Caring for Chrome Finishes

[Joseph W Strickland]

I will have to say that the two prior 800B chassis that I have show very poor care of the chrome finish on the chassis. The worst is the way the backplate of the tuning preset settings was done on both of them. Instead of just being satisfied with simple use of some chrome polish both show evidence of someone using something more like a steel wool pad or a Scotch-Brite pad. The surface there is badly scratched up and marred forever unless I take one off and strip all the attachments and have it buffed and re-chromed. One of the two is so bad that it looks more like brushed stainless steel than chrome plating now.

My approach is minimal use of any polish that contains any abrasives. Certainly not using a lot of scrubbing action in one spot is best. If the finish does not come clean quickly, the chances are it is not going to even with extended cleaning. In some cases it may be best to first do a good cleaning of the surface with mineral spirits or with something such as simple green or a light ammonia based cleaner, but be sure to remove the residue from that with just water and soft cloths until all residue of the cleaner is removed from the surface.

Once I get the surface good and clean and follow that with a gentle application of chrome polish, then buffing with clean soft cloth I sometimes go back and put a protective coating of carnuba wax (the kind with no abrasives in it) then buff again until the shine is as good as you can get it. Avoid touching it with hands as the fingers etc. leave an oil residue that will lead to eventual corrosion. I keep some simple cotton gloves for final handling and assembly.

The last unit I bought looks to be in considerably better condition than the other two radio chassis except for the preset tuning backplate which is in just as bad of condition as the other two chassis. What are people thinking!

JoeLooks pretty good here but check the backplate next

Even the nameplate has been scrubbed until nearly all the black finish has been removed. The radio tuner parts chassis I have has the best looking nameplate but the rest of its chassis is badly corroded, mostly at the front where it looks like it had some sort of liquid spilled on it.

Joe

[David C. Poland]

My approach has been, 

-vacuum while using a long handled 1 inch flat artist's brush (stiffer brush than a 1 inch paint brush) to dislodge dust, grit and dirt. For tight places like between tube shields, a smaller artist's brush.

- Then Turtle liquid chrome polish. If much rust and grit, I use more generous amount of the polish and gentle rubbing to "wash" away material likely to scratch the chrome and then re-apply the polish to finish polishing. For tight places, a bit of towel on the end of a chopstick or Q-tips. This product seems to arrest further corrosion.

-During the restoration, as tube shield bases or other mountings are removed, I further detail the chrome.

[Joseph W Strickland]

David;

Thanks for that input. I too have a round artists brush made of camel's hair - very soft with about 1 inch bristles. It gets into lots of tight spots. Like you I also use a vacuum on sets that are really dirty or have lots of what one of my friends referred to as 'house moss'. I just ran out of the old bottle of DuPont Chrome Polish I have been using. I am now using the Turtle chrome polish and I like it. It is almost identical to the DuPont product I have used for years. I use lots of Q-tips and sometimes soft tissue or paper towels and some popsicle (craft) sticks to help get into tight spots (say under a tuning capacitor). I agree on the chrome polish helping to arrest corrosion. Some members of the Fisher Forum of AudioKarma.org like to do a final coat of the Turtle Canuba wax (the kind without abrasives in it). as an extra wax coat to give a little more protection. I think the chrome polish is sufficient in most cases.

Yesterday when I removed C33, I cleaned the chrome around its base before re-installing it. Someone had already replaced the capacitor sections under the chassis and I mainly looked at the capacitor to see if it would be practical to re-stuff it and decided it would be best to just leave it as a vintage part for looks.

I finished cleaning underneath the tuning capacitor and now you can see nice chrome all the way to the other side clean and clear.

I sometimes use GoJo waterless hand cleaner on painted objects in order to get dirt etc. off of them. Then polish up with a soft paper towel and they usually look like new. This works really well on the black metal octal tubes. If one is concerned about date codes or delicate lettering, test a small spot first though.

Joe