Cleaning Inside Old Radio
 

I was checking the inside of my Frg-7 and found some dust on the PCB and
components. I would like to clean it off with something.

Can anyone please recommend something? Is plain spray on contact cleaner
safe to use on the components too?

Thanks
Lucky

"Lucky" wrote in message
...
I was checking the inside of my Frg-7 and found some dust on the PCB
and
components. I would like to clean it off with something.

Can anyone please recommend something? Is plain spray on contact
cleaner
safe to use on the components too?

You used to be able to buy a spray can that with compressed
air that was ejected at a rate safe for circuit boards. Don't know
if Radio Shack or any other place has it around any more.

Free hint: don't use regular compressed air. I found that
out the hard way while I was in college.

--Mike L.

Lucky wrote:

I was checking the inside of my Frg-7 and found some dust on the PCB and
components. I would like to clean it off with something.

Can anyone please recommend something? Is plain spray on contact cleaner
safe to use on the components too?

Thanks
Lucky


Go down the makeup aisle in your local pharmacy and find a large
size "blusher brush". Handiest little duster in the world. It is soft
enough to use on electrical components, but will really do the job.
Either blow off disloged dust with your breath, or hold the nozzle
attachment of a vacuum cleaner about 2" from the board while dusting it.

Spray electrical contact cleaner is available through most large
retailers and hardware outlets. RatShack sells it, too, but it's a lot
more expensive (for essentially the same product).

Tony

Tony Meloche wrote:
Lucky wrote:

I was checking the inside of my Frg-7 and found some dust on the
PCB and
components. I would like to clean it off with something.

Can anyone please recommend something? Is plain spray on contact
cleaner
safe to use on the components too?

Thanks
Lucky


Go down the makeup aisle in your local pharmacy and find a large
size "blusher brush". Handiest little duster in the world. It is
soft
enough to use on electrical components, but will really do the job.
Either blow off disloged dust with your breath, or hold the nozzle
attachment of a vacuum cleaner about 2" from the board while dusting
it.

Spray electrical contact cleaner is available through most large
retailers and hardware outlets. RatShack sells it, too, but it's a
lot
more expensive (for essentially the same product).

Tony

I wouldn't use contact cleaner on anything except switches and pots.
Don't spray this stuff on components, especially in the high impedance
area of the synthesizer, of you could have a non-functioning radio. If
you do use a contact cleaner, use one of the Caig products such as
De-Oxit or Pro Gold.
If you brush the dust off the circuit boards, make sure that you don't
bump any of the trimmer capicators.

Pete KE9OA

"pete ke90a" wrote in message
oups.com...

Tony Meloche wrote:
Lucky wrote:

I was checking the inside of my Frg-7 and found some dust on the
PCB and
components. I would like to clean it off with something.

Can anyone please recommend something? Is plain spray on contact
cleaner
safe to use on the components too?

Thanks
Lucky


Go down the makeup aisle in your local pharmacy and find a large
size "blusher brush". Handiest little duster in the world. It is
soft
enough to use on electrical components, but will really do the job.
Either blow off disloged dust with your breath, or hold the nozzle
attachment of a vacuum cleaner about 2" from the board while dusting
it.

Spray electrical contact cleaner is available through most large
retailers and hardware outlets. RatShack sells it, too, but it's a
lot
more expensive (for essentially the same product).

Tony

I wouldn't use contact cleaner on anything except switches and pots.
Don't spray this stuff on components, especially in the high impedance
area of the synthesizer, of you could have a non-functioning radio. If
you do use a contact cleaner, use one of the Caig products such as
De-Oxit or Pro Gold.
If you brush the dust off the circuit boards, make sure that you don't
bump any of the trimmer capicators.

Pete KE9OA


Ok I'll be careful. I picked up some stuff this morning from Radio Shack.
It's an electronics cleaner. Looks to have ether in it but the brush is
stiff. I won't use it on the components even though it says it can used. Was
$10.50 a can!

Lucky

pete ke90a wrote:
snip
If you brush the dust off the circuit boards, make sure that you don't
bump any of the trimmer capicators.

Pete KE9OA

Reminds me of when I was a kid - my best friend decided to soup up his
dad's radio and found the trimmer caps and the slugs in the IF
transformers were loose and needed tightening. ;)

Any update on the enthusiast's MW radio you were working on?

HI from Ken,
"Lucky" wrote in message
Can anyone please recommend something? Is plain spray on contact cleaner
safe to use on the components too?

