How to clean inside vintage receiver? Compressed air? Deoxit?

pglbook

I need some advice on how to clean inside a vinatge Yamaha CR 2040 receiver that I bought some months ago and am just now getting around to cleaning. The receiver has a scratchy sound when turning volume knob, balance knob etc.

I was advised to use deoxit to clean inside.
However, when I went to a local Radio Shack, the rep told me to use compressed air first.
Is that correct?
Should I spray compressed air in the unit?
If so, where do I spray the compressed air?
Is it ok to spray the compressed air over all of the inside of unit?

Also, when using deoxit, do I just spray it on inside of knobs?

Radio Shack did not have deoxit but the rep told me the Radio Shack lubricant was the same as deoxit.
Is that true?

Thanks. I appreciate it.

chefkungfu

When I clean my electronics, I "loosen" the dust w/compressed air, then carefully use my shop vac to remove the remaining dust. If your really careful you can use a damp q-tip for the hard to reach nook and crannies! Make sure it's rubbing alcohol. I'm not so sure about other methods, this one works most of the time.
Hope this helps.

eclypse

You can use canned air to get it nice and dust free.. but what I've always done to clean electronics is just vacuum it real good as best you can with a soft brush end on the vacuum hose. Carefully as you don't want to break anything inside. Then when your done with that then use the canned air to get into those tuff areas that you could not reach like under the main board.

Be carefull with the canned air though.. if you accidently shake the can it will spray liquid. If that happends just don't turn it on or plug it in for atleast 24 hours or so to be sure its good and dry.

The deoxit.. I have no idea what that is so i'll leave that to others. If you need to clean up the knobs then just pull them straight off most likely and see if you can work the lubricant into the post and turn it a few times to work it in there.

mhardy6647

1) Cleaning: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=258899

2) DeOxit: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207005

3) comment/tip: one of my own favorite tools for "first responder" cleaning of the really gross specimens is a cheap (disposable-grade) China bristle paint brush (I buy 'em in boxes from Rockler). A couple of smaller camel-hair artist paintbrushes also come in very handy.

4) If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at this thread to inspire you :-)
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?147522-Taking-off-yamaha-box

Speedskater

For the vacuuming part, the is an accessory kit that lets you get into tight areas.

'Micro Vacuum Attachment Kit'

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-micro-vacuum-attachment-kit-32994.html

dkg999

Car wash.

pglbook

Thanks for all of the advice.

dkg999, should the car wash be a brushless car wash? lol.

Thanks again. I appreciate it.

cnh

mhardy6647 wrote: »

1) Cleaning: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=258899

2) DeOxit: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207005

3) comment/tip: one of my own favorite tools for "first responder" cleaning of the really gross specimens is a cheap (disposable-grade) China bristle paint brush (I buy 'em in boxes from Rockler). A couple of smaller camel-hair artist paintbrushes also come in very handy.

4) If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at this thread to inspire you :-)
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?147522-Taking-off-yamaha-box

This is pretty much what I've done on a few pieces: HK 430, Technics SA-5570, Realistic STA-2270. The Technics was "dust-ball" factory but looks great now. The brush works very nicely! You may want to finish with a little compressed air as well?

Good luck!

cnh

Speedskater

In the distant past, I was in a repair center of a high end test equipment mfg. They had a commercial dish washer in the back room. They would use it to clean some dirty modules.
For some time wave-soldered printed circuit boards would get a similar washing.

SCompRacer

When alcohol is involved, I use 99% Isopropyl. A local pharmacy will order it for me if they don't have any in stock. I recently used it to wash a 20+ year old fully vented top cover pre amp board off. I also use it to wash boards I just assembled to get the flux residue off. Canned air helps blow off excess. A hair dryer helps speed up the drying process.

A project I did after an alky wash.