I made this topic to see what do you guys on the forms do once you receive an alarm and know that its dirty. Heres a little survey to see what do you do.
Once you receive an alarm you:
A. Test it and let it be with all its dust and bacteria thats on it.
B. Wipe off the dust with a cloth and let it be.
C. Take it all apart and clean all the pieces (except electronic parts) with soap and water.
What I do is C, take an alarm apart (Except detectors) and wash them with soap and water. I do this because, not only it cleans all the dust that has accumulated for, who knows how long but, it kills most bacteria thats also on the alarms. I say bacteria because think about it like this, fire alarms are mounted on a wall, back box or not, their will be the possibility of mold, cockroaches, and even termites or maggots that have touched or are even in the alarm. Share your response and opinions and if their’s a story add that to.
I mostly just wipe off the dirtiest parts with a cloth and clean the smaller parts using a cotton swab. On some especially disgusting alarms, I take it completely apart as you said. In special cases, such as lots of rust, extreme discolorment or paint chipping, I will sandblast and repaint certain parts (or in one case, an entire alarm, minus the electronics of course).
I typically use Windex or Goo Gone to remove dust and grime on the surface. Some of the alarms removed locally need a little more work since the infamous Pittsburgh coal dust found its way into the walls of every old building. I’ve never repainted anything since I’d rather keep them original.
If its dusty, I just wipe off the dust or grime. If its really bad, like the adhesive from tape or tough stains or dirt I use acetone. I would not recommend this method, especially for some of you younger members. Acetone is some really strong stuff and you need to be very careful when using it. You could seriously do harm to yourself or cause terrible damage to the alarm or surrounding surfaces if not used properly.
Acetone should not be used near alarms. It eats all plastic and wares the paint on metal very often. Usually its good for unpainted metal surfaces and cleaning glass but you have to make sure that their is no plastic attached to the part you’re cleaning, especially alarms.
Acetone is actually in nail polish remover, and it can melt Styrofoam. I would go with Goo Gone or Goof Off, but be cautious with Goof Off, I’ve actually bonded plastic together with it before. Goo Gone, however, is a bit less powerful.
A few times, mainly with light plates and plastic alarms, I have removed all the electrical components from the alarm devices, leaving an empty shell. Then I would take them to the sink and wash them out completely, sometimes scrubbing out crap with a toothbrush. I have also used those things called “Soap Pads” before to remove wall paint from the plastic, it works very well and doesn’t damage the plastic. I’ve also used rubbing alcohol to clean stuff off alarms. Both my 7002Ts had some sort of tan dust that was stuck to them, which I cleaned off with rubbing alcohol, and now the alarms look brand new.
I’ve never had an issue with acetone doing harm to the plastic, although I usually use it on metal for no reason other than my metal alarms were just dirtier by chance.
You do have to be careful about it removing paint though. I’ve used this method many times and as long as the paint was molded with the plastic, it will be fine. Example: It doesn’t take the red color out of a BG-10, but it will take the white paint off of where it says “Fire”…don’t ask me how I found that out. The white areas on this particular alarm are applied later, where the red color was blended in the plastic when it was molded.
ALSO The red “fire” lettering on most wheelock strobes is also sensitive to acetone.
I usually disassemble and clean new additions to my collection very carefully using paper towels, cotton swabs and a gentle all-purpose cleaner. I’ve found that Armor All gives a nice finish to plastic and metal devices with a textured surface, while car wax (I use Nu Finish) works great with smooth painted metal (especially bells) as it removes small scratches.
Since I forgot to put in one of my stories, here it is. So usually I get my alarms from Ebay sometimes not caring who the seller is or not. I always look at the pictures to see if the alarm or pull station is in good condition and then I purchase, but one time when I bought my simplex 2099-9754 that had no listing picture I freaked out when I received it. First off, the shipping box was OPEN with no packaging tape but anyway, that wasn’t the worst part. Once I took out the alarm I wish I have never touched it. It was covered in a layer of gunk like it was dust, mold, dirt, and who else know what but you couldn’t see the redness anymore. Plus the lock was corroded shut in the open position. So after my encounter with I guess a hairy Simplex T-bar, I put on my gloves and wash the thing like the CDC would wash their equipment. I took it all apart and scrubbed the thing with dish soap, rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush. By the way, dish soap is really good for cleaning alarms. So after battling chewbacca I then get the lock that did not let its “B” key in, and I put it in vinegar as this dissolves any rust and grime. After the vinegar bath, I give the lock a “WD-40” shower to finish the job and then i’m done. I put it back together and now I have an amazing 2099-9754 :mrgreen:.
For certain Gentex smoke alarms, it actually says in the manual that you can disassemble the detector and submerse and swish the entire sensing chamber in mild soapy water, then rinse and let it air dry. I wouldn’t use that technique with any other smoke detectors, but apparently with several Gentex models, that is a recommended cleaning method.
I only clean my alarms if they’re very dirty or yellowed (rubbing alcohol seems to remove yellowing for me). Though the alarms on my house system are never cleaned, they are only cleaned before an installation. All pull stations can be cleaned, though they are also rarely cleaned. Sorry for not being so active… for about 4 months :lol:
I use alot of the techniques listed above, and use Mean Green to try to get alarms looking newer. (heard about Mean Green in a series of pinball repair videos) I’ve used Goof Off on my Federal Signal/Autocall smokes that I got that were marked with marker, for the most part it worked but I couldn’t get in to the grooves of the textured surface. Also, as EdwardsFan suggested, someone should try the car headlight cleaner on a strobe to see what it does.
