Help, Miele Capricorn (in fact any Miele with gelled up paint)

[fantomfan57]

Does anyone know how to remove gelled up paint from ABS plastic?

I have a shell and lid of a Miele Capricorn from California whos paint has turned to sticky gel.

I tried a water based paint remover with disappointing results. Something aerosol would be great as there are lots of nooks and crannies.

There are cleaning products out there I remember with warnings not to let it get on pained surfaces....perhaps....for my needs....?

 

[vacuumdevil]

ABS plastic is different than what your Capricorn has. Your Capricorn's plastic is plastidipped™.

It's actually rather delicate and can stuff easily or worse yet have the finish come off completely.
If you're gentle you can use Mr clean magic erasers.
Scrub too hard with them and you can take your paint right off. Good luck to you man.

 

[fantomfan57]

Thanks,

but, I read the letters ABS stamped in the plastic.

Also, research brought me to one product....Dot 4 brake fluid.

But, Easy-Off popped into my head and I tried that. Plastic scrub brush and it melts away.

This means I can repaint the machine any color I choose.

Be safe out there!

 

[madman]

Funny, I was gonna suggest brake fluid. Oven cleaner was a good idea. In general, I stay away from 'safe' and 'eco-friendly' chemicals, that's just a fancy way of saying they suck at their job. Use the real harsh caustic paint stripper that burns your skin and wrinkles the hairs in your nose. Cuz it gets the job done.

Also, brake fluid is a very nasty chemical. If it weren't used as brake fluid, I guarantee you it'd be banned it most first world countries. It's not terribly harmful to get on your skin or anything (though you should wash it off soon), but it's very toxic.

 

[fantomfan57]

HA!

I like the way you think.

I painted it......Cherry Red!

Although it is set up to be used with a power nozzle, I am going to use it as a straight suction. Why, because the hose for the Capricorn is expensive...the SES 130 controls the motor speed on the handle. Besides, this machine originally was to be used for parts for my s5211/Euro conversion. That one has been restored.

Tried it out yesterday, went well until, after all my work, I pulled the cord out too far and broke the cord reel. DUH!

No worries, I will come across one somewhere.

 

[ilovehoovers]

On the s5211

I've got an S5210 in need of an EU -> US conversion. Could you start a thread on how you did it? Thanks!

 

[fantomfan57]

Well.....

I kinda already did that somewhere on here.

Basically, I replaced the cord (whole) thing on the cord reel instead of replacing the plug.

Then I purchased a motor which turned out not to be the one for my purposes because I could not get it to respond to the speed controller. After speed controller number 3, I picked up a Capricorn, switched the upper body, switched the indicator for one of the speed controllers and it worked. Cleaned up everything and now I have a working straight suction vacuum.

I turned my attention to the Capricorn "parts" machine. Cleaned off the gelled silver paint off of the lid, upper shell and the on/off & cord retract buttons. I repainted it cherry red and put it back together. As before, the motor worked but could not be controlled. I had one more thing to do, craft the bag dock/holder spring. Using an extra lid spring, I fashioned the part.

As stated before, after all that, I broke the cord reel. I will be calling my Miele friend in the morning to find out what I did wrong to break the cord reel.

On a side note, this evening, I figured out how to repair the extra cord reel and will attempt the same with the one I broke.

You have got to replace the EURO motor with an American one that can be controlled by what ever speed controller you have on your machine.