Old Scope Got Wet and Left a Weird Nasty Stain On the Carpet

[Cyberdragon]

So as I have mentioned before I have a very old Siamese cat that makes a mess everywhere. She can't use the litterbox anymore and often ends up pissing and pooping behind stuff and it has to be cleaned up. A favorite place is behind a couple of my scopes near the box where she sleeps. I usually just spray and dab up stains using carpet cleaner and then spraying deodorizing foam. This often gets on my scopes (expecially the foam, which gets everywhere due to the screwy nozzle that sprays way too much). I didn't think this was any issue since I had not seen any visual signs of rust or anything damaged.

WRONG!

I happened to notice a weird stain seeping from the bottom of my Paco S-55 (same one that got the panel vomited on). I pulled out the scope and to my horror the light brown carpet had turned vibrant beetroot purple towards the back of where it was resting. The bottom of the unit does not look excessively damaged except for a bunch of small weird rusticle looking things and the paint starting to blister a tiny bit in a few spots. Popping these tiny blisters release some nasty oily liquid. My newer 80s scope is untouched by this even though it gets blasted with cleaner occasionally to.

Does anyone know what this could be? I have a theory that something could be reacting to the paint, which could be leaded, resulting in a similar effect to chemical lead paint testers only on a large scale. And if so, how do I remove it? Using more carpet cleaner only seems to remove a tiny bit at a time, barely making a dent.

[SilverSolder]

Is it possible to rip out the carpet and have a nice maintainable hard floor instead? - never regretted doing that in every house I've ever moved into! 

[Cyberdragon]

It's a rental...

[maginnovision]

That's funny, when I moved into my current house I had to rip up two wood floors and 1 tile to get carpet installed.

[rdl]

Wood floors are the fashion now. I went to renew my apt. lease in June and the manager asked me if I wanted them to install new wood floors. She said there are only five units left that still have carpet and vinyl. Apparently they even put the wood in bathrooms, which seems kind of weird to me.

[SilverSolder]

Wood floors are the fashion now. I went to renew my apt. lease in June and the manager asked me if I wanted them to install new wood floors. She said there are only five units left that still have carpet and vinyl. Apparently they even put the wood in bathrooms, which seems kind of weird to me.

Might not be real wood?  The "simulated wood" looks really good these days, and is tough as nails (much tougher than real wood).

[james_s]

Cat pee is incredibly corrosive stuff, I don't know what would have caused a purple stain but I suspect a chemist would have some ideas. Maybe try a chemistry forum or reach out to a chemistry professor at a local university, even a highschool science teacher might have some ideas.

[NiHaoMike]

Might it be old plastics breaking down?

[Cyberdragon]

What plastic? It came from an entirely metal case, also, that usually stains green not purple. The cord is coiled up on it's holder in the back, I'll check for plasticizer leaks but I don't know how it would get under the case.

Perhaps a photo is in order.

mind the already filthy carpet, and bits of shredded paper towel where I tried to scrub it up.

[newbrain]

She did it on purpose.
The stain looks remarkably like a cat head (more so in the thumbnail, TBH).

[bd139]

Cat pissed in one of my scopes once. It’ll stink terribly when it gets warm. In my case the bastard blew it up.

I have no cats any more. Highly recommended. Horrible creatures.

[Rascal]

I have a Cossor 1035 (1960's) scope that left a oily stain on a wooden floor. To be honest I never got to the bottom of it but my initial suspicion was leaky oil filled Capacitor(s) that i believe they used in that model. I dont know if these 'Visconol' caps contained enough oil to cause the mess but whatever it was the floorboard soaked the stuff up!

Paul

[bd139]

That may have actually had an oil filled transformer in it. Notoriously leaky.

[Cyberdragon]

That may have actually had an oil filled transformer in it. Notoriously leaky.

OOF, sounds plausible. It would explain the random overheats and weird mist (not smoke) it would emit (though I haven't used it in years). I'll have to take it apart to inspect but does that mean it'd FUBAR?

[bd139]

Was replying to Rascal on the transformer. The Paco S-55 looks like a standard EI clamped transformer from some googling. Regarding yours it’s probably rusty cat piss 

I’d tape the cat to the scope and throw it in the sea 

[GreyWoolfe]

Was replying to Rascal on the transformer. The Paco S-55 looks like a standard EI clamped transformer from some googling. Regarding yours it’s probably rusty cat piss 

I’d tape the cat to the scope and throw it in the sea 

 

[newbrain]

I’d tape the cat to the scope and throw it in the sea 

That would be wanton cruelty towards a PET*


* Probe Equipped Testgear.

[tom66]

If you butter the other side of the scope when you tape the cat to it,  you could use it to generate infinite power.

[rdl]

This is a long shot, but you might try cleaning the stain with something that contains phosphoric acid.

[Refrigerator]

If the residue is rusty piss some vinegar should help remove it.
People de-rust engine parts in vinegar so it's certainly capable of handling rust.
Other than that, if the carpet is synthetic you can try some oven cleaner spray as a last resort, it should help break down oils and such, in case of leaky oil filled transformer.

[duckduck]

Popping these tiny blisters release some nasty oily liquid.

That sentence is going to give me nightmares.

My wife's cat escaped from the dungeon and peed on a guitar tuner pedal of mine. Stripped the powder coated finish right off of the aluminum. Nasty stuff, cat urine is.

You might try moving up the scale of eco-unfriendlyness until you find something that works better. Some things I can think of to try (test in a small area first, duh):

Not-so-bad ideas:

You might experiment with dilute acid (distilled vinegar) and base (lye), separately, of course, to see if either has an effect. Always add acids (and strong bases) to water, not the other way 'round.

Pet-stain-remover
Oxidizing cleaner (Oxyclean is a popular brand in the USA market for these types of cleaners)
Isopropyl alcohol
Electrical contact cleaner (this is generally good for getting stains off of plastics without melting them - CRC makes a good one in the USA)

Less-bad bad ideas:

NON-CHLORINATED brake cleaner
MEK (this shouldn't melt the carpet)

Bad ideas:

Carbon Tetrachloride (carcinogenic, but it will fully evaporate - wear a respirator and open the windows)


My money is on Oxyclean.

[themadhippy]

following the logic of using white wine on red wine spills maybe some k9p  will work

[JohnnyMalaria]

What plastic? It came from an entirely metal case, also, that usually stains green not purple. The cord is coiled up on it's holder in the back, I'll check for plasticizer leaks but I don't know how it would get under the case.

Perhaps a photo is in order.

mind the already filthy carpet, and bits of shredded paper towel where I tried to scrub it up.

Color resembles aged transformer oil:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319248536_Monitoring_Power_Transformers_Oils_Deterioration_Using_Structured_Laser_Illumination_Planar_Imaging/figures?lo=1

(FYI, not too impressed about the cat comments. Remember, "Siamese don't like it, it's not the cat's fault, it's not the cat's fault" - The Clash)

[Cyberdragon]

Well the cat has since died of jaw disease...won't be pissing on anything anymore (unless we get another cat).

I thought someone said the scope in question had a standard open iron core?

[Refrigerator]

Well the cat has since died of jaw disease...won't be pissing on anything anymore (unless we get another cat).

I thought someone said the scope in question had a standard open iron core?

You might want to check that to confirm.