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Not surprised your leaf blower approach didn't work. They actually don't generate as much air pressure as you would think - the nozzle's too big,
I use an air compressor (for nail guns and such) with a nozzle attachment. It works great to blast out the crud and gunk, though there's a pretty narrow window on the pressure dial between "too weak to do anything" and "strong enough to ruin the springs and tiny metal bits". Also goggles are required because the crap flies everywhere. Still, it works well and rust isn't a concern.
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polyester wrote:
I use an air compressor (for nail guns and such) with a nozzle attachment. It works great to blast out the crud and gunk, though there's a pretty narrow window on the pressure dial between "too weak to do anything" and "strong enough to ruin the springs and tiny metal bits". Also goggles are required because the crap flies everywhere. Still, it works well and rust isn't a concern.
I also use an air compressor to blast out loose dirt, dust and debris within typewriters that warrant it. It really does work wonders, although in addition to goggles I might suggest one of those respiratory masks since it can be quite hard to avoid inhaling whatever's inside. I figure that breathing in that sort of thing might be the single most dangerous part of the typewriter hobby, in my experience so far. I had a Smith-Corona Clipper last year that I'm pretty sure induced minor sickness from whatever was living in the soundproofing material. At least the machine turned out nicely.
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This is an old thread, but maybe people are still interested. I was watching the documentary "California Typewriter" (highly recommended) and the repairman took three typewriters to the car wash and power washed them.
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What a dreadful idea ! As a typewriter engineer myself I can't imagine what he was thinking of. Just think how many springs would be knocked off and lost forever, and how the water would get inside any keycards and ruin them forever ? Light steam-cleaning is possible of course. Are you sure that he was actually using a pressure-washer and not a steam cleaner ?
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Michaeldwilson wrote:
... the repairman took three typewriters to the car wash and power washed them.
Any self-respecting service technician would have his own cleaning equipment on site. I'm an amateur fiddler and dunk clean my machines at home, so why would a pro (insert sarcastic tone) have to take his machines to a car wash? It sounds ridiculous, and should serve as a reminder that there's a new breed of self-proclaimed typewriter experts out there who really have no idea what they're doing. It's also proof that you shouldn't trust everything you see in a film, even if it is a documentary.
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Thinking out loud..... one of those home weed sprayers loaded with carb cleaner?hmmmmmm.
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Not necessarily a bad idea, as long as the carb. cleaner doesn't dissolve the plastic parts of the weed sprayer ! And of course, you would have to make sure that the carb. cleaner didn't dissolve any plastic parts on the typewriter. Finally, you would have to re-lubricate the machine with an oil spray afterwards to prevent rust.