You should use isopropyl alcohol, not rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol can
have oils and other things added and, because the percentage of alcohol is
fairly low, will contain a lot of water. Use 99% or 100% isopropyl alcohol
to clean your display.
Use a lint-free cloth, Chem wipes are even better. Dampen, don't soak the
cloth or wipe in the alcohol. Raise all of the dots in the display by
entering a line of equals (computer Braille), dots 123456, or better yet,
dots 12345678. Wipe the display, changing wipes as necessary until the dots
are "squeaky clean." Press e-chord to create a blank line and wipe the cell
caps just as thoroughly. Pan back to your line of "all dots up," repeat the
process until the dots and cell caps are all squeaky clean. Don't worry
about over cleaning, you won't be able to do that. You can clean the entire
outside of the Braille Lite with the isopropyl alcohol and lint-free cloth
or wipes, if you wish.
You can also use a Soft (please I do mean soft, not hard) bristle brush, or
soft toothbrush to dislodge debris from the holes in the cell caps (if the
display has gotten that soiled). To do this, turn the unit upside down so
that debris will fall out of the unit and not into the display once it is
dislodged. Wet the soft bristled brush with the isopropyl alcohol, allowing
excess to drip off. With the unit turned off, gently clean the cell caps
with the brush. Don't jam, or force or shove the bristle ends into the
holes, just clean the entire display gently and the bristles will,
hopefully, dislodge any material blocking the holes through which the pins
normally rise. You may need to re-wet the brush many times in order to
really clean the entire display. Take your time, keep the unit upside down
and be gentle.
After you are finished, you may notice that the pins will "hang" in the
raised position until you gently touch them, at which point they will drop.
This is due to the dampness of the sides of the pin and should go away as
the pins dry, this is, in part why you want to use 100% isopropyl alcohol,
eliminating the residual water.
I hope this information is helpful.
73
Ron Miller
N6MSA
Dunedin, FL USA
SKYPE Arjay1
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Tom Brennan
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 2:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ot - braille lite and other braille displays
I've always been told to use alcohol and have even seen it in tech manuals.
Tom
Tom Brennan KD5VIJ, CCC-A/SLP
web page http://titan.sfasu.edu/~g_brennantg/sonicpage.html
On Thu, 19 Sep 2013, Howard Traxler wrote:
> Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 07:07:11 -0500
> From: Howard Traxler <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: ot - braille lite and other braille displays
>
> Are you sure it's OK to clean those with alcohol? I think those dots
> = and cells are made of plastic and I always thought that alcohol
> caused = plastic to distort its shape; sort of shape shifting, as it were.
>
> I have a PowerBraille 40 that has many dots that don't come up. I
> think = it's just dirty. If it's really OK, I think I'll try cleaning
> it with = alcohol.
>
> I also have a PowerBraille 80 that has lots of dots that stay up--NOT
> = because it's dirty. I'm sure the problem is electronic. I sent it
> to = FS and $800 later, it came back worse. Would like to find
> someone who = knows about the electronics in these things. Any
suggestions?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Howard
> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: "Tom Brennan" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 8:07 PM
> Subject: Re: ot - braille lite
>
>
> > Gary, perhaps its just dirty. Try cleaning with alcohol. Make sure
> > =
> you give it
> > a good five minutes to completely dry before you power it back up.
> >=20
> > Tom
> >=20
> >=20
> > Tom Brennan KD5VIJ, CCC-A/SLP
> > web page http://titan.sfasu.edu/~g_brennantg/sonicpage.html
>
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