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How to clean RCA jacks, power jacks, etc. & Conductivity Enhancers

post #1 of 36
11/20/05 at 3:03pm
Thread Starter 
So I got a hold of a vintage DPA DAC that ran for about $1000 10 years ago. Sounds great, obviously whups my EMU0404 and way more clarity than my NAD-505 CDP.

Only problem - it's 10 years old The RCA jacks are a little grimey as are most of the other metal connectors. Would a regular tarnish remover from Walgreens do the trick or is there a better way? I figure if it sounds this good with grimey jacks a little cleaning could give a little boost!

Also I've heard of conductivity enhancers like Walker SST Extreme. I looked up the price of that stuff and it's way more than I'm willing to spend, is there a cheap version of the same product? Sounds like an audiophile mark-up verion on something that's $3 at Home Depot.

Thanks!

--Illah
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post #2 of 36
11/20/05 at 3:22pm
I am no expert at this so take my posts with a grain of salt.

I use Craig Detoxit for everything I can use it for. To me its the best and a can lasts forever.

I heard 99% rubbing alcohol cleans well to, never tried it even know my work sells it.

after I clean it I SST treat everything I can safely do. its a enhancer not a cleaner
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post #3 of 36
11/20/05 at 3:28pm
I use Caig DeoxIT D5 (5%) to clean the connectors first then the ProGold G5 (5%) to lubricate and preserve the connections.

You can get the package of both for $19.50 here:

http://store.caig.com/s.nl/category.82/it.A/id.2336/.f

I've also used Kontak in the past which worked well, but is very expensive and has a tendency to evaporate while being stored:

http://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin/store...duct.cgi?id=26
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post #4 of 36
11/20/05 at 3:37pm
Thread Starter 
I like $19.50 Can any others vouch for this stuff?

--Illah
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post #5 of 36
11/20/05 at 4:23pm
I've been using Caig DeoxIT and ProGold for a while now as well. DeoxIT does clean up oxidation fairly well. I'm not sure of the effect ProGold may or may not have, though, since I've never done any A/B testing and have always used it on all my cables before the cables out of habit at this point.

They do last a long while, even if you do reapply them every 4 months or so as I've done.
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post #6 of 36
11/20/05 at 6:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Illah
I like $19.50 Can any others vouch for this stuff?

--Illah
Hell yeah!
Caig Deoxit and Progold are the best.

The only thing I would suggest other than what Oski suggested is to use the version that comes in the needle dispenser, or brush.
Sprays (unless you absolutely can't use any other form) are very wasteful, messy and you'll use it up too quick.

This kit costs a bit more but will last you forever.
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post #7 of 36
11/20/05 at 9:33pm
music direct had a deal where you buy the Caig survival kit with the SSt treatment you save $20.00

Thats when I got mine. then again I think it was still $80.00 for both..or $100.00
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post #8 of 36
11/22/05 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
Cool - I ordered the $35 kit since it comes with all the swabs and cloths that I'd need to get in the signal hole of the RCA jack and it is probably a little cleaner than a spray. I'll try and give my system a good listen before and after to see if it actually does anything.

--Illah
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post #9 of 36
11/22/05 at 10:03pm
For the outside of the jack, some steel wool or a scotch bright pad. For the inside, take some fine sandpaper (at least 600 grit), roll it up, stick it in, twist a few times, blow out any dirt. Don't bother with gimmicky deoxidizing products.
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post #10 of 36
11/22/05 at 11:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emon
For the outside of the jack, some steel wool or a scotch bright pad. For the inside, take some fine sandpaper (at least 600 grit), roll it up, stick it in, twist a few times, blow out any dirt. Don't bother with gimmicky deoxidizing products.

I guess Emon doesn't like to have any plating left on his jacks.

Gimmicky?
Caig products are used by:
Allied Signal
Bell & Howell
Boeing
Diebold Inc.
Dolby Labs
Federal Express
Fuke Mfg. Co.
General Electric
Grumman Aerospace
Hewlett-Packard
Honeywell
McIntosh Labs
Motorola
Nakamichi
RCA
Switchcraft
Tektronix
Texas Instruments
Wayne-Dresser
Xerox Corporation
...and many more

(From the Caig brochure)
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post #11 of 36
11/23/05 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
I actually thought about doing something like sandpaper or another abrasive, but then I was like, "You know, it might be a good idea to ask head-fi." Not to mention once you were done sanding the jack you'd have dust from both the sandpaper and the jack material floating around in there! You'd have to end up cleaning it out anyway. Might as well just skip the extra step.

--Illah
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post #12 of 36
11/25/05 at 6:17am
Thread Starter 
So I cleaned everything up and put ProGold on tonight:

- DAC RCA Jacks
- DAC Power Jack
- Amp RCA Jacks
- Amp Power Jack
- Amp 1/4" Jack
- My RCA-RCA cables
- HD650 cable 1/4 plug and Senn plugs

FYI I connect my DAC via toslink so that's why the coax jack isn't on my list, and I didn't bother cleaning the actual HD650 jack since the holes are SO small i don't see how I could get in there to wipe them off afterwards! Didn't want to risk it. I also didn't clean the power cords themselves because I'm lazy

Overall there seems to be a little more clarity, mostly in the highs, but it could all be in my head. Also keep in mind the jacks I cleaned are on vintage gear - if you're dealing with new, relatively clean stuff I don't think you'll hear any difference. With older gear it's definetely worth a shot though.

All in all for $40 it's not a bad tweak, esp if you have old, tarnished/oxidized gear. If you have new stuff that's pretty well kept then obviously it doesn't hurt to take care of your stuff, but I wouldn't consider this a 'must have' in that type of situation.

--Illah
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post #13 of 36
11/25/05 at 7:28am
If anyone's interested in making a homebrew version of Deoxit, the active ingredient is 5% naptha (aka. lighter fluid). Mix that with rubbing alcohol, and apply with Q-tips.
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post #14 of 36
11/25/05 at 11:11am
If you are interested in the Walker stuff but don't wanna spend that much, try Mapleshade Silclear. The Mapleshade stuff costs about half as much as Walker. A little goes a long way. Very similar to the Walker idea - basically, you have silver particles suspended in dielectric grease. I use Silclear and can vouch for it's effectiveness. Slightly warmer yet cleaner sound. Plus you'll get protection against oxidation, etc... Mapleshade Records also sells Caig and lots of other neat tweaks. Combine your order like I did and save a little.
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post #15 of 36
11/25/05 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael G.
If you are interested in the Walker stuff but don't wanna spend that much, try Mapleshade Silclear. The Mapleshade stuff costs about half as much as Walker. A little goes a long way. Very similar to the Walker idea - basically, you have silver particles suspended in dielectric grease. I use Silclear and can vouch for it's effectiveness. Slightly warmer yet cleaner sound. Plus you'll get protection against oxidation, etc... Mapleshade Records also sells Caig and lots of other neat tweaks. Combine your order like I did and save a little.
I tried the Silclear stuff a couple months back and didn't care for it.
It seemed to improve the sound at first, but then a couple days later things just weren't sounding right. My system sounded muddy and confused.

Cleaning off the Silclear (quite a job BTW, you need alcohol and lots of scrubbing) and re-treating with the Caig ProGold restored the sound, and it remained sounding good.

Maybe the Walker stuff is better or different, but probably not (Pierre told me Lloyd stole the idea from him).

Since Mapleshade has 30 day money back period it wouldn't hurt to try it for yourself if you're curious. I like Mapleshade's products for the most part, just not this one.
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