How to best clean a RF shield?

[ADz]

Hi,

I've dug my A1200 out from loft and want to give it a nice clean and upgrade.

The shielding is no longer clean and shiny, it now looks old, grey and corroded.

I was wondering what would be best way to get rid of the crap? Somebody said vinegar?

Upon opening I found.

[Lord Aga]

This is a good question. I've tried an (apparently too) aggressive anti-rust chemical, and it has only made things worse Half of the shield is now rusty.
So if there's a tested solution it would be nice to hear it

[ADz]

Indeed. This is why I was looking for a tried/tested solution instead of me making it worse.

Somebody said use vinegar and then finalize it with some lacquer to coat it as the vinegar will remove the rust but actually also make it more prone to more rusting without it been coated.

This is probably what happened to yours, did you coat it with anything afterwards?

[Lord Aga]

No I didn't And it is indeed what happened. I can clean it again. You can actually see the rust going away, but it just appears again in a matter of hours (minutes?).
Also, the shield has a dull metal look now. No more shiny mirror look.

So we're waiting for someone to confirm a true and tested method

[fitzsteve]

Best way to treat metals is to rub down and apply and anti rust primer and re-spray. It wont look original though,

Or put up a wanted thread over at Amibay to see if you can get one in better condition.

Or try the eBay traders.

[Vot]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

Best way to treat metals is to rub down and apply and anti rust primer and re-spray. It wont look original though,

Or put up a wanted thread over at Amibay to see if you can get one in better condition.

Or try the eBay traders.

I did vaguely consider electroplating one at one point, then i thought id be better off flushing my money down the toilet

[ADz]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

Best way to treat metals is to rub down and apply and anti rust primer and re-spray. It wont look original though,

Or put up a wanted thread over at Amibay to see if you can get one in better condition.

Or try the eBay traders.

Thanks Steve, what do you recommend re-spray with?

I would rather clean then replace at this stage as this is the A1200 from when I was a kid so want to keep it as original parts as possible

[pandy71]

As this is same type steel as used in cans then you can just clean rust to plain metal (i would say mechanically - sandpaper/steel wool) then apply Tin solder with large soldering iron (or if you feel brave enough with torch - use correct flux only or better - you can consider using soldering paste normally used in plumbing to solder copper pipes - applied with some firm brush then slowly heat place - torch is better due large surface but also it require more manual skills - practice - do not overheat as it will get immediately new colors, wash well before soldering with some paint thinner to remove all grease remains that can burn and change color).

[ Show youtube player ]

[Vot]

Pandy71 you try for us and show us how to do it

And yes to me in looks like its mild steel (or iron) that has tin plating on it.

[Lord Aga]

Originally Posted by ADz

Thanks Steve, what do you recommend re-spray with?

Would something like this do the job:

http://www.reichelt.de/Paints-and-Co...f1&LANGUAGE=EN

[Vot]

Id probably remove all traces of rust, (sanding it) then treat it with rust converter then etch prime it.

[pandy71]

Originally Posted by Vot

Pandy71 you try for us and show us how to do it

And yes to me in looks like its mild steel (or iron) that has tin plating on it.

Haha, sorry but i made this multiple time but never on this kind of thing - from my perspective it simple not worth such effort but i believe if someone is determined to restore exactly shape then similar techniques should be applied as during manufacturing process - Tin have low melting point thus this should be possible to recover shield to normal conditions - of course there is another way - just go to specialized service where they provide this kind of plating - they have large bath with melted tin and the just place things inside to cover with tin - furnace plating or similar - or galvanic tin plating - this will cost more than paint but it will look much better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinning

[Hewitson]

If I really wanted to try and bring it back to its original appearance I would clean it with a scotch-brite pad (or some fairly light grade sandpaper if required) and then cut and polish it.

I personally think that painting it is an easier and much more permanent solution.

[Vot]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

If I really wanted to try and bring it back to its original appearance I would clean it with a scotch-brite pad (or some fairly light grade sandpaper if required) and then cut and polish it.

I personally think that painting it is an easier and much more permanent solution.

Doesn't work unfortunately, when they rust, the tin coating has failed, it just rusts again in a short period of time. Its just tin plated..

As mentioned before you could get it electroplated, but not worth the cost I think.

[pandy71]

Originally Posted by Vot

Doesn't work unfortunately, when they rust, the tin coating has failed, it just rusts again in a short period of time. Its just tin plated..

As mentioned before you could get it electroplated, but not worth the cost I think.

I bet that if you check yellow pages then you will find at least one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roofer in your neighborhood - for them is few minutes job - just clean rust completely to bare naked metal before to save their time - [ Show youtube player ]

[Vot]

Yea that should work great, hopefully it looks uniform when finished, like to see someone try it out..

[AMike]

Wenol is the best product to clean the RF shield if it's not to rusty. (little rust is no problem) http://www.amazon.com/Harold-Imports.../dp/B0000DE4QE
It tooks a little time and you have to polish the shield for 3 or 4 times, but after that it looks very clean and shiny.

[Turran]

I use "Svinto" (swedish word for it). Basically steel wool. Gets rid of all the rust.

https://www.google.se/search?q=st%C3...w=1920&bih=943

[pandy71]

Originally Posted by Vot

Yea that should work great, hopefully it looks uniform when finished, like to see someone try it out..

To make it look uniform probably electroplating is required... but to protect and provide more or less similar look or soldering iron or torch method - torch can provide more uniform look but steel issue will be in thickness of the Tin layer - normally steel for such shielding is plated in electrochemical process - is very thin and uniform with nice (silver like) surface.

Of course same method can be applied but in home conditions anything like this will be difficult - sometimes chemical Tin plating can be used but most available methods imply copper thus same problem - first clean rust then place copper then tin - with this size of shield - to complicated.

Aaaa instead to torch some hot air gun can be used - most of them going to 400C deg thus they should be sufficient to heat relatively small area and melt Tin.

So a bit of soldering paste, hot air, well cleaned shielding and it should work nicely - i think doable in home.