Cleaning vintage R/C gearbox and diffs?

[Kaare-65]

Wondering what is the best (and safest) way to clean vintage R/C gearbox and Diffs.

I have done a lot of searching and see that a lot of people use Naptha, I am just wondering if it is safe to use on a vintage gearbox, diffs, and "gears"?

If it helps......Of course I am talking about an RC10 as well as Kyosho Optima and Optima mid parts

[Lonestar]

Not sure if the best way... but I use warm water, dish soap and an old toothbrush first.

Then kitchen towel and motor spray (which is a trychlo-base, so try to use gloves as much as possible) for greasy residues

[jwscab]

Naptha is pretty bad, I wouldn't use it at all. Maybe for nitro.

Use simple green full strength or diluted, on any plastic or steel parts. Aluminum parts can sometimes shadow stain so use caution there. I drop the parts in and let soak 24 hrs or however long you forget. Follow up with a scrubbing with a tooth brush and that will clean them.up nicely. Alternatively and as a second bath, regular dish soap and warm water works awesome(again with the tooth brush)

[mikea96]

I second the simple green soak then warm water and dish soap.

[Kaare-65]

Which type of Simple Green? They now have the original recipe, along with industrial cleaner & degreaser, clean building, heavy duty, crystal, and I think one or two more.

I am guessing the original, All Purpose, Stuff.


Thanks for the info. Simple question, but I'm glad I asked before taking others advice.

[mikea96]

I use the original myself.

[TRX-1-3]

QD electronics cleaner and also Mass Air Flow Sensor cleaner (spray cans) will degrease quickly without harming plastics (greasy diff components).

[jwscab]

Yeah the original green stuff is what is use.

[Coelacanth]

WD-40 and a toothbrush, then a rinse in hot water and Dawn dish soap.

[Kaare-65]

Thanks for all the answers. I have been using dawn, just picked up some simple green, but still need to get WD-40.....that stuff was always a sin to have around when I grew up.

Also have a bunch of bottles of Hydrogen Peroxide for the RC10's white part.

[LTO_Dave]

Spray Nine cleaner works really well for grease on plastics. I just used some and a toothbrush on a set of Yokomo diff pulleys.

Dawn Power Dissolver was the most amazing cleaner I've ever used but it's been long discontinued.

[RC10th]

Simple green is good as it conditions both rubber and plastic, it doesn't contain any harsh solvents to dry out plastic or rubber.