[Annoying] A Farewell to Fedron!!

[guitar9199]

Don't know if anyone else has noticed it yet or not, but Fedron is no longer available!!

I spoke with a supplier of printer/copier shop chemicals, and he said the owner of the company (Federal Mining and Manufacturing) recently passed away, and none of his children wanted to carry on the business. I know it's pretty harsh, but it's the best stuff I ever found for removing caked on toner from aluminum heatsink cleaning rollers.

The guy I spoke with at TeeVee Supply said they were currently in the process of trying to "Reverse engineer" it, but wasn't certain of any time frame. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything new.

[copyman]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

They did you a favor. I haven't used it in over 20 yrs. There are plenty of other less harsh, less cancer causing cleaners that will work with a little extra muscle. I find WD-40 works for almost every type of built up toner, labels, etc I run across.

[guitar9199]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

They did you a favor. I haven't used it in over 20 yrs. There are plenty of other less harsh, less cancer causing cleaners that will work with a little extra muscle. I find WD-40 works for almost every type of built up toner, labels, etc I run across.

I don't doubt that, but I will miss being able to drop a heatsink roller that's CAKED in toner into a container of Fedron... then coming back after rebuilding the fuser unit to remove it from the container (Gloves on, of course) and just wipe the roller back down to bare metal.

[Coptech]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

Contact Reliance Specialty Products Vapor Degreasing and Solvent Cleaning Experts >> Reliance Specialty Products about a product called Gentech. It works every bit as well as fedron and is a little safer.

[roho]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

Good Riddance!!! I hate that crap, had a tech that insisted on using it in the shop, gave me headaches when I was around it, he didn't last here but that stupid bottle of cancer is still kicking around, no one else will go near it.

[CraigW]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

We have been Fedron free for a while now. Could have re-stocked, but chose not to do so.

[slimslob]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

One thing I have used in the past to cleaning pressure roller cleaning rollers is Goof Off available from paint supply stores. Used to remove paint slopped onto hard surfaces like glass and metal.

[ZOOTECH]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

One thing I have used in the past to cleaning pressure roller cleaning rollers is Goof Off available from paint supply stores. Used to remove paint slopped onto hard surfaces like glass and metal.

You do have to be careful with Goof Off, it will melt plastic covers (learned by experience).
Luckily, I was able to cover the melted cover with the company's ID tag.

[slimslob]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

You do have to be careful with Goof Off, it will melt plastic covers (learned by experience).
Luckily, I was able to cover the melted cover with the company's ID tag.

That's why I only used it on the all metal cleaning rollers . Goo Gone, WD-40 or peanut butter for removing adhesive residue from plastic, even then still did a test patch

[Iowatech]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

That's why I only used it on the all metal cleaning rollers . Goo Gone, WD-40 or peanut butter for removing adhesive residue from plastic, even then still did a test patch

Denatured alcohol works pretty good for removing label adhesive from plastic, and it smells kind of nice too.
Apparently a buddy of mine from the mothership carried a bottle of "Everclear" for that reason, but that could just be a myth.

[slimslob]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

Denatured alcohol works pretty good for removing label adhesive from plastic, and it smells kind of nice too.
Apparently a buddy of mine from the mothership carried a bottle of "Everclear" for that reason, but that could just be a myth.

Denatured alcohol can etch t, the surface of hard clear plastic such as photo sensors and make them cloudy. It were dry out rollers and cause the surface to crack.

It is quite effective at removing sticky residue and ink from the slit glass.

[Iowatech]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

A chemist lists the things he won't work with:

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/?s=things+I+won%27t+work+with

[Lance15]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

WOW! Guess it's a good thing we don't do copier repairs.

Sorry for you copier guys.

[XLRick]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

I used this stuff in the 80's and it was giving guys liver infections if they didn't wear gloves. We didn't know how bad it was back then and many, including myself did not always wear gloves. Now, 25 years later, and I have Parkinson's which is strongly suspected to be caused by exposure to harsh solvents and Petro-chemicals. So they did you a huge favor! Glad you guys are no longer exposed to it. Good riddance!

[budw]

Re: A Farewell to Fedron!!

Fedron like many blended solvents changed composition slightly over time.

The base formula was primarily xylene. The primary additives were ethyl acetate, methanol, and ethanol.

Some cans showed MIBK or Naptha as the last (lowest percentage) ingredient.

The result was some smelly stuff, but not any more hazardous than other solvent blends, as long as good practices and personal protective equipment were used:

1) Use only in a well-ventilated area
2) Wear eye protection and gloves
3) Use a respirator as needed
4) Store the sealed can in a solvent cabinet
5) Properly dispose of any solvent-contaminated waste

I have a couple of gallons left that I would trade for acetone if anyone local is interested.