Thanks to all who offered suggestions for my problem regarding removing Dow Corning silicone HV grease. After talking more than once with Dow Corning, as well as with technical support at Gatan, I am please to report that solvents for this grease do exist. They are either: methyl ethyl ketone, mineral spirits, methyl isobutyl ketone, or a commercial solvent from Amtex Chemical in West Chester PA (610-436-4813). Of these I tried methyl isobutyl ketone on grease smeared on a glass slide and this worked in fairly short order. Jeff Gronsky at Gatan reported good success using mineral spirits in an ultrsonic with later cleaning in freon.

Roy Christoffersen
roy@bayou.uh.edu
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