[Amps] Unusual Solvent

[HAROLD B MANDEL]

Thinking about cleaning gunk off of electrical
apparatus brings me back to when I was working
in old mechanical telephone central office
power plants.

Some parts came wrapped in paper with heavy
grease-like stuff on the metal. This stuff, called
"Cosmoline," needed to be removed, especially
on lead (metal) contacts for flooded battery cells.

The old solvent of choice was really nasty, 
it was called Xylol or Xylene.

Then somebody discovered that Hoppe's #9
gun solvent worked wonders  on cosmoline. One of the
older switchmen. That stuff smells great, and even 
though my brain cells were probably shrivelling
there were no complaints. The chemical name
is Nitrobenzene, and I later discovered that even
though it smelled great was even a worse substance than
Trichlor.

I guess vodka must be the only one left.

Hal
W4HBM