Garey Barrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> made an utterance to the drakelist gang
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Jason -
There really isn't a "good" way to "clean" the Drake copper. The
problem is that the copper-plated steel chassis was originally coated
with a clear lacquer to protect it against corrosion. There are at
least two causes for the discoloration that shows on most chassis. One
is a pin-hole in the lacquer coat, allowing the copper to be exposed to
the air/moisture that causes that pretty green color! The copper is
very thin, and soon the steel underneath begins to rust. It only gets
worse.... The other appears to be an electrolytic reaction of some sort
that actually comes from under the copper, causing it to bubble and
crack, leading to further rust.
Any cleaning attempted only further damages the lacquer, accelerating
the damage. This is even worse if the "cleaner" has any sort of
abrasive. It may be possible to "clean" a larger area, being careful
not to scratch or otherwise damage the copper layer and then recoat with
a clear coat. It's difficult to do because of chassis mounted
components and is almost always visible. There have been several
methods published, from spot plating to copper colored paint, but I have
yet to see one that didn't change the nice shiny copper to a dull area
that soon broke down and rusted even worse. It's very difficult to get
a repair really clean and corrosion free. All it takes is a tiny speck
and the problem soon returns. Probably the best approach is to attack
any pin holes as soon as possible, removing whatever corrosion / rust is
present and then either spot painting with something like Testor's model
paint followed by a clear lacquer coat or just the clear coat. I have
used Krylon Clear by spraying a little into the cap and then touching
with a toothpick to coat the repair. Anything larger than a pin-hole
makes a visible repair.
You could always do like a good friend of mine did with his DX-100
transmitter. He took it completely down to the bare chassis and then
took it to a local plating shop to be copper plated! The plater said
that he could chrome plate it for little or no additional cost, so he
did. Made a mighty impressive transmitter!
73, Garey - K4OAH
Atlanta
Drake C-Line Service Manual
<http://www.k4oah.com>
Jason Buchanan wrote:
Jason Buchanan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> made an utterance to the drakelist gang
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hi,
I have the urge to clean my R-4B copper and get the dust and grime off
of it and was wondering the best way to go about this. There's some
corrosion here and there but the majority of it is clean. Before I go
rubbing around on it the wrong way could someone point me in the right
direction of the right way? I read the article on w4bhfn's site for
cleaning corrosion with flitz but I am not quite up to that task yet -
I just want to clean the layer of "age" off of the areas that are clean.
thanks!
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