Cleaning an amp?

aerosol brake cleaner would work as well

Crusher said:

I opened it up and replaced a lot of missing screws and such. Most of the panels were just kinda sitting in there. The side fell off when I opened it up. The bottom brackets were only attached on 1 side. The front of the bandswitch has been removed. In its place is a small variable capacitor. Then they mounted another above that so it has a variable PI network. Too bad only 1 side of the input tank coil is soldered. The other you can just slide in and out of capacitor hole. Input blocking cap looks like it got hot. The wax is all bubbled up. I had some towels that are used to clean grease off tools. The have a solution on them already. Wiped up the inside pretty good. Sides and top I put in dishwasher and washed. Then put in oven and dried quick. Don't know if I'll put back exactly to stock, but when I'm done will be a lot closer. I picked it up working as I said for $300 so I can't complain.

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Where did you find my old SB-200?

I use a product called Wesley's BLEECHE WHITE. Sold at Kmart, WalMart, etc. in the auto dept. Excellent general purpose emulsifier/cleaner. Won't damage paint, rubber, plastic. What DOC said about the dishwasher is true. I have an old KitchenAid DW in my shop, and use it to clean just about anything that's greasy or really dirty. Whatever you use DEFINITELY remove the transformers and switches before using any type of liquid on the amp. 73s.

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It would be interesting to hear the story behind that pic....If it was caused by human error, I would hate to be that guy...

trailboss said:

It would be interesting to hear the story behind that pic....If it was caused by human error, I would hate to be that guy...

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I agree with the method of cleaning and more importantly to remove the high voltage transformer before applying water. Even the primary of the filament transformer can easily short if it's energized when wet.

I also have to say that cell phone tower picture fascinates me. I've examined it several times trying to determine what could possibly cause that. If it only effected the top array, I'd say lightning for sure.

But to have 3 separate arrays on the tower all fail catastrophically like this baffles me. The only way I could think of replicating this failure would be to use RCA or "F" connectors on all the antenna connections. To my surprise, whatever damaged this tower also put it in extreme danger of complete collapse!

Hold a straight edge to the side of the tower in the image and notice how far out of level that tower is now. My guess is that free standing monopole is no longer standing today.

Hold a straight edge to the side of the tower in the image and notice how far out of level that tower is now.

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Testosterone deficiency for sure!

Good catch!

Dishwasher cleaning electronics is OK, IF

you remove the water sensitive parts first, and completely dry the electronics. I have been in metrology since 1964, Tektronix sold a scope washer and a scope dryer for their early tube scopes. These were the scopes with the separate power supply. The scope washer looked like a current dishwasher, the dryer was a separate unit, that blew warm air. I would clean a Linear amp w/a dishwasher after removing the transformer, meters, electrolitic caps and any other water sensitive parts.