05-12-2011, 04:26 PM
I don't think anyone has mentioned cellulose thinners, which has its uses, with the obvious precations where plastics are concerned. I'm pleased that no-one has mentioned WD40, an over-hyped over-rated product about which all sorts of claims are made, not least as a penetrating oil to free rusted bolts, stock grub screws etc, but even as a pain reliever for arthritiis! As its name implies, it was primarily made for water displacement, (allegedly for the US space program and the shuttle) and (as the story goes), was the 40th recipe. Like most people, I have a few cans here and there for such things as oiling squeaky hinges, but I'm not a great fan of it and I wouldn't go anywhere near a radio with it. I use Plus Gas as a penetrating oil - it has low surface tension and viscosity and is used extensively in the automotive trade. For de-greasing radio chassis and such like, I use brake/clutch cleaner aerosols. They're very effective and the liquid quickly evaporates, and unlike WD40, doesn't leave any residue.
Nail varnish remover is often effective in loosening stuck cores in coils.
As to WD40 and water displacement - remember 'Damp Start' used for spraying on damp plug leads and distributor caps when car engines wouldn't start? (Maybe they still seel it?). I've still got a can on the garage shelf, and it's just dawned on me that the last time I can recall using it was 1968! At the time we lived in Nottingham, and I had a Ford Escort which used to act up in damp weather. As I progressed through my career until retirement in 1994, this can has followed us to Spalding, Grimsby, Mansfield, Sheffield and Hull, where it's been on the garage shelf for 20 years!
It's my impression that cars these days are much better designed and protected under the bonnet, so maybe damp ignition leads are a thing of the past? We've driven through torrential rain many times, but the top of the engines never seem to have any damp, nor do they if left outdoors overnight. My car is a diesel anyway, so plug leads don't enter into it, but my wife's Panda starts first flick, even when left for two weeks in winter in airport car parks.
Nail varnish remover is often effective in loosening stuck cores in coils.
As to WD40 and water displacement - remember 'Damp Start' used for spraying on damp plug leads and distributor caps when car engines wouldn't start? (Maybe they still seel it?). I've still got a can on the garage shelf, and it's just dawned on me that the last time I can recall using it was 1968! At the time we lived in Nottingham, and I had a Ford Escort which used to act up in damp weather. As I progressed through my career until retirement in 1994, this can has followed us to Spalding, Grimsby, Mansfield, Sheffield and Hull, where it's been on the garage shelf for 20 years!
It's my impression that cars these days are much better designed and protected under the bonnet, so maybe damp ignition leads are a thing of the past? We've driven through torrential rain many times, but the top of the engines never seem to have any damp, nor do they if left outdoors overnight. My car is a diesel anyway, so plug leads don't enter into it, but my wife's Panda starts first flick, even when left for two weeks in winter in airport car parks.
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
