Hi guys, i just found a nice GF-555 for a very little price, radio is working, tape are not, leds light and all knob works.

Sounds loud, knobs are a little hard to move...

It s very dirty, as you can see from pics this boombox need a good cleaning( plastics, metal, antennas, plexiglass is "foggy") and miss the little front panel that covers the record levels and dub function knob...and it miss something under the radio tuner indicator...is't it?? i think a metal cover with the APLD tags...

I think that with a good job this boombox will be beautiful again...i m here to ask you some advices, i never had a boombox in such dirty conditions and i dont want to waste time or ruin it cleaning in a wrong way, so what will be a good method to give this gf a new life?

of course, if it s possible to find the missing parts from someone in the forum, let me know! or at least i can use a little piece of plastic....

ps: i already read some topic about cleaning, but most are talking about US brand-products that i cant find since i live in italy...

Congrats...I love GF's!

I'd be taking it apart completely and giving the case a bath with just washing up liquid.

The decks are likely to have the gooey capstan issue so will need taking out and sorting.

Bit of switch cleaner on all the pots and sliders and they'll be smooth again.

That little metal panel is often missing so you may have difficulty getting a replacement.

I've got the 525 which I think is basically the same underneath and is a good box, has a real quality feel to it and good sound.

Try using cotton cloth soaked in kerosene to clean, starting with a test area. In my experience, it has never given me any trouble.

Even cloth wetted with mild soap water will remove the dirt to good extent.

There is no need of removing the entire internals to do this.

A bubble bath in the bath tub requires the entire internal electronics and mechanisms to be removed, to have the bare body!

Use baby soap (no matter what brand), and a soft tooth brush - they will do the job.

 I'm sorry, but these advices are very harmful and dangerous for  boomboxes.

1. Kerosene will damage the painted surface of the cabinet, as any thinner, alcohol, etc.

2. For a "bubble bath", the radio has to be completely disassembled.

I agree thats why I put that I'd take it apart completely...it is harmful if people can't read and weren't aware that bathing it assembled might be slightly stupid

If it were just a bit of surface dirt then some would be satisfied with a quick wipe over but that thing is filthy and personally I like my boxes really clean  but clearly, as I said, I'd take it apart first

Ah, my bad, but even "cloth wetted with mild soap water" might damage some of internals, and it's not enough, to clean it 100%.

To be honest I've given some boxes a pretty thorough clean without disassembly and as long as you're really careful its fine...but a proper bath is best as me mum used to say .  Wouldn't go anywhere near kerosene though myself...I'd likely burn the house down  

to avoid damage, less is better. a drop of ph7 soap (like baby soap, as Metad correctly suggests), being neither acid nor basic, will do the trick. together with a lot of care and patience and persistence.

but there's nothing wrong in bathing the assembled units, i do it all the time. only, i wonder why they never work afterwards  

Haha, LOL 

My experience is Kerosene will not damage paint/screen print or acrylic glass. All the boxes in this photo are heavily cleaned with kerosene, rubbing hard to restore the surfaces (I should say Paraffin oil, the lamp oil or fuel oil available in the barbecue section of Supermarkets, raw kerosene is not available here for purchase). It includes a National RX-7000, Sharp GF-909, Pioneer SK-95 and Sharp GF-305. I have also used it on Kenwood Midi Systems with Printed letter on aluminium as well as black plastic body. You can use it anywhere except paper, like the speaker cone.

Please test yourself on old electronic junk at your home, other than the valuable boomboxes.

Kerosene will remove paint (enamel paint, not spray paint which dries instantly) when the paint is wet, but can not remove it after the paint is dried. Hence I use it for cleaning brush, cleanup while working etc.

Point No. 2 - Oh sorry - My mistake in expressing the matter. What I meant was, if you go for a surface rub as I suggested, there is no need of going for removing all the internals. Otherwise it is a big, risky, tedious job to remove every electronics from the box, sometimes even involving de-soldering.

Posting edited to avoid confusion.

3malick you can check this post also.

LINK ERROR.2#295011598232113082

...first of all thanks everybody, a lot of interesting advices.

i have to say, i want to see my gf-555 like "brand new", so i m interested in the bubble bath and in the kerosene thing...(sorry  for my english but i m kinda tired now after a day at work)...i have to read the answers better and translate well, and read the post Deech told me to check.

i already opened other boxes, a gf4646, so i think with a little patiance i should be able to do it...i should have some holydays so i should have some free time to work on it!

tomorrow i will decide, continue to post guys!!!!

Well, cleaning brushes and stuff - not the same as cleaning painted plastic radios.

Sorry to hear you didn't know, that kerosene affects plastic and painted surfaces.

Please check the 'cautions' from various Sharp manuals.

Pl. see the advise from S2G Pro DocP

index.php?board_oid=193392314111653483&content_oid=295996858638017819

I don't have any intention of putting anybody in trouble or ruin any valuable boombox. It is from my own experience on various components, I suggested using kerosene. It is 4 years' since my first 1992 Kenwood midi was cleaned so, which is still like a showroom piece today.

Pl. try it or discard it at your discretion. I will not recommend it any further.

I still wonder, anybody has 5 minutes to try it on any piece of junk electronic/electrical appliance at home to prove me wrong.

And what he says

"wipe off Immediately" !

Keep in mind he's saying about clear window POLISHINING.

Yes, it means you could polish the window after kerosene.

But don't forget you can't polish painted boombox cabinet, if kerosene damage the surface.

You're saying about risky to disassemble: "Otherwise it is a big, risky, tedious job to remove every electronics from the box, sometimes even involving de-soldering",

which is not a risk at all, and in any case could be fixed, but don't bother about real risk for the external appearance of the boombox, after using the kerosene.

Once again:

If someone doesn't know about kerosene specifications, and  it's unfriendly for some sorts of plastic and paint, manufacturer took care of it, and printed the 'caution' in the owners manual.

Please see the post above.

What is the reason to use kerosene to remove grease from the cabinet, if it's possible to do with baby soap ?

hi everybody!

nice to see the discussion is going on...

meanwhile i decide to disassemble the box -thanks to the manual i found in the forum- everything was simple apart for a screw that was so hard...in the end i broke it but boombox was safe! than i put the front cover in the bath with soap for a while and i have to say i m happy with the result...plastic and metal looks very nice and shine,

but the plexiglass tuner-cover still look dirty...not really transparent...

how can i do to make it look like glass-transparent???

--tomorrow i ll try in an old boombox with some kerosene, just to try it --

tomorrow i ll clean the inside of the boombox becuse is full of dust...i already cleaned all the buttons with cotton and soap...some pics now

hehehe!

Great pic it will clean up nicely!

Never tried kerosene though.

ok, i finally finished to clean the boombox, i will post the pics tomorrow...

i m happy with the result...

opening the box i found that the decktapes are not working in the PLAY mode, but the other functions such as ffw or pause o rewind works.... really, when u push the play button u can hear the sound, but the tape doesn t rewind inside the tape...i dont know if i m explaining well...what canbe the problem?

thanks and merry christmas everybody!