@sirt the basement is a daylight basement (2 sides exposed) and it's fully finished and has it's own heat pump-a/c for the floor. I rolled out the dehumidifier just in case, but I imagine that the track sitting in a box in a closed side closet for a couple years might be the culprit of the oxidation / black cr*p that's now coming off. It's warmer and a bit more humid there.
@tracker john, i think some dewar's scotch i have on hand or a chilled mug of beer might do the trick as well.
...thanks again to all for the input!
