Cleaning rubber rollers

[DaveC]

Alcohol dries rubber eventually hardening rollers. Thinking of printer
rollers here.

What alternative cleaner do you use on printer rollers and such?

I’ll take my answer off the air. (c:

Thanks.

[gregz]

I have used careful sanding. LOL I don't have long term results of rubber
rejuvenators. I also don't know if quick alcohol cleaning does long term
damage.
There are other fast drying electronic cleaners.

Greg

[N_Cook]

I usually find the opposite problem ,surface goes shiney, a light rub
around with beautician's backed-sandpaper sliver, whatever they call them

[Robert Roland]

On Sat, 22 Oct 2016 22:38:50 -0700, DaveC <n...@home.cow> wrote:

>What alternative cleaner do you use on printer rollers and such?

Many years ago, when I did that dype of stuff, we had a spray can
labelled "Rubber Roller Restorer". It was used by spraying on and
wiping off.

A quick Google search reveals that several manufacurers make a product
of that name.
--
RoRo

[Kenny]

"DaveC" wrote in message
news:0001HW.1DBC846A0...@news.eternal-september.org...

Platenclene.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Automation-Facilities-Platenclene-Cleaning-Spray/dp/B0012IKSHO

Kenny

[legg]

The Platen is the glass surface in photocopiers.....

RL

[Andy Burns]

legg wrote:

> "Kenny" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> What alternative cleaner do you use on printer rollers and such?
>>

>> Platenclene.
>> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Automation-Facilities-Platenclene-Cleaning-Spray/dp/B0012IKSHO

>
> The Platen is the glass surface in photocopiers.....

The platen is also the rubber roller of a typewriter, anyway the
manufacturer refers to it as a rubber restorer

<http://www.af-net.com/products/search-product-detail/pcl100-platenclene/>

[Allodoxaphobia]

On Sat, 22 Oct 2016 22:38:50 -0700, DaveC wrote:
> Alcohol dries rubber eventually hardening rollers. Thinking of printer
> rollers here.
>
> What alternative cleaner do you use on printer rollers and such?

A couple hundred years ago I had a small side business repairing
typewriters and small office equipment. I used Fedron to "restore"
rubber rollers, as well as a little Very Light sanding of the surface if
it was glazed.

An Amazon.com ref:

http://tinyurl.com/hmjh5et

I was surprised to see the stuff still available now that
all the typewriteras are either in museums or landfills. :-)

Jonesy
--
Marvin L Jones | Marvin | W3DHJ.net | linux
38.238N 104.547W | @ jonz.net | Jonesy | FreeBSD
* Killfiling google & XXXXbanter.com: jonz.net/ng.htm

[Kenny]

"legg" wrote in message news:5bep0c11t18khod7m...@4ax.com...

I always used Platenclene for VCR and audio tape deck pinch rollers, you
obviously didn't read the description of what it is.

[DaveC]

On 22 Oct 2016, DaveC wrote
(in article<0001HW.1DBC846A0...@news.eternal-september.org>):

-=-=-=-

I’ve been misunderstood from the get-go.

The rollers are fine. I don’t need a restorer. I just want to keep from
accelerating their hardening over time by using a cleaner that doesn’t dry
them out faster than heat and oxygen do.

I’ll check out the links to cleaners some provided.

Thanks.

[legg]

I was unaware that the term had been adopted to describe the
typewriter part, for which this product was designed. In printing or
publishing, the platen is generally flat, unless specifically designed
for odd surfaces.

The product description of the original post (Amazon) was
uninformative.

RL

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 23 Oct 2016 13:22:49 -0700, DaveC <n...@home.cow> wrote:

>On 22 Oct 2016, DaveC wrote
>(in article<0001HW.1DBC846A0...@news.eternal-september.org>):
>
>> Alcohol dries rubber eventually hardening rollers. Thinking of printer
>> rollers here.
>>
>> What alternative cleaner do you use on printer rollers and such?
>>
>> I’ll take my answer off the air. (c:
>>
>> Thanks.
>
>-=-=-=-
>
>I’ve been misunderstood from the get-go.

No, you mis-stated the problem. Read your own posting and see how you
would answer your own question. You asked for a "cleaner" and
received several suitable replies.

>The rollers are fine. I don’t need a restorer. I just want to keep from
>accelerating their hardening over time by using a cleaner that doesn’t dry
>them out faster than heat and oxygen do.

You could make a fortune if you had a process for doing that.

Rubber rollers contain a well controlled percentage of some type of
oil. It's this oil that gives the rubber its flexibility which helps
prevent surface wear. As I vaguely recall and am too lazy to search
for, it's about 10-25% oil by weight. The way the oil is injected
into the rubber is with a solvent carrier. These are usually noxious
solvents such as toluene and xylene. The oil can be almost anything
that doesn't attack the rubber or interfere with the various rubber
additives. Here's a pitch line for soy oil in rubber:
<http://soynewuses.org/wp-content/uploads/44422_MOS_Rubber.pdf>
"Tests have shown that using soy oil in tires can potentially
increase tread life by 10 percent while reducing the use
of petroleum-based oil."

When rubber "dries out", it really means that it has lost most of the
surface oil mixed in with the rubber. Smearing some oil on the
surface won't replace the oil. What does work is a mix of oil and a
carrier (tolune or xylene) which expands the rubber sufficiently for
the oil to be absorbed. How much is absorbed will determine the life
of the rubber part. Too much and it might fall apart. Too little and
you're left with a rock hard surface. Using pure solvent, with no
oil, is a guaranteed failure because it expands the rubber, but does
not replace any of the missing oil.

