How to clean internals of AVA amp?

Tinkerer · « **on:** 7 Jul 2006, 12:04 am »

Seeking suggestions for cleaning the internals of an AVA Transcendence 280 amp.

It was used for over 15 years by someone with a penchant for scented oils, and it now gives off an odor of the chemical residues from that service. I hoped that repeated heating cycles from use would eventually evaporate the residues and reduce the odor, but it still reeks.

The external surfaces have been cleaned, but the odor still emits from the internals.

Is there some kind of solvent that can be used to safely clean the electronics etc. without harming anything?

TIA.

Greg Erskine · « **Reply #1 on:** 7 Jul 2006, 05:19 am »

Isopropyl Alcohol.

Tinkerer · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 Jul 2006, 08:36 am »

Quote from: Greg Erskine on 7 Jul 2006, 05:19 am

Isopropyl Alcohol.

So, a giant ultrasonic cleaner, using isopropyl alchohol?

It might take a multiple dip tank arrangement, to progressively wash the residue off.

avahifi · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Jul 2006, 02:50 pm »

Be very careful about internal cleaning. It is pretty easy to break one of the TO-5 transistors with large heat sinks loose from the circuit board if you bump one of them hard. Lots of leverage there. Also make sure you don't move the trim pot adjustments. I am not aware of any components that would be damaged by alchohol, but I am not sure you will be able to do much good. Probably just run it with the cover off for a while to let it ventillate better, and clean the inside of the cover while you are at it.

Frank Van Alstine

rosconey · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Jul 2006, 02:53 pm »

with it off-very lightly mist with frebreeze,do it a few times over a few days-

let it dry well before use

jqp · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Jul 2006, 04:54 pm »

I feel you are doomed to a reeking amp, unless it is the dust and dirt that is reeking the most.

Most likely any absorptive materials such as capacitors have the smells baked in.

If you can carefully use a q-tip with cleaning fluid to remove dust and grime, you may make some headway. I think radio shack sells the cleaning fluid and some long q-tips.

Of course any kind of smoke will cause trouble over time. Also ozone - an ozone producing air purifyer rotted the rubber resistance belts of someones excercise machine that was enclosed in a room with cats.

Tinkerer · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Jul 2006, 11:04 pm »

I'm thinking: Remove cover, place in giant ultrasonic cleaner, fill with several gallons of isopropyl alchohol, then subject to repeated cycles of extended clean - change alchohol - clean - repeat - repeat - repeat.....then let dry for a month.

Let's see: Probably a couple thousand bucks for a huge ultrasonic cleaner, plus a few hundred for the alcohol.

Other options:

1. Find a contractor who has such a cleaner, & pay for the service & materials. Less than a thousand bucks total, maybe.

2. Buy a new amp.

3. Leave the amp in the basement shop, for the best-sounding but worst-smelling shop stereo in town.

And this, caused by someone's obsession with perfume oils. blecchh.

Tinkerer · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Jul 2006, 05:29 pm »

The "frebreeze" idea won't work, because febreeze actually has its own perfume. Don't want to simply add another perfume residue to the perfume residue already there.

Found some stuff called OdorCide at W.Mart. Claims to be odor-destroying, odor-free. Actually has some odor to it, but apparently it will break down over a few days to insignificant residual odor. Right now, the amp internals have been sprayed with OdorCide, dried for a day, then placed in the attic with the cover removed for some "24-hr cycle elevated temperature excursions (over 100F)", to help drive the process for several days.

If several days of the attic don't do the trick, then I'm thinking about another dousing with OdorCide followed by copious water rinse while still wet, then a week or two in the attic again. Any thoughts on whether a copious water rinse, using a 50psi water hose & sprayer aimed at the internals, would cause any problems (due to H2O wetness itself, not the mechanical forces) ? Some of the caps may allow water inside...I would hope everything would dry over several days time, sufficient to avoid electrical problems, however.

More feedback appreciated.

Grover · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Jul 2006, 06:36 pm »

I'd bathe it in 99% isopropyl alcohol. Soaking it overnight should do the trick. You can also CAREFULLY brush the componensts using a small new paintbrush. The link is for supplies by the gallon. I don't know the dimensions of the amp, but you might find a glass container at a restaurant supply store that's the right size. I've soaked circuit boards this way after soldering, and they come out shiny and spotless.

http://www.medicalequipment-4sale.com/view.cfm/TopicalsAnalgesics/Alch99-isopropyl-alcohol-gallon-99-percent.html

avahifi · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Jul 2006, 06:38 pm »

A copious water rinse is almost certain to destroy the bias set trim pots in the amplifier, and who knows what else? Ever heard of flood damage?

Geeze.

Brushing parts may also knock the T05 transistors loose from the boards as I mentioned before.

Frank Van Alstine

Tinkerer · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Jul 2006, 11:19 pm »

Thanks for the info, Mr. Van Alstine.

Do you think an isopropyl alcohol soak would hurt anything? (If followed by thorough drying before use, including several days in the attic...)

