How do you deep-clean a Selectric?

[enthdegree]

I recently came into possession of an almost-working but extremely dirty Correcting Selectric II that I am willing to put a ton of work into.

Does anyone with experience with this sort of thing know where to start? Is there some sort of cleaning solvent that I can use indoors and not get wiped out by fumes?

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Maybe useless extra details:

The grease and dust everywhere inside the machine seems to have coagulated into a putty. In a kind-of-stupid-in-retrospect first step I decided to spray the mechanism with WD40. It's messier now but seems to be a bit closer to working since some of the grease has come out.

I cleaned the rail the golf-ball carriage is mounted on so that the carriage can slide back and forth smoothly, but the board still locks and makes a humming noise after the first keypress. The main belt keeps spinning, but the clutch on the shaft the belt drives stops.At this point if I force the main drive shaft forward, as I push it, the typewriter laboriously rotates/slaps the golf ball, then the main shaft starts spinning on its own again. I am guessing there is just too much gunk somewhere in the mechanism to work on its own.

[zslane]

These machines are hideously complex. Your best bet is to take it to a knowledgeable IBM Selectric service technician (yes, they still exist, though not in any official capacity for IBM).

[Engicoder]

I second zslane's reccomendation. There are parts of the Selectric that need grease and others that should not have grease which makes cleaning a complicated affair.

[fohat]

Several years back, probably on Geekhack, someone posted a lengthy and detailed guide.

Unfortunately, it may well have been prior to r00tw0rm and now unavailable.

[codemonkeymike]

They are a beast to clean I tried my hand at it and after about 10 hours it still didn't feel right. Probably better off selling it and buying one that refurbished by a professional. You may want to try the typewriter subreddit if your still up for the challenge. https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters

[enthdegree]

I don't know why I asked here.

[IKSLM]

What's your problem? They gave you legit answers.

[fohat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcl1jczxvRo

http://web.archive.org/web/201203210920 ... sland:6657