Cleaning mag plates

[wiscoboater]

Hello Gentleman,
Just a quick question. I have a basement full of old 50’s Johnsons and Evinrudes I have collected over the years. I need to start weeding them out in preparation for my upcoming retirement. Is it OK to use spray automotive brake cleaner on the mag plates to clean off all the dirt, oil, and grease that has accumulated over the years with the coils, points, condensers and wires intact? The reason I am asking is electric cleaner is double the cost, but if the brake cleaner will cause harm I will pony up the retirement dollars. Opinions?

[frankr]

That’s what I use.

[chris-p]

Taking the advice of another member, to save the skin a little, I have a bucket I fill with water/Pinesol mix. I clean parts in there, like carbs, mag plates, etc….

Smells nice, and does a good job. Take it out wash off in the wash tub with water, then blow with compressed air. Ready for ignition components.

[phil]

You did notice that he wants to do this with stator plates that still contain all the ignition parts, right?

Check out the original post.

I think there is no way I would follow those suggestions unless the plate had been completely
stripped.

http://www.omc-boats.org
http://www.aerocraft-boats.org

[chris-p]

Yeah, I didn’t see that, disregard what I said!

Only takes a minute to strip it to clean.

Not sure spraying parts cleaner over it and blowing off with compressed air, even with points/condensors and such on would hurt anything though.

[legendre]

Brake cleaner is fine, but you absolutely must use the chlorinated type, and not the "environmentally friendly" non-chlorinated version.

The former is basically tri-chlor or one of its many analogs, and will generally not harm most plastics / rubbers found in old electrical components, etc. The ‘friendly’ type is a nasty and aggressive solvent that just loves to melt plastic – it’s really better suited as a carb cleaner.

If you’re only cleaning metal, then either is OK – neither will leave a residue when it evaporates.

[legendre]

quote Chris_P:

Taking the advice of another member, to save the skin a little, I have a bucket I fill with water/Pinesol mix. I clean parts in there, like carbs, mag plates, etc….

My approach is similar, though I use Simple Green in place of the Pine-Sol. Simple Green is much easier on your skin, plus it’s biodegradable and smells better (IMO).

It also has a broader range of uses – the stuff is simply great for cleaning guns! Take the gun to bits, spray the parts down with 50/50 SG & water, then wait 15 minutes. Brush stubborn deposits with an old toothbrush, and rinse in clean running water. Then onto a cookie sheet and into the oven, set for WARM – about 150-200F. Finally, a light spray coat of whatever lube / water-barrier you like – then reassemble.

[grover]

I use John Deere Electronic Contact Cleaner; it does a remarkable job of flushing oil, grease, and dirt off anything. You can do the mag plate with all of the goodies still mounted, but be sure to put a drop of oil on the wick after using the Deere stuff.

[mr-asa]

From everything I have seen, the paint these motors used was an oil based paint. When you blast the ignition plate with brake clean to remove the oil and grime, you might also be hitting the nearby paint and the brake clean will damage the oil-based binder of those paints as well.
Whether it damages it enough to wash it away, or it just weakens it… Depends on too many factors for me to tell you. The good thing is that oil based paint gets bonded together stronger the older it is.

If you remove the plate and do it in another spot, I don’t see the problem, but I wouldn’t do it on the motors

[wiscoboater]

Thank you Gentlemen,
Your reply’s are appreciated. Great tip on the chlorinated VS non chlorinated!

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