You are correct in expressing wonder about whether I've heard of flood damage. You are reading a thread here by someone (me) who is very exasperated that a great AVA amp was steeped for 18 years in air polluted with oily perfume vapors, so that it now reeks noxiously. I'll either have to leave it in the dank basement shop or garage, or sell it, or somehow get it to stop stinking.

I had heard that clean isopropyl alchohol and/or water could be used to bathe electronics parts without harm, if the parts were allowed to dry thoroughly afterward. But maybe water is not OK?

Thanks again folks, for any suggestions.

Zheeeem · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 07:00 pm »

I wouldn't be keen on soaking electronics in anything. You just really don't know if you're going to screw something up. If it were my amp, I'd clean the case and sink as best I could. If the smell persisted, I'd then probably get an activated carbon filter and a 4-inch muffin fan, and rig it on top of the amp to suck air out of the amp and through the filter. Muffin fans are cheap, draw little current, and are quiet.

Tinkerer · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 Jul 2006, 12:58 am »

Quote from: Grover on 13 Jul 2006, 06:36 pm

I'd bathe it in 99% isopropyl alcohol. Soaking it overnight should do the trick. You can also CAREFULLY brush the componensts using a small new paintbrush. The link is for supplies by the gallon. I don't know the dimensions of the amp, but you might find a glass container at a restaurant supply store that's the right size. I've soaked circuit boards this way after soldering, and they come out shiny and spotless.

http://www.medicalequipment-4sale.com/view.cfm/TopicalsAnalgesics/Alch99-isopropyl-alcohol-gallon-99-percent.html

Thanks for the ideas. After the OdorCide treatment didn't fully eliminate the odor, I next used 91% alcohol in a spray bottle and a paintbrush to carefully clean the internals while spraying lots of alcohol, followed by blowoff with an air nozzle connected to filtered air at 90+psi (oil-free compressor). Then I put the amp back in the attic for a few days, for 100F+ temperature cycling to dry thoroughly and also perhaps break down some residual odorants further.

(The 91% alcohol, at $2/qt, is about half the cost of the 99% alcohol linked above.)

The smell is greatly reduced now, to maybe <10% of what it was. Amp seems to work fine.

I'll run it for a while, and if the smell doesn't reduce further to a liveable level, then maybe repeat the process but with a smaller soft-bristle brush to clean in the hard-to-access places next time.

rustneversleeps · « **Reply #13 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 06:18 am »

Will this be the last time that we hear about the smell of your amp? If the smell's still there, I recommend wearing a painter's mask while listening, or run the amp through the car wash. If the smell bothers you so much, we did you buy the amp to begin with?

Tinkerer · « **Reply #14 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 07:07 am »

Quote from: rustneversleeps on 21 Jul 2006, 06:18 am

Will this be the last time that we hear about the smell of your amp? If the smell's still there, I recommend wearing a painter's mask while listening, or run the amp through the car wash. If the smell bothers you so much, we did you buy the amp to begin with?

I didn't buy the amp.

A suggestion:

If you don't want to read this thread, don't click on the link any more.

(Are you a troll?)

Zheeeem · « **Reply #15 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 03:02 pm »

Just so that you know, isopropyl alcohol is distilled as an azeotrope with water. That means that 99% isopropyl alcohol contains 1% water, and 91% isopropyl alcohol contains 9% water. That's a lot of water. I think you were lucky you didn't damage anything.

Tinkerer · « **Reply #16 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 04:38 pm »

Quote from: Zheeeem on 21 Jul 2006, 03:02 pm

Just so that you know, isopropyl alcohol is distilled as an azeotrope with water. That means that 99% isopropyl alcohol contains 1% water, and 91% isopropyl alcohol contains 9% water. That's a lot of water. I think you were lucky you didn't damage anything.

I knew the water content in the 91% isopropyl would be higher, but figured it was deionized water, or at least very pure water (relatively speaking), since the alcohol is sold in the pharmacy for uses including topical disinfectant. Assuming that mechanical action during cleaning (bumping, brushing, etc) is not significant, the main pitfalls with using pure (deionized) water to clean solid state electronic components are (1) not allowing complete drying, and (2) ionic contamination. Correct?

The other thing I did was the air blowoff, that drove much of the solution off/out of the system even before slow drying in the attic.

rustneversleeps · « **Reply #17 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 05:09 pm »

You are a troll, keep going on and on about the smell of your amp, and the percentage of water and alcohol, be a chemist.

You don't like the smell of your amp, many nice folks here already gave you their best suggestion, and you keep goning round and round and round. Wear a mask and be done with.

cdorval1 · « **Reply #18 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 09:21 pm »

What's a troll?

Zheeeem · « **Reply #19 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 09:36 pm »

Quote from: cdorval1 on 21 Jul 2006, 09:21 pm

What's a troll?

An ugly cave dwelling being depicted as either a giant or a dwarf.

Or, from Wikipedia: "A person who enters unknown forums who bashes and insults forum members with unfounded arguments, or anyone that enters any sort of internet community for the sole purpose of harassing others is often referred to as a troll."