Cleaning EM wiring loom/harness?

[Stewie Caines]

New to EM restorations, done plenty of Solid State games. I recently picked
up a couple of EM games that need to be completely overhauled. Whilst I'm
cleaning mechanisms, redoing solder joints etc, is it possible to clean the
wiring looms? I'm not sure about using the steam cleaning method as per a
late model game, as the wiring insulation appears to be all cotten covered.
I might make it worse rather than better, would this method remove the die
on the cotton cover? Anyone done this before? Am I better just hitting it
with compressed air and whatever that removes, settling with that?

Both these games have spent a while sitting outdoors, undercover but
outdoors none the less. The grim on the game including the wiring loom is
thick and grotty.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.


Stewie

[TimMe]

When I'm going to do a full restoration on an old EM, I'll pull the
bottom board insert out of the cabinet. I'll remove all the
components from the board - it isn't all that hard to do -- and I'll
clean the board itself with a random-orbit sander using 220-grit
disks. Then I'll seal the wood with a couple of spray coats of satin-
finish polyurethane.

While the components and the associated wiring harness are separated
from the bottom board, I'll clean the wiring by spraying a cloth rag
with a spray-cleaner like Fantastik. Then I'll just wipe off the
cloth wiring harness with the damp rag, following up with a dry rag.
The cloth insulation will be damp at first but will dry out in 15
minutes or so. If the wires are especially dirty, I repeat the
cleaning process. I've never tried steam cleaning cloth wiring, but
it's something you probably want to try on some scrap wire before
hitting your actual game harness.

Hope this helps - TimMe, Team-EM (CARGPB3)
"Spamming RGP with incessant postings about... pinball."

[Stewie Caines]

Thanks for the commentsTimMe, much appreciated. Anyone else have experience
at this?

[Al]

Post by Stewie Caines
Thanks for the commentsTimMe, much appreciated. Anyone else have experience
at this?

Vacuum all wires first before cleaning to get loose dirt off.

Alan