Cleaning wiring looms.. How do YOU do it??

G

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How do you guys clean your cabinet wiring loom..??

I have heard some people put them in the dishwasher, but I would be
concerned about the connectors/oxidation? Do you just blow them out with
air or spray something on them afterwards?

What is the best method of cleaning any oxidisation from connectors?

Hoops
 
G

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Hi there

not sure why you would want to clean these as a priority? I would say
it is is only dust that will get on the looms and this cam be removed
with a dmap cloth without having to remove them from the cabinet. This
is particularly the case with EM looms since they have a cloth covering
on the wire. Get them wet and you may start corrosion on the wires
themselves, requring a new loom.

As for the connector pins, if they are corroded, replace them. The cost
and time isn't worth trying to file them or use any form of chemcial
(which may do more damage than good).

Corrosion will increase reistance in your power lines and eventually
burn the connectors. On GI or other lines to the MPU/Swith
matrix/dirver boards, it will start to cause shorts or intermittantly
working features.

Hope this helps

Ric
 

JB

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Mar 30, 2004
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What vintage machine? If a newer one with plastic insulation on the wires,
what I do is cut the cable ties and use a good degreaser/soap like
"Fantastik" to wipe each wire (pull a soap-soaked rag along the wire), then
rejoin the harness with new cable ties as I go. Takes a couple hours to do
all three harnesses on a WPC-era game (switch, lighting, high-power).

The connectors are a different story; dependng on condition, I either
rebuild/replace or clean them individually.

FWIW, I would never use a dishwashing machine for any of this. Major
corrosion risk, especially for microswitches. Doing it by hand may be
tedious, but for me this is a hobby and I relish every moment spent on the
detail work.

Later,
-JB

"Hoopstar" <hr350@adam.com.au> wrote in message
news:1120636156.97535@teuthos...
> How do you guys clean your cabinet wiring loom..??
>
> I have heard some people put them in the dishwasher, but I would be
> concerned about the connectors/oxidation? Do you just blow them out with
> air or spray something on them afterwards?
>
> What is the best method of cleaning any oxidisation from connectors?
>
> Hoops
>
>
 

martin

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2004
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Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I used the dishwasher, no soap but I did prewash the loom by hand with
Novus. Next time, I will use a detergent first and then follow up with
the dishwasher after a rinse.

In my case, the only problem I had was 3 microswitches went unreliable
and had to be replaced. Everynthing else was fine. I did blow out all
connectors with a compressor, our water is hard enough that there would
have been deposits otherwise. I also used heated dry, but our
dishwasher does not have exposed heating elements. They would be a big
risk to a wiring loom.

The harness came out very nice. There were a few wax deposits remaining
(previously, it looked like soemone had just poured liquid wax into the
machine).
 
G

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Guest
Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Cleaning them as part of a restoration on a very grotty, smoke covered
machine :(


"Ric" <riclewin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1120636810.926019.320280@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Hi there
>
> not sure why you would want to clean these as a priority? I would say
> it is is only dust that will get on the looms and this cam be removed
> with a dmap cloth without having to remove them from the cabinet. This
> is particularly the case with EM looms since they have a cloth covering
> on the wire. Get them wet and you may start corrosion on the wires
> themselves, requring a new loom.
>
> As for the connector pins, if they are corroded, replace them. The cost
> and time isn't worth trying to file them or use any form of chemcial
> (which may do more damage than good).
>
> Corrosion will increase reistance in your power lines and eventually
> burn the connectors. On GI or other lines to the MPU/Swith
> matrix/dirver boards, it will start to cause shorts or intermittantly
> working features.
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Ric
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Yep - let model looms..

thanks JB..!!


"JB" <jb@video_REMOVE_THIS_engine.com> wrote in message
news:0QNye.1618$Tc6.759@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> What vintage machine? If a newer one with plastic insulation on the
> wires,
> what I do is cut the cable ties and use a good degreaser/soap like
> "Fantastik" to wipe each wire (pull a soap-soaked rag along the wire),
> then
> rejoin the harness with new cable ties as I go. Takes a couple hours to
> do
> all three harnesses on a WPC-era game (switch, lighting, high-power).
>
> The connectors are a different story; dependng on condition, I either
> rebuild/replace or clean them individually.
>
> FWIW, I would never use a dishwashing machine for any of this. Major
> corrosion risk, especially for microswitches. Doing it by hand may be
> tedious, but for me this is a hobby and I relish every moment spent on the
> detail work.
>
> Later,
> -JB
>
> "Hoopstar" <hr350@adam.com.au> wrote in message
> news:1120636156.97535@teuthos...
>> How do you guys clean your cabinet wiring loom..??
>>
>> I have heard some people put them in the dishwasher, but I would be
>> concerned about the connectors/oxidation? Do you just blow them out with
>> air or spray something on them afterwards?
>>
>> What is the best method of cleaning any oxidisation from connectors?
>>
>> Hoops
>>
>>
>
>
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

On Wed, 6 Jul 2005 17:17:55 +0930, Hoopstar <hr350@adam.com.au> wrote:
> How do you guys clean your cabinet wiring loom..??

Carbeurator cleaner.


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