17 Years of "Grime" on an Axis card

[donl517]

I had my Z axis start going haywire. Swapped the A axis card with the Z and the problem went away. The card that was in the Z slot looks to be an original 1991. It is caked with, for lack of a better term, grime. I'd like to clean it up and try it again to see if that is the problem, but it would need to be soaked thourghly to get this stuff off. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Any service centers out there that does this kind of thing?

Thanks,
Don

[Switcher]

We use this stuff at work, when we preset our tools/holders, we spray the holder so that we can put a sticker on the holder to ID the tool at the machine. The tools are always coated in oil, once the LPS (Electro Contact Cleaner) is sprayed onto the holder the oil just evaporates, no residue, nothing.

I did a search for 'CONTACT CLEANER', Here is a link to buy the stuff, I didn't realize they had so many diff. types. You'll have to read thru each one to find the best, for your job.

You might also check with a local auto parts store, might be a lot cheaper?

I would do this away from the machine (NO power, No connection to machine), the vapor from this stuff will ignite from a spark/heat source.

We had a guy (not me ) use this stuff out on the shop floor one time, he was running a grinder, while it was running he was cleaning something below the work area, the vapor flamed up real quik, lost the eybrows!



.

[Chris64]

I used this stuff years ago. It worked awesome and didn't harm anything (like plastics) for me.
http://www.altex.com/product_info.php?products_id=4088

[Mariss Freimanis]

Wash the card with hot water and liquid dish soap. Use a brush to scrub it. Rinse throughly with hot water, shake the board dry and put it in a box. Cut a hole in the box to admit the end of a hair dryer. Set the hair dryer on the low setting and turn it on for 15 minutes. The board will look like new when you remove it.

Mariss

[donl517]

Thanks Guys! I ordered some stuff from MSC, I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.

Don

[Delw]

Wash the card with hot water and liquid dish soap. Use a brush to scrub it. Rinse throughly with hot water, shake the board dry and put it in a box. Cut a hole in the box to admit the end of a hair dryer. Set the hair dryer on the low setting and turn it on for 15 minutes. The board will look like new when you remove it.

Mariss

Mariss great tip.
Thats the way I was taught also. we did all our acroloc boards like that.
one thing I did learn is be very careful with multi layer boards, as if the seal is broken and you get water in them your in trouble( same goes for contact cleaner). for multi layer boards we let them dry in the AZ heat for 1-2 days ( usually over the weekend) then put them back in. we did blow dry them first to get most of the water out of them.
if you have a multi layer board don't bend it always stand it up when holding it so it wont twist and possibly break the seal betweent he 2 boards)

Delw

[Neal]

What ever you use make sure that it leaves NO RESIDUE at all. Also make sure it is not acidic.

[donl517]

UPDATE:

Well the contact cleaner wouldn't touch the stuff that was built up on the card. So I took it to the sink and used some warm soapy water, as suggested, and a toothbrush. It cleaned up real nice. I then used some more of the contact cleaner on some of the areas where the build up had been worked loose. I blew it down with an airhose and put it under a furnace blower for a couple of hours. Back in the machine now and she works great!!!

Thanks for the suggestions!
Don

New replacement card: $1,050.00

Contact Cleaner: $12.50
Soapy Water: Free (for the most part)
1/2 hour of elbow grease.

[donl517]

Guess I spoke too soon! On the second power up she went haywire and blew the fuse again.

Don