So this guy walks into a chat room

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Old Fogey
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So this guy walks into a chat room

#46

Post by Old Fogey »

Am I correct in assuming you are talking about cleaning the male and female connection inside the white snap together connectors?
If so, its real easy to get at them to clean.
On the male side, if you look down inside past the blades, you will see a small square space on one side of each blade.
On the female side the space at the side of each socket is more obvious.
Carefully insert a flat watchmakers screwdriver or something similar to release the small tang on the blade or socket and pull it out of the connector block to the wire side.
Just make sure before you replace it after cleaning that the small tang is sticking out enough to prevent the blade or socket from pulling back out.

Do one at a time! Do not be tempted to pull them all out at once. ( unless your name's Octane in which case you will have done it the right way with coloured and numbered diagrams and at least a top and bottom picture of each connector :) )
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octane
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Re: So this guy walks into a chat room

#47

Post by octane »

Old Fogey wrote:....

Do one at a time! Do not be tempted to pull them all out at once. ( unless your name's Octane ....
I would NEVER do that on a GL






























But I did it on my CBX
.-)

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Cookie
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#48

Post by Cookie »

I have cleaned old connectors in the past by dipping them in acid until they shine and the neutralizing them with baking soda, rinseing with water, drying and useing a protectant. That gets them pretty nice unless you forget to take them out of the acid.
I've also got some stuff used in power stations and space equipement I may try.
I believe the voltage is not correct through the points on starting. I have not checked but I assume this bike should have a two contact starter switch on the handle to give full voltage for intial starting. One could also wire this from the starter solenoid like an old car also. After that it should go to post ballast voltage. The starter switch is a replacement and does not allow for full voltage.
I'm sure I'll find lots more to correct before I'm done, I'm still in the investigating period.
Enjoy life,
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Old Fogey
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Re: So this guy walks into a chat room

#49

Post by Old Fogey »

octane wrote:
Old Fogey wrote:....

Do one at a time! Do not be tempted to pull them all out at once. ( unless your name's Octane ....
I would NEVER do that on a GL


But I did it on my CBX
.-)

Image

:shock: Um.... Er..... Yes.. Well!! A bit drastic just to clean some connectors, Lars :roll:

What I had in mind was one blade at a time!!!! lolol
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So this guy walks into a chat room

#50

Post by Old Fogey »

hey Cookie,
How come you're having all the fun???? :-D
Seriously though, hope you work through all the probs :-D
What sort of acid do you use? That sounds like a good solution (pun intended!:roll:) for getting right into the curly bits on the sockets.
"Impossible Is Just a Level of Difficulty!..."
If I'd wanted you to understand, I would have explained it better! (Johann Cruyff)
I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous! :-D
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#51

Post by Cookie »

We used to have a vat of phosphoric acid in the shop. I went to Home Depot the other day and what looked about right was Behr concrete cleaner and rust remover. I'll be experimenting with this when I have a bit of free time to clean gas tanks and connectors. I'll have to get the solution right for each application so I'll report back to you guys.
I was tempted to leave a couple connectors in a weak mixture while on my Xmas trip but if you leave them too long there might be no connectors. I'll fiddle with them when I can watch them.
On old Jag and Triumph restorations we could make all the original connectors look like new because at the time you could not just buy them for a rewire.
Do as you oughta add acid to water.
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Cookie


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#52

Post by Zacsdaddy »

You can get phosphoric acid from anyplace that sells cattle feed. We've used it at the shop to etch aluminum plates on the press cut 9 parts water to 1 part acid. Take a plastic container and don't spill it on anything you don't want eaten up.

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#53

Post by Cookie »

The funny part is I never though of cattle feed, we are a bit short of cattle in my neighborhood. We still have a horse race track and support for that. Do you use phosphoric acid for horses?
What the heck do you do with acid with cattle he asked in total ignorance?
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Owner of 4.4 76s and one lone 75 Wings (does a spare engine make .2?)
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Andrew at Classic
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#54

Post by Andrew at Classic »

You know, Coke (the drink) has phosphoric acid in it, I think. Try soaking a connector in Coke, anyone?
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Cookie
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#55

Post by Cookie »

Mythbusters did a show on that and found Coke did clean a penny, took a long time and I bet the sucker was sticky.
Enjoy life,
Cookie


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Owner of 4.4 76s and one lone 75 Wings (does a spare engine make .2?)
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#56

Post by confish86 »

What about Tarnix or Braso for a cleaner or go to a truck stop and try & find the tool that cleans the pin connectors for the wires that go into the trailer in the middle of the air lines. I remember a mechanic from this Penske shop had one & used it when i had trouble with the lights on my truck.
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#57

Post by Whiskerfish »

Andrew at Classic wrote:You know, Coke (the drink) has phosphoric acid in it, I think. Try soaking a connector in Coke, anyone?
When in the Navy our flight gear would get greased soaked from working on the helicopters. Standard procedure was to dump a can of Coke in the washer when doing your flight gear to cut the grease. It was actually recommended for a while in one of the Official manuals.
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#58

Post by Cookie »

I used to have one of those connector brushes I think came from Snap On. The one I had would have been too big for the bikes but worked great in truck connectors.
Enjoy life,
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Owner of 4.4 76s and one lone 75 Wings (does a spare engine make .2?)
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#59

Post by cyclepsycho »

If you can't find a farm suppy place, you can get Ospho which is phOSPHOric acid in the paint department of any home impovement store.
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#60

Post by Sagebrush »

Naval Jelly (the rust removing product not what you find in your belly button :-D ) contains phosphoric acid. Might work well in this application.
Naval Jelly

Description

For safe and easy removal of rust from iron and steel. Naval Jelly is useful for preparing metal surfaces for painting. Paint will adhere better to iron and steel surfaces when cleaned will Naval Jelly. It is also an ideal pretreatment for all galvanized surfaces prior to painting.

Technical Information
Appearance: Clear Viscous Liquid Solubility: 100%
Density: 8.67Lbs./Gal. pH Level: 1
Odor: Mild Rinsing: Complete
Flash Point: None Stability: Stable
Foaming: Moderate

Directions

For general cleaning of iron and steel, apply full strength with a paint brush, roller or sponge. Allow a dwell time of 5 to 20 minutes depending on the amount of rust to be removed. If heavy encrustations are present, use a wire brush to clean before applying. In severe conditions, it may be necessary to apply Naval Jelly several times. If this occurs, allow a longer dwell time, overnight if possible.

Material Safety

This product is for industrial and institutional use only. Corrosive, contains phosphoric acid.
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