Restoring Brushed Aluminium (Black)

Hi chaps,

I've got a bit of a problem with my Micromega CD. The casing is black brushed aluminium, and during it's life (probably the shop that sold it me) some bright spark decided it would be a good idea to buff it up with what looks like car wax.

This made it look very shiny – until now. As the wax is ageing and “going off†it's starting to become white, trouble is it's only white in-between the grain of the aluminium. This makes it look patchy and unclean.

Do any of you have any ideas as to what I can use to get rid of it? I've so far tried scrubbing it with a clean rag and water, also a rag with white spirit (in a small area). Neither has touched it. Would perhaps black colour car wax work?

Anyway any suggestions on how to get my case back to deep black would be most appreciated

Rick

 

You could try Armour All, that is said to put back some of the more volatile components. Are you certain its wax ? It could be the laquer used to seal in the finished coat of what ever the black finish is.

If white spirit has failed, you could try duraglit the wadding stuff. But always test a small area first!!

 

if it is car wax or similar then car trim / bumper restorer would get it off (the stuff you use to get white wax marks off black plastic mouldings)

 

Thanks for that,

I'm 90% sure it's wax, one of the main reasons is that you can actually see the circular motions used to apply it in some parts

Will Duraglit not scratch the surface zanash? Also do you think the trim restorer work on metal midlifecrisis?

I will definately give Armour All a try anyway....

 

The wadding cleaner [in the little tin] is the chemical cleaner not the abrasive in the bottle ...your thinking of brasso which is excelent at getting he scratches out of perspex if your careful

 

Turps is good at removing greasy stains.

On my Pioneer A400, I washed my front panel in the sink with washing up liquid(!) when I had to take it off for replacing the volume pot.

 

Had momentary visions of balancing the amp on the edge of the sink under a running tap!

 

If you can find a can I would strongly recommend 'Servisol Foam Cleanser 30'. This is an amazing aerosol cleaner and is non-destructive on anything I have used it on.

I used to buy and sell vintage analogue synths and I discovered the stuff way back then – it removes all grease based grime and stuff and really makes removing stickers etc easy. I have used it on a hell of a lot of audio equipment over the years including brushed black aluminium kit and it works a treat - the stuff comes up as new. Its safe on both metal and plastic. You can get it from good electronics stores and occasionally find it at computer fairs.

Tony.

 

Thanks again for all your helps guys,

Found a can of the Servisol here,

http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr1657.html

so I'll give the other more readily available (i.e. supermarkets etc) solutions a try first. If they fail then I'll get myself a can of the Servisol.

Hopefully one of the solutions will remove it. If the wax hadn't hardened in the grain of the aluminium I think it would be easier

 

What about "T-Cut" that is used fro getting wax offf of car body work, be carefull as is slightly abrasive, I have used small amont of shoe polish and shoe brush on MF X series, before and this may work after you have got rid of wax.

 

Armour All and T-Cut are probably not good products to use. Whilst Armour All is a reasonable product it does need buffing properly to avoid the greasy residue which will only attract dirt. T-cut is a mild polish designed for removing paint and so will not really help here.

I would either use a Micro Fibre cloth if you have one or a very soft toothbrush. BTW Autoglym's Bumper Shine will remove old wax but as with the Armour All the difficulty is in removing the new product.

 

Just remebered that some computer modders have used "toothpaste" to remove scratches from anodised alu cases, don't know if that would work, probably as well as t cut which is for removing PAINT and WAX from car bodies the paint colour you see on your cloth is layer of paint that was under wax so wax removed basicaly t cut is a fine cutting paste and will definately remove wax but use with caution incase of scratches (like swirly ones on polished tt lid or bonnet of your car.

 

I would not use Armor-all or T-cut.

I would use servisol or GT85.

 

Maplin sell a wide range of Servisol products and I believe they do the foam cleanser too.

 

Thanks again for all the info :beer:

I'm yet to find time to try these ideas believe it or not, been out gardening at the mo!!

I'll let you know what finally worked when I get time to try.

 

I reckon that if you use an abrasive cleaner ( duraglit, t-cut, etc ) on your Aluminium finish you could very easily damage it for good.
The black brushed surface will either be hard anodised or possibly transluscent black paint and clear laquered over a plain brushed aluminium base.
The Servisol anti-static cleaner as already mentioned gets my vote too, i use it all the time. Most independant computer stores will sell it and i'm sure that i saw it for sale in PC World last time i was in there.

 

Servisol distributors http://servisol.co.uk/distributors.htm I now remember this product from years ago - it is good stuff.

A cheap and easy option might be to use a slightly damp matchstick. The dampness makes the wood (?) softer and less likely to damage the surface.

 

Sorted :banana:

Right, well I thought I'd combine two of the solutions. Toothpaste by it self (on a rag) did little; a toothbrush with nothing on it also didn't do much. However when combined it took the wax right out of the grooves.

So I was then left with a finish that was in some places shiny and some very dull, so I looked around the house for polishes of various types. It was then I happened on WD40, I read the back and found it can be used to clean metals. So I sprayed some on a rag and just wiped it over the surface, and low and behold a beautiful deep and consistently shiny (if very slightly slippery but nothing to worry about) black emerged.

On continuing it's left a fantastic shine on the aluminium, very cheaply. Very chuffed

Thanks for all the info dudes, hope this might help someone in the future.

 

WD40 works a treat of brown suede shoes or boots too as a proofer. Just spray them a couple of days before you need them. The darkness it gives them fades after a short while.

Anyway back to hifi.........

 

OK if you want your black brushed Aluminium to be shiny. For a more natural finish I use Sainsburys Glass Cleaner. Only needs a little bit squirted onto a duster. It removes oil and grease and a clean duster takes it away without smearing.