Cleaning a Popcorn Machine

[JMiller]

OK, I give up. What do you guys use to get 30 year old coconut oil and grease off a popcorn mech? I'm working on a U-Pop-It that was put into storage full of oil and filthy decades ago. The stuff has spilled everywhere, and it's like road tar. And I haven't even talked about the smell . . .

I've tried soaking the parts in Mean Green, citric acid, dish soap, laundry soap, and even oven cleaner, and I'm barely making a dent.

What's the secret?

[cohammer]

Try taking a heat gun and heat it up till it runs then clean it that should work , that even works on tar.

[SIGNGUY]

when restoring these, I have had good luck with heating it , hot water helps and then Citrus based cleaners and abrasive sponges... it takes a lot of work and time, but it will come clean eventually... let the citrus cleaner sit on there for a while, keep it wet ... don't let it dry... and it'll come out eventually...

[MCarter]

I use Oven off to clean any that I have restored. Make sure you wear gloves.

[Larry]

I would just give it to me because I don't mind if it is dirty. 

I used easy off on stainless material before (not on aluminum) and it works fairly well.  In a well ventilated area and gloves.  Watch your eyes because its sodium hydrxide.

Heat is the key with the other style of cleaners.  I used simple green and scalding hot water before and its more of the heat than the simple green that works.  On my Popperette umbrella (inner flap piece) I used a torch and pipe cleaners once until the solder melted, but I did remove the oil. 

I would bet you that the oil used was not coconut oil.  I never ever had a problem with coconut oil.  It sounds more like corn or vegetable oil your dealing with.  That stuff is a pain in the ... to remove.

When I had my Popperette's paint saturated in baked on veg oil, I ended up using Goo Gone to remove the oil from the paint.  The paint was saved, polished, waxed, and then I only used coconut oil after that.  No problems since then.

[JMiller]

Well, Ive got it clean enough to handle after a crazy number of quarters at the carwash. The engine degreaser did some good, but the high pressure hose took off most of it. It took the paint with it. The paint peeled off in ribbons with the old grease still stuck to it. I don't know what it was, but I hope I never see it again.

At least it's clean enough to bead blast now. Thanks for the help.

[MCarter]

Got any pictures?

[SIGNGUY]

Just a question, you have disassembled the inside unit from the main housing ??  would be awefull hard to clean with it all in one piece and you'll certainly be missing some areas unless its dissembled..

Good luck!

[JMiller]

Just a question, you have disassembled the inside unit from the main housing ??  would be awefull hard to clean with it all in one piece and you'll certainly be missing some areas unless its dissembled..

Good luck!

Oh no, this is just round one. At least now I can get to the fasteners. The good news is that from what I can see the stuff really did a fantastic job of preserving the mech--it's like a mothballed Navy ship where they cover everything in Cosmoline and 20 years later the ship is ready to go back into action. My only goal now is to get it clean enough while the weather is good that I'll be able to sneak stuff into the house this winter without my wife calling the divorce lawyer.

It has 3 bullet holes in the cabinet, and they're all entry wounds, no sign of where they ever exited the cabinet. I don't see any damage, but they had to go somewhere, right? I might have an unpleasant surprise when I dig into the mech. I'll try to get some photos.