Rono,

Having had some fire damaged equipment myself, I can say there is no
easy answer. Rubbing alcohol removes a lot of the soot very well, but
can damage some plastics and finishes. Anything mechanical, like a VCR
will probably have so much junk in the bearings and moving parts that
they are not worth the effort, as cleaning will remove all lubrication.
Also, however much cleaning you do, expect some residual odor forever,
especially in hot, humid weather.

To clean out a preamp of mine, which was not easily replaced, I had to
remove the 4 PC boards, scrub them down with alcohol and rinse them off
with water, then use a fan to force dry the boards. The metal work had
to go in the sink with lots of hot water. The preamp took 6-8 hours,
but was an expensive unit that was easy to take apart, and had no moving
parts other than the switches and controls which I was able to
relubricate.

The soot is likely to have some conductivity, as it is mostly carbon,
so it can cause all sorts of problems in high impedance circuits and
high voltage circuits.

In general, there is a good reason that insurance companies "TOTAL"
equipment that has been through fires.

Regards,
Tim Schwartz
Bristol Electronics


Rono wrote:

What's the best cleaner, or mixture of cleaners
to do cleanup of "fire damaged" T.V.'s, VCR's,
stereos, computers, & monitors? I've heard people
say, use spray-9, & glass cleaner, & aftershave mixed
together! Anyone have a special mix? Rono.