Today I tried an idea I had, and I want to share this.
Okay I have some tubes which I wanted to check, some of them had very corroded pins, and probably poor contact, lazy as I am I would not spend time scraping with a blade, so I made a solution of saltwater, striped a piece of old wire clean, wrapped it around the pins of a old ecc83, taped the wire to tube top, wrapped another cable around some aluminium foil and soaked it, minus to foil , plus to tube, 8 volt 2 amps, the photo shown is from just under a minute in electrolysis, legs look much nicer now, except the part where the wire was against, but that part does not enter the socket anyway.
But be careful, to much current and to Long time will eat the pins.
Unfortunately I didn't make a before/after shot.
I had fun..
Okay I have some tubes which I wanted to check, some of them had very corroded pins, and probably poor contact, lazy as I am I would not spend time scraping with a blade, so I made a solution of saltwater, striped a piece of old wire clean, wrapped it around the pins of a old ecc83, taped the wire to tube top, wrapped another cable around some aluminium foil and soaked it, minus to foil , plus to tube, 8 volt 2 amps, the photo shown is from just under a minute in electrolysis, legs look much nicer now, except the part where the wire was against, but that part does not enter the socket anyway.
But be careful, to much current and to Long time will eat the pins.
Unfortunately I didn't make a before/after shot.
I had fun..
it is thinner, so must be very careful with time expossed and current, this was to much, but i do see some use for it once the settings are better.
ps the tip of pins are thinner only, guess the chemical process is most efficient there.
ps the tip of pins are thinner only, guess the chemical process is most efficient there.
but thinking of it, mechanical cleaning with blade and dremmel could also damage, think of the force/ vibrations applied.
I use this for all kind of cleaning jobs. 😉
Hugo
Hugo
A glass pencil.
It has replaceble cartridges of stiff, ultrathin glass 'wires' held together by the holder.
The marker is abrasive and does wonders for cleaning.
I even use it if on some occasions I need to remove PCB isolation to reach the bare copper.
Edit:
https://be.farnell.com/en-BE/duratool/bu1019-1/pencil-brush-4mm-glass-fibre-scratch/dp/1421553
Hugo
It has replaceble cartridges of stiff, ultrathin glass 'wires' held together by the holder.
The marker is abrasive and does wonders for cleaning.
I even use it if on some occasions I need to remove PCB isolation to reach the bare copper.
Edit:
https://be.farnell.com/en-BE/duratool/bu1019-1/pencil-brush-4mm-glass-fibre-scratch/dp/1421553
Hugo
It's meant to be used by hand and with delicate application.
The fibres are very abrasive but also wear quickly, so buy a refill set too while ordering the glass pencil. The fibres have all the irritating properties of glass fibres (which they are), so be careful and don't inhale them.
The fibres are very abrasive but also wear quickly, so buy a refill set too while ordering the glass pencil. The fibres have all the irritating properties of glass fibres (which they are), so be careful and don't inhale them.
Fine steel wool or even brass wool is what I use, but it is tedious. The result is a polished and cleaned surface.
Using electrolysis for cleaning probably leaves tiny pits in the metal. Maybe polishing after would help with that.
Using electrolysis for cleaning probably leaves tiny pits in the metal. Maybe polishing after would help with that.
As you mentioned, the rate of current was too high, and so the electrolytic action was in a larger step. Perhaps if the water used in the process was a different mixture (dunno what that would be) and the current reduced, would that make for a less aggressive result? Maybe after cleaning, the process could be reversed and the pins plated. When that is done, the result looks to be polished and shiny to begin with. I think you may have a good idea here.
I do have several test subjects, must read up on how to reverse process and apply plating.
Sure let's do some chemistry..
Sure let's do some chemistry..
I used it just today for cleaning the silver plated contacts of an oxydised rotary switch.