Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Cleaning Franklin cases
Regarding cleaning chemicals, "Simple Green" is pretty useful stuff. It contains ether, which is a good but not overly aggressive solvent that dissipates rapidly. It is more aggressive than alcohol but of course it's also a kind of detergent which must be washed away. It's commonly available in spray bottles or nonspray. I'd wear rubber gloves and work outside for any cleaning with chemicals, if I were you. This stuff is not good for you. Regards, Herb Johnson -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info
This is an update of my progress with cleaning up some old Franklin machines in my collection. I’ve got five ACE-1x00 systems from mid-1982 through early 1984 that were in various states of disrepair. I followed Jameel’s suggestion of Seventh Generation Multi-Sruface Cleaner, mostly because my wife had a bottle of it already. Sprayed that stuff on, let it sit a few seconds, scrubbed a bit, then hosed off a lot of really dirty mess. It was a huge improvement without anything else. Used retr0brite on one of the cases to see if it would make much difference. Franklins were originally yellow (engineering referred to it as “piss yellow”) so I wasn’t sure the de-yellowing would show much difference. My wife said the extra cleaning was noticeable to her eyes, so I did the same treatment for the other cases. They probably look almost as good now as when they were first made. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions! The results were worth the effort. Bob
On Sun, 11 Oct 2020, Bob Applegate via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
This is an update of my progress with cleaning up some old Franklin machines in my collection. I’ve got five ACE-1x00 systems from mid-1982 through early 1984 that were in various states of disrepair.
I followed Jameel’s suggestion of Seventh Generation Multi-Sruface Cleaner, mostly because my wife had a bottle of it already. Sprayed that stuff on, let it sit a few seconds, scrubbed a bit, then hosed off a lot of really dirty mess. It was a huge improvement without anything else.
Glad it worked for you! Incidentally this stuff is out of stock more often than not in retail stores, but you can get gallon jugs from WB Mason office supply, as well as Webstaurantstore.com.
Used retr0brite on one of the cases to see if it would make much difference. Franklins were originally yellow (engineering referred to it as “piss yellow”) so I wasn’t sure the de-yellowing would show much difference. My wife said the extra cleaning was noticeable to her eyes, so I did the same treatment for the other cases. They probably look almost as good now as when they were first made.
Peroxide cleans/bleaches a lot of other organic stains even if it's not reacting with the plastic in the retr0brite way. I do remember Franklins in school looking "old" compared to Apples of the same general age. Aside: if something /smells/ funky, peroxide is an option for remediating that. Things you learn when you have a vengeful cat who needs to make a statement against your equipment. :/ -- Jameel Akari
participants (3)
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Bob Applegate -
Herb Johnson -
Jameel Akari