[Amps] Transformer varnish removal

[ka1xo at juno.com]

At Home Cheapo you will find gallon cans of Methyl Ethyl Ketone, quart cans of Acetone,  of Toluol or Toluene, and of isopropyl alcohol.

Try not to smoke, and don't do this in the kitchen or basement with the furnace or gas-fired water heater running.

The mixture of the above chemicals with MEK as the base and
Toluol 20%, Acetone 20%, Toluol 10% and alcohol 5% will make a particularly aggressive removing compound solvent for resinate
deposits including varnishes and polyurethanes.

The mix will not heat up by itself unless you add water. Please avoid adding water. As long as you keep the mixture in a tightly sealed metal can in a very cool location like the basement floor it will keep for
months.

Soak articles to be stripped in a covered enamel or stainless soak pan until the varnish, lacquer or poly has leached out into the solvent, and then use a parts brush with some clean solvent to finish up the tough spots.

Paste type stripping compounds employ Methyl Chloride. Compared to the stuff listed above it's in a world of Haz-Mat all by itself. A definite order of magnitude nastier, by far, but it does work. If you end up using Strip-Eze, make sure you have a fan going nearby to blow the heavier-than-air cloud of vapors away from your work station and wear Nalgene or acid-resistant gloves. MC will burn your skin, but not right away. That's the nasty part.

Hal Mandel
KA1XO