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Cleaning RCA jacks/plugs - Right Forum
Does anyone know of a cleaner/cleaning solution for RCA jacks?
I have used 91% isopropyl and it is ok, but not great. Someone suggested WD-40, but I think that would be a poor idea. There is another product called Ox-Id (sic) from GC Electronics that is a contact cleaner that comes in a small bottle. Does any one have any experience with that? What do you use?
In addition, what do you use to clean the jacks and plugs? I am looking for something that can clean all the contact surfaces on the jacks and plugs. I have used Q-tips but they have a tendancy to leave fibers. Q-tips also don't fit that well in the holes in the jacks, nor do they fit well between the pin and the side contacts on the plug. I have tried pipe cleaners and they do better fit-wise, but don't seem to clean very well and can sometimes leave fibers as well. What do you use?
Any thoughts on putting a tiny amount of di-electric grease on the contacts to prevent oxidation? This was recommended to me by a friend, but what is good for spark plugs may not be good for my AV system ;-)
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Contact cleaning
Two of the more popular products seem to be "Pro Gold" and "Kontak"
Neither is cheap. They claim to have both solvents and contact "enhancers". I find that regular cleaning on my system noticably improves sound quality. On my stuff, I do the speaker connections every other time I do the interconnects. At the rate I listen to my system, cleaning is needed at least twice a year, my wife always seems to know when it's time :rolleyes:.
It is a pain, pipe cleaners work about as well as anything I've found.
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Tarnex is an excellent cleaner
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereomaniac
Does anyone know of a cleaner/cleaning solution for RCA jacks?
I have used 91% isopropyl and it is ok, but not great. Someone suggested WD-40, but I think that would be a poor idea. There is another product called Ox-Id (sic) from GC Electronics that is a contact cleaner that comes in a small bottle. Does any one have any experience with that? What do you use?
In addition, what do you use to clean the jacks and plugs? I am looking for something that can clean all the contact surfaces on the jacks and plugs. I have used Q-tips but they have a tendancy to leave fibers. Q-tips also don't fit that well in the holes in the jacks, nor do they fit well between the pin and the side contacts on the plug. I have tried pipe cleaners and they do better fit-wise, but don't seem to clean very well and can sometimes leave fibers as well. What do you use?
Any thoughts on putting a tiny amount of di-electric grease on the contacts to prevent oxidation? This was recommended to me by a friend, but what is good for spark plugs may not be good for my AV system ;-)
Tarnex is an excellent cleaner. It will make all copper cable ends bright and shinny just like a new penny. It works equally well on just about any jack that I know of. It is available just about anywhere for a very reasonable price. After you clean the cable with Tarnex it would be a good idea to spray the ends with Radio Shack or equivilent contact cleaner.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ruadmaa
Tarnex is an excellent cleaner. It will make all copper cable ends bright and shinny just like a new penny. It works equally well on just about any jack that I know of. It is available just about anywhere for a very reasonable price. After you clean the cable with Tarnex it would be a good idea to spray the ends with Radio Shack or equivilent contact cleaner.
Does it hurt the plastic in either the cables or surrounding areas? I would think Tarnex would have a lot of nasty solvents...What about leaving a film or coating on the wires? Is that why you recommend the contact cleaner? What about contact cleaner alone? Most cans say they are plastic friendly, but do they do a good job?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereomaniac
Does anyone know of a cleaner/cleaning solution for RCA jacks?
Here's another vote for the Caig products. I use Pro-Gold on all my contacts about once a year. Highly recommended.
rw
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Tarnex
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereomaniac
Does it hurt the plastic in either the cables or surrounding areas? I would think Tarnex would have a lot of nasty solvents...What about leaving a film or coating on the wires? Is that why you recommend the contact cleaner? What about contact cleaner alone? Most cans say they are plastic friendly, but do they do a good job?
Tarnex only works on metals and does not affect plastics. (It comes in a plastic bottle) I recommend the contact cleaner after using Tarnex because it leaves a protective coating on the connection for future protection. Tarnex only cleans. Contact cleaner alone will not clean the connection to a bright and new look.
Incidentally, if you put Tarnex on any coin it will make it look just like it came out of the mint.
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Just an opinion.
I have never used Tarnex, but many tarnish removers are very potent and actually remove metal. Worse some of them are abrasive (i.e. they contain fine grit) if this grit is not thouroughly removed, it will interfere with conductivity. With gold plating in the 0.0005 to 0.00005 thick range I would be cautious and suspicious.
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Tarnex
Quote:
Originally Posted by hermanv
Just an opinion.
I have never used Tarnex, but many tarnish removers are very potent and actually remove metal. Worse some of them are abrasive (i.e. they contain fine grit) if this grit is not thouroughly removed, it will interfere with conductivity. With gold plating in the 0.0005 to 0.00005 thick range I would be cautious and suspicious.
