[Warren]

Thanks Arran, thats a thought. I can try. I know the smoke is pretty much baked on, I have had to try and clean alot of things since the fire and it is always very hard to get that baked on smoke off of things. TSP works very well cleaning walls before you paint, it would be nice if it took off the smoke. So far on the chassis I havent found anything to take it off except using steel wool or a wire brush, etc. Kinda hate using things like that for fear of metal pieces from the steel wool or wire brush maybe going in the wrong places and causing a short.

[GarySP]

Use the solution Arran suggests, but don't use steel wool. I use 3M Scrunge pads (the kind that look like green steel wool ). Mr Clean dirt erasers work well too. As for drying afterwards, another option is preheating your oven to about 200F. Put the chassis in, turn off the oven, and leave it overnight. The dry heat will dry it very well. Take care, Gary.

[Arran]

I don't think you would need to use a scouring pad at all, the TSP is pretty good at cleaning filth off with just a little brush agitation. I would be careful about baking a chassis in an oven, there is a chance of melting something that way, at this time of year it's also not really necessary.
Regards
Arran

[Warren]

Arron, I think your right normally, but Have you ever had to try and clean something that went through a house fire? Unfortunately, it isn't just filth. The smoke gets BAKED on and it doesnt easily come off. It's kind of like when they bake on the paint job on a car, it makes it stay alot better. Anything I have cleaned that went through the fire doesnt just come off with a little normal cleaning. But I will try the TSP hopefully it will help some, if not I will try it with some scrubbing. So far as I said the only way it has started to come off (the shiny metal parts of the chassis used to be black like the rest) is with steel wool or wire brush. Kinda scary considering as you know small pieces of metal come off those as you clean. I do appreciate yours and everyone's input though, I think it will all help. Thanks, Again.

[Mondial]

Something you might try instead of steel wool or metal brushes is a Scotchbrite pad. These are available at hardware stores and are similar to plastic scouring pads. Come in a variety of grit sizes and can be used to gently clean and polish metal.

Try not to get any cleaning solutions into the mica compression trimmers of the RF compensators or IF transformers. It will get between the mica and metal plates, and will take a long time to dry, causing corrosion.

[Warren]

Yes, I will have to get some of those type of cleaning pads to try. Scotchbrite, 3m , etc sounds like a good idea to try. I will let everyone know how they work out. Thanks.

[GarySP]

Arran, I wasn't advocating "radio chassis medium rare". I have heated components in my oven to dry them before without incident. Certainly do not leave the oven on! Just get it warm to the touch, put the component in, and close the door. Even when it's warm enough around here, the humidity is a killer. This just speeds the process a touch. Take care, Gary