Note that this has nothing to do with the vulcanization failure in
rubber, where the rubber de-vulcanizes, reverts back to "natural"
rubber, and turns into a sticky, gooey, tar-like mess.

Good luck.

--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

[M Philbrook]

In article <0001HW.1DBC846A0...@news.eternal-
september.org>, n...@home.cow says...

>
> Alcohol dries rubber eventually hardening rollers. Thinking of printer
> rollers here.
>
> What alternative cleaner do you use on printer rollers and such?
>

> I?ll take my answer off the air. (c:
>
> Thanks.

liter fluid..

Jamie

[N_Cook]

Do you happen to know what causes contangion in rubber ?
If one band fails by stretching or going gooey, then the others usually
are failing in the same way. I'm assuming they are not of the same batch
at manufacturing and then the same ageing failure but some gas or
biological vector moving about inside a casing

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 25 Oct 2016 12:00:08 +0100, N_Cook <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:

>Do you happen to know what causes contangion in rubber ?
>If one band fails by stretching or going gooey, then the others usually
>are failing in the same way. I'm assuming they are not of the same batch
>at manufacturing and then the same ageing failure but some gas or
>biological vector moving about inside a casing

Sorry, no clue. I have seen the problem, but simply assumed that
there was some kind of gaseous attack on the rubber and that all the
rubber parts were equally affected. This might offer a clue as to
what is happening:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_recycling#Tire_pyrolysis>
However, I don't see how heating in an oxygen free environment
explains the deterioration found in consumer electronics.

I really wished that I knew the mechanism, because I could then make a
fortune devulcanizing rubber automobile tires and recycling the
resultant "goo" into new tires.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanization#Devulcanization>

Incidentally, there are bacteria that eat rubber:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanization#Microbial_degradation>
<http://www.rubbernews.com/article/19950710/ISSUE/307109993/tire-eating-bacteria-under-study>
and eat other hydrocarbons (plastic, fuel, sewage, etc):
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbial_corrosion>
or the nightmare of having our plastics dominated civilization eaten
alive by GMO bugs:
<http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/224678-plastic-eating-bacteria-set-to-revolutionize-waste-disposal>
<http://www.sciencealert.com/new-plastic-munching-bacteria-could-fuel-a-recycling-revolution>

[pf...@aol.com]

On Tuesday, October 25, 2016 at 4:11:42 PM UTC-4, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Oct 2016 12:00:08 +0100, N_Cook <div...@tcp.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >Do you happen to know what causes contangion in rubber ?
> >If one band fails by stretching or going gooey, then the others usually
> >are failing in the same way. I'm assuming they are not of the same batch
> >at manufacturing and then the same ageing failure but some gas or
> >biological vector moving about inside a casing

Three things, from the most to least common, and depending on the composition of the material:

a) Ozone - Ozone will attack both synthetic and natural rubber from neoprene to latex-based materials to a greater or lesser degree depending on various admixtures. Ozone is pretty much everywhere there are motors, electrical parts that switch on and off, lightening, automobiles, fuel-fired systems and more.

b) UV - Any rubber material as above exposed to UV will gradually dry out, or even melt as the hardeners are compromised. Some materials are an amalgam of celluloid based components and rubber components that will also decay very quickly when exposed to UV. Remember celluloid doll heads and other toys shrinking and crumbling over time.

c) Outgassing - many products made from natural and man-made materials, especially odd mixes as were commonly used 'back in the day' are prone to outgassing as well as some level of oxidation, even if not vulnerable to UV or Ozone. The most obvious of these is Catalin, a pre-Bakelite product that is made from the same basic ingredients, but without the aggregates (typically carbon-black, lignen (sawdust) and other stabilizers. Many soft rubbers used as platens were made from specialized mixtures with peculiar admixtures to give them specific properties. Which evaporated over time - sometimes (as with catalin) a very, very long time.

Chemical restorers attempt to undo/repair damage by replacing volatiles. That is about all that can be done without adding non-OEM materials. The ideal is to stay ahead of the damage rather than to try and recover once started.

This, in some ways, is similar to White Metal disease, which is due to environmental exposure to trace amounts of such things as formaldehyde - present (back in the day) in insulation, glues, plywood and much more. It is a matter of specific material, types of exposure, local environmental conditions and several other factors, no single one being the single cause.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 25 Oct 2016 14:00:49 -0700 (PDT), "pf...@aol.com"
<pf...@aol.com> wrote:

>Chemical restorers attempt to undo/repair damage by replacing volatiles.
>That is about all that can be done without adding non-OEM materials.
>The ideal is to stay ahead of the damage rather than to try and
>recover once started.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I once found a paper that discusses
rubber roller life in copier service. To obtain reliable operation,
the oil impregnated in the roller must be maintained. It seems that
the roller changes diameter when the oil is lost. The heat in the
fuser section makes evaporation a serious problem. Here's a patent
for one system for replacing the oil while the copier is running:
"Oil secreting supply roller for an electrophotographic printer"
<https://www.google.com/patents/EP1350142A2>
While not a practical solution for turntables and tape machines, it
might be adapted to laser printers.

I found another article a few months ago on roller life versus roller
oil content, but can't find it. maybe later.

gotta run...