Gooey rubber bits

From: Doug <doug_at_blinkenlights.com>
Date: Mon Mar 1 03:27:10 1999

On Mon, 1 Mar 1999, Olminkhof wrote:

> I've often see rubber items on old printers and stuff go "gooey" like this.
> Does anyone understand why this happens and whether it is reversible?
> Sometimes in 2 different examples of the same machine, one has the problem
> and the other hasn't.

I don't know the exact chemical reactions, but it has to do with the type
of rubber used:
        natural rubber + O2 -> goo
        foam rubber + O2 -> dust
        synthetic rubber + O2 -> harder synthetic rubber
or something like that....

Almost all rubber I've encountered in HP equipment has turned to goo.
The rubber heathkit used in the lid of the H8 and the H11 also goes gooey.
One of the oldest pieces of equipment I have, a Friden Flexowriter, seems
to have survived well except for the rubber that was used on the AC cord.

-- Doug
Received on Mon Mar 01 1999 - 03:27:10 GMT