Remove tarnish/oxidation on metal, manual assembly, amplifier chassis etc.

[eenaoo]

Hi all,

Anyone has any good tip for cleaning/removing oxidation/rust on metal in the hammond organ. Also do you treat it afterwards like with paint or smth?
I have this white stuff, see pic, on the manual assembly that I want to get rid of

Regards Arne

[peterb_2795]

That looks like interesting gloop on the underside of your lower manual. Obviously, someone at some time has applied some sort of treatment. Is it chalky/powdery when you try to remove it? It is also a little bit awkward in that it appears to lap up underneath your resistor wire guides. If it were me to be trying to remove this, I would firstly mask off the resistor wire guides (masking tape can be quite satisfactorily be attached to the underside of the plastics. I would then position the manual such that I could use both a vacuum cleaner head and a wire brush together at the same time whilst, ensuring that the general direction of fall of the surface coating that comes off is down and away from the manual and (in particular) the resistor wiring guide.

A bit fiddly, but very do-able and easy enough to properly clean up afterwards (if necessary by removing rear cover and contacts bin cover)
.
I have recently been restoring some rusted manuals and I have used various methods to get rid of surface rust (Dremel with wire brush attachment, small sanding pads and plain o' 400 grit wet and dry). After sanding as best and practicable as possible, I then have applied some rust converter (typically contains phosphoric acid so is a tad noxious). After clean up of the rust converter, another light sand and clean down (I use compressed air) and then a wipe with thinners or isoprop-alc before spraying.

Many people will use a zinc (cold gal) spray or paint to cover the now open/prepared area. I tend to use a rust inhibiting epoxy enamel as I like the hardened surface that it eventually dries to.

Good luck, I'd be interested to know what the heck is under that white gloop. It looks quite out of place given the apparent condition of the rest of the manuals


Cheers,
Peter

[eenaoo]

I did a bit of investigtion. The white stuff is refered to as white ruste. This is how galvanised metal can become over time in the wrong environment. I used some steelwhool to brush it down where possible then I used either galvanised spray or this "Hammerite" paint for galvanised to cover it with a new layer. The problem with the white rust is that it eats the gavalised layer and then common rust can occur

[JoeyB3]

If all you are looking to do is to remove the zinc oxide that accumulates on the metal (ie: you are not looking for a shine), you will find that WD-40 sprayed onto some steel wool will get you a nice smooth finish & remove all that chalky crap....but still remain dull looking. If you want a shine out of it, you will have to use Nevr Dull, or Bar Keepers Friend, or Noxon (again with steel wool), and polish to your satisfaction.

After I do either of those 2 methods, I will make sure the surface is clean of all polishing chemicals and coat with some clear lacquer. The "funk" will never come back after that.

Here is a pic of the rails on my Novachord. Before, and after using Noxon.

[muckelroy]

Here is a pic of the rails on my Novachord. Before, and after using Noxon.

!!!! JOEY! Let's hear more about your Novachord! Been a couple years since you made a peep about it! :D

[JoeyB3]

Not much to really report right now....the woodworking and refinishing is all done. The speakers have been reconed, the power amp and PSU have been rebuilt. The keybed is in the middle of disassembly now....that's where she's kinda been the past few months. Between the kids being away at college and me doing a lot of gigs, my spare time has been really limited. I'm hoping in the spring I'll have more time to put into it.

[eenaoo]

I did a bit of investigtion. The white stuff is refered to as white ruste. This is how galvanised metal can become over time in the wrong environment. I used some steelwhool to brush it down where possible then I used either galvanised spray or this "Hammerite" paint for galvanised to cover it with a new layer. The problem with the white rust is that it eats the gavalised layer and then common rust can occur

[tiredoldgeezer]

The metal parts are all galvanized. The white stuff is Zinc Oxide. It will wash off with about anything including a wet rag, sometimes.
A couple of a car manufacturers galvanized their metal before painting. So if you want a gloss finish, that's possible.

[eenaoo]

It was not that easy on mine. I had to scrape it off