If someone is feeling bored, not withstanding I did get rid of some, the breeding cycle continues and there are TV type valves here that I will never use. However, not toss. These need separating from any radio valves.

Marc

Next time I'm passing through, Marc!

Those Decal valves were the last hurrah of valve technology in Philips Land. They were only used for a few years and have a surprisingly short service life compared to earlier types. The smarter manufacturers managed to avoid them completely and went straight to transistors.

That little 11" Astor portable in the wooden case was used by Astor to try them out. You can make a very simple TV using these 10 pin valves which was their big selling feature.

That chassis is unbelievably simple but works quite well. One of them makes an appearance in The Dish.

I've got a small bunch of those valves as well, all used, condition unknown. I doubt I'll ever use them for anything. They reside in their own plastic bag.

6U9, 6V9, 6X9, 6Y9

I have given the TV chassis a good clean with water and a mild detergent.

Would never had thought to do this but Ian Robertson has told me it's completely safe.

Looks and smells better than it did before 😂

I have been known to ensure liquid goes to a safe place & sprayed tuning gangs with Aluminium wheel cleaner on several occasions.

Yes a good washing with detergent then a rinse with pure water and dried properly works wonders, but only done on the really filthy chassis’s.
Just need to be careful of cardboard’s, ie speaker cones and some IF coil formers, etc.
JJ

I've never done this, but I see on the American forum they all do it this way.
I don't have much knowledge or experience so in the past I've just blown them out or metho on a brush ...next time I might look into it.
Mostly now chassis are so old they are absolutely filthy...my worst is a Telefunken Radiogram I own from the Vietnam war and then it went to India and then to Australia and now I own it.
Filthy!
Pete

On the VK American forum there's a chap there who takes a TV chassis to the car wash and firstly hits it with a low pressure soap cycle, then a low pressure rinse, then takes it home and puts it in the oven on very low heat for some hours.
His work is meticulous and his restorations are superb.
He has apparently done this many times and the before and after shots are quite impressive.
I'll have to try it one day on a chassis I don't care about much just to see it for myself.

A contributor to the British vintage radio forum claimed that he washed his "for exhibit only" chassis in a dishwasher.

Certainly works for tuning gangs.

Washing most things electronic can be done, even with most or even all the components on board.

Back in the days when this website used to be hosted at my very own home, every two years I'd strip the server apart, including the CMOS battery and run the motherboard under a piping hot shower to get rid of the huge dust build-up. After that I'd dry it off with compressed air, then leave in the sun for the rest of the day. Things like this are best done in summer.

When the server was reassembled, it'd look like it came out of the box and then purr like a kitten for the next two years. In turn, I'd clean five servers this way because it is the only way to get the boards perfectly clean after such a long run in a non-filtered environment.

I think I will wash the tuner & radio chassis as well given the good results I got with the TV chassis

I just want to remove all remnants of the rodent smell so a wash and Bicarbonate or baking soda (for the cabinet) is doing the trick

With a lot of the 50's stuff they used a lot of oil & fat in cooking & that's basically what it is. Soda Ash (Sodium Carbonate aka pool soda ash) is better than Sodium Bicarbonate (aka Baking Soda & Acid carbonate on fat.

Marc

Marc

So you recommend Soda Ash as a better cleaner to get rid of smells in the cabinet??

Go easy with water on that cabinet, it's veneered particleboard and will swell up. Bad news.

Probably a good idea to give all the pots a squirt of CRC or similar after washing with water.

Don't squirt CRC into the tuner! It'll detune the PCB inductors.

That grey paint on the metal radio fascia might need to be replaced. You can remove the fascia from the rest of the radio, strip the paint, polish the metal, mask, spray with a colour-matched spraycan and surface wipe to restore the original look.

Bi carb does have disinfectant properties. however, to get rid of mouse excretions soda ash with a bit of dishwashing liquid is more effective on the chassis. Wood work is different & after getting the crap off of the inside by just wiping, with a damp cloth. I will also after sorting out the wood, coat the inside with linseed oil as it too is a disinfectant. In many cases the solvents within furniture reviving product will kill bugs. and that is the other reason for linseed oil when borer holes are noted.

Do not get it on Bakelite. However, if the stuff is caked on a wafer switch it and an Art brush used carefully will get it off. But! wash it off ASAP with water, then perhaps Inox to get rid of the water.

Note that with those: Respirator! A lot of the dust can be biologically toxic.

Marc