Post Burning Man cleaning advice?

[norty303]

Ok, so I've got a pair of lasers I built for BM back to me for cleaning and service.
Hopefully it'll be the driver deck that's worst as the top was pretty well sealed.
I heard they had some pretty fierce dust storms this year so I'm expecting they took in quite a lot through the unfiltered exhaust fans.

Any advice on do's and dont's?

Feeling the dust I can see that using any sort of fluid initially would be a no-no. I've got an airline which can be adjusted for pressure. I'm thinking a partial strip and blow out with airline whilst using a soft brush.

[Draco]

I don't know if this is a good idea with optics but other parts i use a steam cleaner, that generally works out very well, even if it's rum and coke spilled into a power supply, but it seems to work well for pcb and other stuff, optics you would get water inside and cause major fogging. steam and a clean brush do work wonders with no solvents

[dnar]

I would try this:

1. Low pressure blow out to move the bulk easy stuff.
2. Coat all optics in First Contact.
3. High pressure blow out, aided with a small soft paint brush and/cloth.
4. Pull the first contact and repeat from step 2.

[norty303]

The playa dust is apparently very alkaline so I wanted to avoid making a solution of it if possible. I'm hoping I'm not going to have to tough optics but it'll be First Contact if I do I think.

[dnar]

I don't think a few minutes in solution would be bad.

[Draco]

the water from my well is probably worse that anything that can make, not having a steam cleaner would be a problem though, the one i use has hose to the hand piece, it's a lot better then the cheesy "shark brand" but i got it from a thrift store, and i have used it many times on power supplies, driver boards for lasers and a few other things and then blast it dry with compressed air.
parts like inductors and potentiometers i do not hit with steam, if you item has these then i would not use a stream cleaner around them.

Deionized water would be safe to use since it has basically no minerals in it that will leave a residue behind

[buffo]

I've spoken with a few laserists who have taken equipment to "the burn". They all say the same thing: You have two categories of gear - stuff that has been to Burning man, and stuff that hasn't. Because once a projector is exposed to the Playa dust, it is never the same.

Good luck with the cleaning!

Adam

[dnar]

He he. How to best clean a Projector post burning man?

Don't take it there!

[norty303]

To be fair, they were built specifically for the sound camp, so it wasn't really in their history to 'not' go to BM....

[dnar]

Hermetically sealed is the answer. Cooling is a challenge but definitely doable.