You have obviously never used Tarnex. It it totally nonabrasive and contains absolutely no grit. It cleans off all oxidation from metals chemically. Guaranteed not to remove any metal whatsoever!!!
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DeoxIT
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Originally Posted by E-Stat
Here's another vote for the Caig products. I use Pro-Gold on all my contacts about once a year. Highly recommended.
rw
What about Caig DeoxIT product? Caig seems to imply that the Pro-Gold is only for gold connectors. The RCA jacks on the back of my Kyocera (other than the phono) are not gold plated (silver/tin colored) Does the Pro-Gold do a good job on those too or would I need to get both Pro-Gold and DeoxIT?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hermanv
Just an opinion.
I have never used Tarnex, but many tarnish removers are very potent and actually remove metal. Worse some of them are abrasive (i.e. they contain fine grit) if this grit is not thouroughly removed, it will interfere with conductivity. With gold plating in the 0.0005 to 0.00005 thick range I would be cautious and suspicious.
After doing some "googling" on Tarnex...it appears to be a pretty good cleaner although many coin collectors and jewelers recommend against using it on fine jewelry because of possible pitting etc. Maybe a little strong for the gold plated RCA connectors...but might be just the thing to clean up the bare copper ends of my speaker cables???? What do you think?
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I don't think I have any non gold plated connectors so I don't know about the Pro-Gold and silver/tin connectors.
On the De-Ox, you guys have now received to sum total of my knowledge, so I can't answer about cleaning bare wire. Sure would seem safe as there is no thin plating layer to remove.
I'm a big believer in solder, spade lugs and binding post wrenches. I used to think banannas were OK, but I'm far less sure these days (I have those expanding banannas but....).
I think that the RCA plug may have been invented by the anti-christ it's that awful. If I ever get filthy rich I'm converting my whole system to balanced just so I can switch to XLR connectors.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hermanv
I don't think I have any non gold plated connectors so I don't know about the Pro-Gold and silver/tin connectors.
On the De-Ox, you guys have now received to sum total of my knowledge, so I can't answer about cleaning bare wire. Sure would seem safe as there is no thin plating layer to remove.
I'm a big believer in solder, spade lugs and binding post wrenches. I used to think banannas were OK, but I'm far less sure these days (I have those expanding banannas but....).
I think that the RCA plug may have been invented by the anti-christ it's that awful. If I ever get filthy rich I'm converting my whole system to balanced just so I can switch to XLR connectors.
Thanks for the help. I can't use bananas on the speaker side...my older Phase Techs only spring-loaded connectors, could use bananas on the Kyocera side though...
I think I will try the Pro-gold on the RCAs and Tarnex on the bare speaker wire.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereomaniac
What about Caig DeoxIT product? Caig seems to imply that the Pro-Gold is only for gold connectors.
Where did you get that notion? I just visited the Caig website where I found this description for the product:
"Maximum performance conditioner, protectant & lubricant for plated metal electrical connections, contacts and metal surfaces."
I don't read anything in that verbiage limiting its use to gold. I think the use of the word "gold" in this case merely suggests the highest level product such as the Olympic gold medal.
rw
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My Bad...
Quote:
Originally Posted by E-Stat
Where did you get that notion? I just visited the Caig website where I found this description for the product:
"Maximum performance conditioner, protectant & lubricant for plated metal electrical connections, contacts and metal surfaces."
I don't read anything in that verbiage limiting its use to gold. I think the use of the word "gold" in this case merely suggests the highest level product such as the Olympic gold medal.
rw
After further review...You are right. The literature in the PDFs really emphasize gold, silver, rhodium, etc. so I assumed it was a targeted product. I found a two pack at RS for $15 that includes the Pro-Gold and the DeoxIT product. I will give it a shot. Thanks...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hermanv
If I ever get filthy rich I'm converting my whole system to balanced just so I can switch to XLR connectors.
Then you'll have three teeny pins and three teeny jacks to clean for each one of them. ;)
http://www.partsexpress.com/images/092-034m.jpg http://www.partsexpress.com/images/090-346m.jpg
rw
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Tarnex a little harsh???
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereomaniac
After doing some "googling" on Tarnex...it appears to be a pretty good cleaner although many coin collectors and jewelers recommend against using it on fine jewelry because of possible pitting etc. Maybe a little strong for the gold plated RCA connectors...but might be just the thing to clean up the bare copper ends of my speaker cables???? What do you think?
Tarnex removes oxidation, nothing else. Coin collectors don't like to use it because it makes an old coin look like brand new, which is obviously not what you want a 100 year old coin to look like.
Incidentally, you should never have to clean a gold connection. Gold does not oxidize. A gold plated connection should remain viable indefinitely with no cleaning whatsoever. That's the whole point of having a gold connection. The very best conductivity and no corrosion.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E-Stat
Here's another vote for the Caig products. I use Pro-Gold on all my contacts about once a year. Highly recommended.
rw
I also recomend Caig Products, also highly recomended.
bappy
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