic as simple green can if left on too long, yet is a very effective cleaner.(You can get it at Wal-Mart or your local dollar store etc...) With the unit I salvaged I just popped of the melted front cover and use the control buttons on the front panel pcb to run it.( I use it with a security camera mostly.) Fortunately all the buttons are marked as to function. Cleaned the inside with foam swabs and cleaner, then relubed the mechanisms, cleaned the heads and it runs great. You can also get a odor killer in a spray bottle just for smoke damage. Try Wal-mart, Auto parts store or local hardware stores for it.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.