Restoring 8455 - how to clean pneumatic elements?

[NathanR]

I just managed to get hold of one of my grail sets, the 8455 Back-Hoe Loader. It's missing a few pieces, but it's in remarkably good condition given that it looks like it was played with in a sandpit and then forgotten about for years. I'm now trying to figure out how best to clean everything.

I've completely dismantled the model. Lego elements that are pure plastic have been washed in warm water with a splash of dish-washing soap, rinsed in cold water, then allowed to air dry. They now look like brand new. However, I'm not sure how best to clean the pneumatic pumps, cylinders, switches, hoses, and the tyres.

For the rubber tyres and pneumatic hoses, can I wash them in either water or soapy water without damaging them? If I immerse the rubber pneumatic hoses, how do I fully dry them out again?

For the pneumatic cylinders, pumps and switches, how do I clean the outsides without getting any moisture inside them? Also, the metal piston rods of the cylinders are showing traces of dirt and possibly corrosion, so how should I deal with those?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Stereo]

Tires, hoses and switches should be fine to wash the outside in soapy water, I might not submerge the switches, but only to prevent washing out any internal lubricant, they're all rubber/plastic and it's fine if they get wet.  For me I just brush dust off the metal piston rods with my finger but I don't know if there are more aggressive safe options.

[Stormyy]

As of corrosion on rods, I can't give an advice, hoses are fine to be washed in soapy water, use pressurized air to dry them from the inside. When talking about  not getting inside of pumps and cylinders wet, just stick a long hose onto outlets, so when the second hose output stays dry, inside of pneumatic component stays dry, too. 

[Johnny1360]

You can remove corrosion off the metal rods with some super fine steel wool and a bit of gentle elbow grease, worked for me.

[allanp]

I hesitate to suggest this, use with CAUTION!

The best results I've had with cleaning pneumatic cylinder rods was by spinning the whole thing by the rod end using a motor, and then using a small amount of metal polish on a rag to clean the rod. This gets them like brand spanking new if the corrosion isn't really bad. Then lubricate with silicone oil.

But you really have to be careful not to allow any metal polish to get at the rubber seals. My method probably wasn't the best but it seems to have worked. I was very careful only to use just enough metal polish to do the job (using a motor to spin the rod really cuts down on the amount of metal polish you need to use), I then used a fresh clean cloth to "buff" the rod so to speak and remove as much residue as possible, and used silicone oil to rinse the area around the seal. And I was also careful to never retract the rod even by a mm until I was happy it was clean.

[TechnicRCRacer]

I’ve been able to clean light corrosion off the rods with great success using Deoxit contact cleaner. The cylinder rods look practically brand new after using it.

[NathanR]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the responses! I've been able to successfully clean up all the elements. What I feared was corrosion on the metal rods in the pneumatic cylinders turned out to just be surface dirt. Set now looks like brand new!