Cleaning out dust

[archosman]

3 years ago I gave some equipment to a friend to store for me and I just picked it back up.  99% of everything looks great, but it appears my RKV was left out on a shelf (unplugged) and has accumulated quite a bit of dust.  Before I fire it back up any suggestions on how to get it relatively clean?  Would not look forward to scraping out a ton of dust with a Q-tip.

 

 

 

 

 

[roadtonowhere08]

A couple of passes with this from about arm's length should take care of the dust that is able to be blown off.  I use one to clean out my computer.  You could then use a Q-Tip for any surface that you want immaculate.  Canned air can be a bit dangerous if accidentally used upside down so that liquid could spray out.  

Edited November 28, 2014 by roadtonowhere08

[johnwmclean]

Wipe it down with 100% pure isopropyl alcohol. Get to the nit and gritty with a toothbrush (that has been dunked in isopropyl alcohol).

Edited November 29, 2014 by johnwmclean

[archosman]

It doesn't appear to be caked on - just accumulated dust from sitting on a shelf.  Thought about completely removing it from the chassis to give it a good once over.  Doesn't look too difficult, but I may just see what I can do with Q-Tips and tech wipes.  I work for a station that uses something other than Isopropyl alcohol to clean video heads as well as other items.  Smells nastier than anything I've ever used before and when I get any on my hands it leaves a white film.  When I go in on Monday I'll find out exactly what it's called.

[wink]

Carbon Tetrachloride is good if the grime is greasy.

 

For yours, just a blow out with a reversed vacuum cleaner and a soft bristled paint brush about 2.5cm wide should get most of the dust off.

 

Do it in the back yard.

[johnwmclean]

Isopropyl alcohol doesn’t leave a film, if all the flux is removed. So you need to give it a good couple of cleans, to flush all the flux of the boards. 

 

I can see a few solder joints that haven’t been cleaned properly and have flux residue. ​

 

Something that air cannot remove...

[wink]

Canned air costs money, some vacuums have an air outlet  where you can plug the hose into.

 

Since the amp is low voltage, the flux isn't such a problem as in Stax driveable amps, but does show bad manufacture practice.

[bhjazz]

A couple of passes with this from about arm's length should take care of the dust that is able to be blown off.

 

I have a Metro car vac kit and it's quite amazing.  They are usually overpowered and the company has an old-school reputation for having good products.  For me, this would be a good way to finally stop buying canned air at costco.  

 

Anyway, this would be my vote for what do to - just blow it out.  

[archosman]

The chemical we use at work to clean video and audio heads is called Trichloroethylene.  I've used Isopropyl and 100% denatured alcohol to clean before, but never this stuff.  Smells pretty caustic compared to the other 2.  Anyone know anything about it?

[nikongod]

As always, start by making sure nothing is holding a charge... Observe proper HV precautions! 

 

TCE is primarily a degreaser. Probably not necessary here. 

 

If you have access to a keyboard vacuum or other similarly precise *low power* vacuum cleaner with a brush tip, I would lean towards that. Second choice would be *gentle* blowing. I would not resort to chemicals unless you want to take the whole thing apart which sounds like an epic pain in the ass. Before you vacuum/blow take the tubes out so you can really get the vacuum/blower everywhere. While the tubes are out clean them off, because tubes should look pretty and shiny, but not for any reason of performance. If you care about the markings on the tubes be VERY gentle when cleaning, and avoid solvents unless absolutely necessary - you can probably get the tubes clean enough with just a few drops of water and a clean napkin.

 

Dust is not a problem until it forms a blanket thick enough to be a thermal insulator, and you are nowhere near that point. The big exception being if it is metallic dust from metalworking but I'm assuming (there I go...) that this is conventional home/office dust so, yea, it's just ugly. 

[luvdunhill]

The advantage of canned air (I believe) is its typically ESD safe.

[Mr.Sneis]

Real deal air compressor and blower attachment!  

[archosman]

Well she lives again.  Got the majority of the dust out and fired it up tonight.

 

 

[spritzer]

Now you just need to hook up some Stax and run them single ended from the TRS plug for the best sound evah!!!! 

[nopants]

o man you totally stole that post out from under my feet

[Dusty Chalk]

Looks good!  I kinda miss my RKV.  Not enough to replace it, just a twinge of regret now and then.

[archosman]

Looks good!  I kinda miss my RKV.  Not enough to replace it, just a twinge of regret now and then.

I got it pretty dirt cheap - think I paid $350 for it off of Audiogon. At the time there weren't a lot of amps that could run the AKG K1000s off of the jack. Still have those but don't really listen to them. Was too tight of a fit on my head.

[skullguise]

I had the RKV Mk II and K-1000 combo, I thought they worked very well together.....but yeah, while I miss that combo, not rushing to replace it either.

[Dusty Chalk]

I never gave that particular combo much of a chance.

 

I still have my K1000'ses, though.  In fact, now that my mother passed away (over a year ago, not news), I have two pair.  I should get around to the surround experiment.

[Salt Peanuts]

I miss my K1000s. I wish they were still in production.

[nopants]

I remember owning two pairs and trying wearing one forwards and one backwards, I think I broke my neck

[wink]

I'm not going anywhere near that trick with my pairs....

[archosman]

Bumping up the thread... has anyone run speakers off of the Impedancer?  I was given a pair of Emotiva T1s and don't really have an amp to run them.  The specs on the speakers are:

 

Efficiency: 88 dB (2.83V/1m).
Power handling: 150W continuous / 300W peak.
Nominal impedance: 4 ohms.
Frequency response: 37 Hz – 28 kHz (+3/-3 dB).
Crossover (midrange / tweeter): 2700 Hz, 12 dB / octave
Crossover (woofer / midrange): 275 Hz, 12 dB / octave
Dual speaker terminals for bi-amping or bi-wiring.

 

Would this work or would it tax the RKV?

[JimL]

If you're serious and not tongue-in-cheek, the specs on the RKV Mk III through the "impedance" (transformer) give just over 1 watt into 8 ohms.  It's not specified for 4 ohms, but that is a tougher load.  You should be able to figure it out from there.

[archosman]

Well that answers my question!  I was trying to find my manual on it so I could find the specs with the impedancer,  but no success.  I foresee another piece of gear in my future. At least the speakers were free.