Mold growing on wiring

[roknroll]

Anyone have a technique or product they use to kill off and remove white mold from the cloth wiring in a vintage Fender amp without harming surrounding parts?
Yea, I know I can vacuum it, but I would like to take it a step further.
The amp was kept foolishly by my customer for many years in an unheated garage. The source of the problem is no longer a threat as the amp is now stored indoors.
Thanks
JK

[M Fowler]

Use bleach on a rag to kill mold.

[tubeswell]

But wait till the bleach thoroughly drys before switching the amp on

[TheElectricMoron]

I use the brakeparts cleaner spray can stuff from auto parts stores to clean amps. A fraction of the cost of "audio quality" cleaners and the same stuff is in the can. Hose out the amp with it and the mold will be history. Make sure you get the non-residue type.

This stuff is the hot trick for any grungy old amp. The only downside is not being able to use it in the house for that odd tube socket cuz it really blasts. But you prolly don't want to breath it anyway. But I have used it on just a bunch of amps and have never been anything but happy with the results - at about 1/10 the cost of electical cleaners and just WAY easy to use.

JMO of course YMMV

Charlie

[roknroll]

Thanks guys!!

[Structo]

I think I would be leery of using bleach in there.
It can react to different things and may damage more than it fixes.
With that cloth wiring I would afraid of any chemical in there.
If you do try one of these, I would pull the transformers first.

[M Fowler]

I didn't say go crazy with the bleach just wipe it down with the rag.

[Dai H.]

how about ethanol. Doesn't it kill mold? Putting amps, etc. in a big plastic bag might be a good idea for long storage (basically to try to keep it from being damp). Al electros will have gone un-formed too.

[MBD115]

Doesn't Vinegar kill mold?

[soma_hero]

In the lab we wipe out mold from the incubators with good ol 70% Ethanol in water. Just put some on a rag and wipe er down.

The trick is, you'll probably want to wet the rag, wrap it around the cloth gently so you don't spread spores around, and then pull from one end down to remove the mold. The spores are delicate so if you go all Rambo on them you'll be blowing them all over the place and wherever they rest they'll probably start to grow again.

I would use ethanol over bleach, and be gentle in your motions. No potential here for screwing up other stuff since the ethanol will evaporate very quickly to leave no trace.

[M Fowler]

Okay but I will still continue to use diluted bleach to kill mold in my home as most people around here do with flood clean-up.

Since I don't have mold in any of my amps at the moment I can't try the alcohol.

[soma_hero]

Yeah 10% bleach is used as a general disinfectant. Not topical though, we just have containers we dump growth culture media into, or used glassware and such. Kills everything. Alcohol will do the same thing though a little more mildly and won't have any adverse reactions with innocuous items like bleach will since it's such a powerful oxidant.

Unless the dye in your cloth is soluble in ethanol its definitely the easier option. Bleach is more complete for sure...

[Dai H.]

another thing (which might be very important since this concerns personal safety so someone who knows please jump in and confirm or not) it was my understanding that mixing bleach and alcohol produces a very noxious and lethal poison, so (if that is true) BE VERY CAREFUL that you don't mix, try them both out, etc.

[soma_hero]

bleach and ammonia is a no no. alcohol and bleach is no problem. In fact often to remove any residual bleach an ethanol wipe is used after disinfection with bleach.

[Dai H.]

cool thx. Might have been some chlorine based household cleaners I was thinking of with warnings not to mix.