Thanks
Lucky

The best bet is to use one of the very fine haired wide brushes that your
'XYL' or your 'YL' uses to put on her mak-up.
You can obtain them very easily from any cosmetics store.
I find a lot of the commercial cleaners leave a residue on the boards and
this detracts from they appearance.
Hope this helps, cheers, Ken, G4KIR.

Hi Mark,
All of the RF design is done...........I have built two
prototypes. On one of them, I use a ten turn pot to tune the VCO. The other
unit uses a PLL for tuning. I think we will have some time to develop the
tuning software, etc.
We were tied up with a big project for the last several months; this was the
Automark election machine that you may have heard about in the news. All
kinds of fun things, getting it through EMC certification.
Speaking of MW receivers, I did purchase the Boston Acoustics
Receptor clock radio. MW performance is not bad, but the selectivity is
pretty wide. It appears to be a single conversion affair that uses a 450kHz
I.F. It might be a double conversion unit, but when I peaked the Radio Shack
loop antenna on the image frequency, I was able to receive the image. It
could also be that the (2 X 2nd I.F.) rejection isn't too good, if this is
truly a double conversion unit. Is it worth the 150 dollars? Could be. I did
call up Boston Acoustics to see if I could get ahold of some service
information. The wouldn't make it available. When I asked them how to remove
the main circuit board from the unit so that I could change the 450kHz
filter, they explained that they couldn't give me that information, since I
if were electrocuted, they would be liable. When I explained that I was
going to quote them in my review, they said that it was ok. If anybody
figures out how to get this thing apart, feel free to contact me.
Oh, another thing............it could be off topic, but this is good for
you Drake '7 line folks. If you change the 1st mixer in your Drake R7/TR7 to
a Mini-Circuits SRA-3MH (Level 13) mixer, and you change the 1N4148s in the
2nd mixer to matched sets of 1N5711 hot carrier diodes, the receive
performance improves a bit. The original 1st mixer has an SSB conversion
loss of 6.5dB, while the Mini-Circuits mixer has a conversion loss of
4.75dB. As far as the 2nd mixer, it is good to get rid of those general
purpose switching diodes and replace them; the 1N5711 Hot Carrier diodes
have lower loss, better IM characteristics, and they are designed for RF
applications.
One thing about that Radio Shack cleaner. I have used some of it in the
past, and it has dissolved plastic switch wafers. I would stay away from
that. The Caig De-Oxit is in the same price range, and it doesn't destroy
components.
In the old days, we used to use Freon based solvents to clean circuit
boards. I would get ahold of the De-Oxit and play it safe. Caig is the same
company that marketed a product called Tweak.

Pete

"Mark S. Holden" wrote in message
...
pete ke90a wrote:
snip
If you brush the dust off the circuit boards, make sure that you don't
bump any of the trimmer capicators.

Pete KE9OA

Reminds me of when I was a kid - my best friend decided to soup up his
dad's radio and found the trimmer caps and the slugs in the IF
transformers were loose and needed tightening. ;)

Any update on the enthusiast's MW radio you were working on?

Pete KE9OA wrote:

As far as the 2nd mixer, it is good to get rid of those general
purpose switching diodes and replace them; the 1N5711 Hot Carrier diodes
have lower loss, better IM characteristics, and they are designed for RF
applications.

Is the 1N5711 a good substitute for the 1SS135?

According to
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconVa...v-di.htm#mixer
the 1SS135 appears to be a VHF/UHF switching diode, from Rohm
Semiconductors. It could be a good diode, but I know that the 5711 is
intended for mixer/detector service. I was unable to find a data sheet for
the 135, so I can't make direct comparisons. I have used the 5711 over the
past several years, with good results. Awhile back, I picked up a batch of
matched quad sets of these diodes from the Rockwell-Collins Inventory
Disposal store for around a dollar a pound. Too bad I got rid of most of
them.........................I thought I would be living out there for
longer than I did. Easy to take things for granted, when they are plentiful.
Fortunately, these things are currently available, and they aren't too
expensive.

Pete

"starman" wrote in message
...
Pete KE9OA wrote:

As far as the 2nd mixer, it is good to get rid of those general
purpose switching diodes and replace them; the 1N5711 Hot Carrier diodes
have lower loss, better IM characteristics, and they are designed for RF
applications.

Is the 1N5711 a good substitute for the 1SS135?