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Romoving Tar/Pitch

Sorry Steve !

Oh dear I seem to have put my foot in it again !
Steve I can only apologise suggesting Acetone for your clean up job, I use it all the time now and have used it in the past on shell bodies covered in nasty substances prior to painting them-never gave a thought to its "melting" things capabilities.
Sorry again !
 
Believe it or not, hand sanitizer works wonders on tar & sap, and won't harm painted surfaces etc. Also safe to use w/ bare hands :smile:.
 
Depends on item you need to remove the tar but you may also put it in a freezer for some hours. Then tar becomes very fragile and easy to chisel and scratch out.
 
You might have seen from time to time my posts of type 55 fuzes laid bare. As you probably know, these fuzes are filled with tar to provide insulation around the condenser block and the components of the electric circuit. My method involves patience. After removing the heavily rusted steel outer case, I chip away most of the tar by hand. Working carefully this can take several hours. The bits that remain are then cleaned off with white spirit, any excess white spirit being carefully wiped away.

I did try once submerging the entire fuze in white spirit for 48 hours. This worked well except that I am not convinced that the plastic part of the switch block was completely unaffected. I wish I had taken a `before' photo first.
 
[I did try once submerging the entire fuze in white spirit for 48 hours. This worked well except that I am not convinced that the plastic part of the switch block was completely unaffected. I wish I had taken a `before' photo first.[/QUOTE]

On second thoughts, don't do this. I just had another look at my fuze and I now think that the white spirit had started to work on the plastic parts.
 
I find that petrol can be useful as a solvent but don't know how well it might work on tar.
 
Soaking for 48 hours would most probably affect the plastic. It would be best to use a tooth brush and scrub out as much White spirit as much as possible but do within a couple of hours and then dry rather than expose for long periods.
 
We used to use Eucalyptus oil to remove bitumen If we got burnt when we were felt fixers,, it dissolves it very well,, and didn't sting like mad,, may be worth a go,,


Cheers Nick
 
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