Steam Cleaning of Phone Parts?

[DavePEI]

Hi All:

I am going to try an experiment. Today, as I drove to Home Hardware to pick up a replacement buffing wheel, I stopped at a yard sale.

There, I found a portable Steam Shark for $2. Figuring I had nothing to lose much, I picked it up. I am thinking of trying it to clean the insides of grungy telephones. I am wondering if anyone else has tried this with steam?

I am also wondering about trying it to clean cords - of course, one wouldn't want to stretch it out too much to clean it, but I am thinking it might work quite well. One wouldn't want to try to clean plastic cases - I am thinking of internal components, such as 302 and 500 series bases. I have seen bases that looked as though they had been collecting grease for 20 years in a kitchen, and which required a soaking in mineral spirits to clean them.

The portable steam shark gives good steam pressure, so I think it will be worth trying. For two dollars, I can't lose! I can think of quite a few phones that could have benefited from steam cleaning!

I will report on it after I play with it a bit! Over the years, by not being afraid to give different methods a try, I have discovered some great time savers (e.g. ultrasonic cleaning of dials - http://www.islandregister.com/phones/ultrasonic.html).

Dave

[cihensley@aol.com]

Dave, I will be anxious to hear your results.

Chuck

[GG]

Re. housings:  Soft plastic ones will WARP from any high-temperature treatment, and can't be saved after that. 

However, hard plastic housings such as 1960s AE 80s, were able to handle near boiling water temps without warping.  So this may be a useful way to get those pesky stickers off, such as the ones people often put in the telephone cradles.

It might also work for blasting crud out of old cracks in hard plastic housings, so repairs to those cracks would appear more seamless, and cyanoacrylate glue will close them up more tightly. 

I'd be careful with ringers, exposed induction coils, and receivers: the really thin electromagnet wires may break if blasted.  Also transmitters, on the risk that high-pressure steam could get inside somehow and affect the carbon. 

Handset cords: interesting; any improvement in cleaning those will be a good thing; also line cords can get pretty nasty if they've been dragging around on dirty floors. 

[Kenny C]

I disagree about the soft plastic not being able to be repaired in an event like that. I had a ivory F1 handset that was used on a lamp and had bowed upwards from the pressure. I put it in a pot of simmering water and bent it back into shape. I don't see why this couldn't be done with a housing.

[DavePEI]

Re. housings:  Soft plastic ones will WARP from any high-temperature treatment, and can't be saved after that. 

However, hard plastic housings such as 1960s AE 80s, were able to handle near boiling water temps without warping.  So this may be a useful way to get those pesky stickers off, such as the ones people often put in the telephone cradles.

It might also work for blasting crud out of old cracks in hard plastic housings, so repairs to those cracks would appear more seamless, and cyanoacrylate glue will close them up more tightly. 

I'd be careful with ringers, exposed induction coils, and receivers: the really thin electromagnet wires may break if blasted.  Also transmitters, on the risk that high-pressure steam could get inside somehow and affect the carbon. 

Handset cords: interesting; any improvement in cleaning those will be a good thing; also line cords can get pretty nasty if they've been dragging around on dirty floors. 

First of all, to Kenny C., while sometimes you can get lucky with soft plastic cases, I would avoid the use of steam on them. Why look for trouble.

And GG, I agree about the hard cases, but still would be careful unless you have no choice. It might, as you say help where there are cracks.

I am not to worried about wires being ripped off - the steam pressure isn't that great, but sufficient - and of course, you would want to let it all thoroughly dry after cleaning.

I am going to try it one a couple of cords later today. I don't have any really grungy sets which I haven't cleaned by other means, so trying it on one of those will have to wait.

Years ago, I was given a large quantity of 1A2 and other phones by a fellow, and these were badly mildewed - all colored cords were black, the black ones blacker than usual, and the colored cases were well on the way. It would horrify you to hear how I cleaned them all up, inside and out - I used my pressure washer! While I wouldn't recommend anyone use that method, it didn't destroy any of them, and many of them are on display today in the museum. At the time, I expected a significant casualty level, but that didn't happen.

The reason I mention that is I feel this will be a much better way to clean up grungy sets like those, and the steam will likely kill any mold on the cords!

Worth the $2, I think.

Dave

[DavePEI]

Result of a 2 minute cord cleaning - top cleaned, bottom a section of the same cord not yet cleaned. Cord placed on baking dish to collect the water from  condensed steam, and done in 1 foot sections. Each section was sprayed with steam for about 10 seconds, then wiped with cloth, cloth wound around the cords, and with fingers squeezing, pulled down the cord. Once wiped. even the center of the coil was clean. No solvents other than the water in the steam were used.

The entire cord took about 5 minutes total (less 2 minutes or so if I hadn't taken time out to take the photo), and could have been done more carefully. I just wanted a really quick test to see what it would do.

What I did find it that when you wiped the cord, it seemed less prone to reversal of the curl - though it did happen once, and to undo it was merely a matter of re-wiping the cord to let it take its natural curl. I think this is because the cord becomes more flexible with the heat from the steam, allowing you to run the cloth down the cord without inverting it.

I also did a soft gray plastic modular cord, and discovered with it, that if one heated it too much, the gray covering would get soft and bunch up when you wiped it with a cloth, but if you then wiped it in the opposite direction, it would return to normal... This cord had been wrapped with electrical tape to keep it coiled up leaving the inevitable residue - even that was removed in seconds.

Dave

[bigdaddylove]

does this mean we'll be seeing you on late night television? 

[AE_Collector]

does this mean we'll be seeing you on late night television? 

Yes Dave needs a new career since his retirement from Canada Post! See if you can get on with Jay Leno as well ..

Keep the steam cleaner away from the Strowger wall phone when it arrives tomorrow (?).

Terry

[DavePEI]

Keep the steam cleaner away from the Strowger wall phone when it arrives tomorrow (?).

Terry

Sure hope it does come tomorrow! Can't wait...

Dave

[WesternElectricBen]

I think my mom has one of those things... Maybe I could try it!