tips

[glowstix]

ok, stupid me decided to sand my blades to get the rust off then spray WD-40. after i sprayed, i wiped them but somehow, some of it got into the tip and i suppose insulated it. how can i get get this gunk out of there..i've tried cleaning the tips out...btw, i'm pretty sure thats the cause...

[rsy]

A Q-tip wetted with acetone should clean out the barrel. Make sure that it goes all the way down to the cup. You can tell it has when you pull it out it will have taken on the indentations from the cup. You may need to re-wet and repeat if you got a lot of crude in there. You can use acetone to clean the tip & spring too.

In the future, instead of WD-40, try using a gun cloth. It is much cleaner.

-r

[CvilleFencer]

As RSY has said should work just fine. I am a little paranoid about the acetone eating the cup though, so I usually follow it up with the other end of my cue tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. For keeping your blades shiny and protected I really strongly recommend a product called Renaissance Wax. The stuff is just awes, goes on in a sold past form so it sticks where you put it, and despite the small can lasts a long time.

[millsisland]

I'd stay away from the acetone and try to clean the point by dipping it into a cap of alcohol until the gunk has disolved, then repeat with fresh alcohol.

I hope you have good point control.

Mills

[cowpaste]

I really don't think you should have too much problems with a bit of acetone in your tip. There was one time I had a whole tip assembly that was messed up with superglue. I ended up soaking the thing in acetone. It freed the tip, and when I checked the insulating cup later, there was no significant damage. In your case, I'm guessing that the few drops of acetone will most likely evaporate before doing anything major to the plastic cup.

[acaba]

Originally Posted by CvilleFencer

I am a little paranoid about the acetone eating the cup though...

Long long ago I began to worry about this too. So, being an engineer, I decided to run a little test. I took apart an old broken tip and extracted the plastic cup. I poured my acetone into a container and dropped the plastic bit in. After about an hour of sitting around and smelling acetone fumes I removed the plastic bit. No degradation was visible to my eye. Then I went outside and cleared the fumes out of my head. Still no degradation.

Since different manufacturers might use different plastics in their tips, your mileage might varry. But I use acetone exclusively for cleaning my tips.

[CvilleFencer]

I did say I was paranoid about it... As in an irational, improbable or unlikely fear! I am not saying not to use acetone for this type of thing, I even use it myself, but I always worry if I don't clean it out first.

[DHCJr]

No one has suggested Tuner cleaner, which is specifically designed for electronics. Just make sure it say safe for plastic.