[thune]

In my short google search, I didn't find any evidence that the conductivity of the grease makes any positive difference ... without bare metal on metal contact your connection still sucks.
 
Your usage example speaks volumes: ugly mess: not something a person would be inclined to do with $1000+ equipment.

 

[Nazo]

In my short google search, I didn't find any evidence that the conductivity of the grease makes any positive difference ... without bare metal on metal contact your connection still sucks.

Are you sure you searched right? You can start by looking at people talking about battery terminals in cars. That's where something like this is most needed. In such cases it has proven itself before with the biggest problem being the heat (not applicable to most audio setups. Maybe vacuum tubes perhaps could get hot enough.)

Your usage example speaks volumes: ugly mess: not something a person would be inclined to do with $1000+ equipment.

You make no sense. My usage example is of it having worked in said application (ok, not $1000+ equipment, but not exactly the cheap junk you find in a local retailer either and besides, they use the same basic connectors and such.) Also, my usage example is not an ugly mess. As I've said maybe six times now (I've lost count) I use an extremely thin layer. Wax on, wax off. (Jokes aside, that's a good reference because it basically works the same way car wax does. You don't leave a thick gooey mess on there, you put it on, let it dry, then clean it off such that it only remains in the pores of the metal or paint really, thus leaving the surface smooth and shiney instead of covered in any sort of gooey mess. If you have gooey mess, you've done it wrong.) The chief difference is it's a low viscosity, so contacts push it out of the way like a dielectric usually does.

 

[thune]

Something like http://www.w8ji.com/dielectric_grease_vs_conductive_grease.htm
Quote:

Other articles tell people to use conductive grease on connections, such as between battery terminals and an automotive battery. Tests show this claim is completely wishful thinking, and the type of grease has virtually no impact on terminal-to-post voltage drop.
...
Conductive greases and anti-seize compounds have a suspended base metal powder. The suspended metal powder is a fraction of the area occupied by insulating grease, and so the grease still insulates the connection. The grease does not conduct.
...
The suspended powder creates a problem that does not exist with dielectric grease. The suspended metal must be fully compatible with the metals being clamped. This means conductive grease is application specific. If the metals being clamped are incompatible with the grease's suspended metal powder, the connection will eventually fail.

And some suggesting that conductive grease that runs can provide an undesirable arc path especially if dried.
 
 
Look into parallel resistances:
http://www.eecs.tufts.edu/~dsculley/tutorial/voltageDividers/voltdiv2.html
Quote:

And we can ignore the effect of R_big in this case:

Assuming that R_big is more than ten times the value of R_small.

Grease (R_big) is always going to have resitance >>10x that of a bare metal(R_small) connection.
 
The purpose is oxidation reduction, and in that scenario lathering dielectric grease liberally is probably best.
 
And:
Something you don't want to get on your fingers is messy.

 

[WHertz]

Oxidation shouldn't occur at all in home use... - and stay away from ANY fluids, greases etc. Just change the connector when you have problems. I didn't encounter any oxidation problems in 40 years - but I don't use 'audiophile' cables or connectors either...

  Mechanically good cables and the product palette of Neutrik and Switchcraft are all I (and thousands of sound engineers) need...

 

[blades]

"Opinions on using "No-Ox" to protect connectors?"

 
One of many ways for the high end audio industry to get some of your money for no useful purpose.

 

[WHertz]

 

"Opinions on using "No-Ox" to protect connectors?"

 
One of many ways for the high end audio industry to get some of your money for no useful purpose.

 
Indeed.

 

[thune]

If you've ever cleaned a connector with something stronger than iso you'll have noticed oxidation. Or if you sand it and it gets shiny --oxidation. It may not be everyday that it causes an actual connection issue for indoor applications, but to say oxidation doesn't happen? [We've all had crappy TRS female jacks get noisy when rotating the plug, right?] You have connections un-changed for 40 years still going strong? uncleaned? un-reseated?
 
And yes NO OX ID is marketed to steal money from audiophiles?

[Once outdoors, grease certainly becomes sensible.] Is there a sound science cliché generator?

 

[bigshot]

I've never ever had any problem with oxion. The only problem I have had with cables is shorting around the connectors.

 

[Nazo]

"Opinions on using "No-Ox" to protect connectors?"

One of many ways for the high end audio industry to get some of your money for no useful purpose.

Just one problem. They aren't marketed towards audio applications. No one that sells audio equipment says "and by the way, you should get this." In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I doubt any audio-specific sites/markets even have No Ox, though many likely do have deox cleaners. (If anything it's almost more in their best interest for you to buy those cleaners on a regular basis. I still haven't even scratched the surface of this "small" 2oz tub of No Ox and likely won't be buying any more for a very long time indeed.) They are marketed towards things like model trains (I guess they are models? Lol, the wording is a bit hard to tell, but I assume they mean models since they do have serious contact issues due to relying on the rails to provide power to the train itself through its wheels kind of like some subway cars) car batteries, and etc. I see people using them on high end flashlights (I have that sort. They use more than 1A of power from a lithium ion battery -- my really nice 700 lumen one uses 1.8A of power even and a few use even more -- so need a good solid connection and supposedly No Ox is also not terrible at heat transfer, so could be handy there too, but mostly they just want to avoid oxidation and many use dielectric grease with no problems. Of course either help with keeping them water resistant as these types of flashlights are meant to even be usable in rain and such. These flashlights rely on the casing itself and touching parts to make the ground connection, so oxidation along there could be BAD.) The closest there is to any sort of marketing of this is me telling people on places like this and on a forum for people with retro consoles (many of which absolutely will have oxidation) because I think it might help some people. If it doesn't, well, whatever. As has already been established, it can't make things any worse. I've never seen anyone else mentioning it on any site personally. Or anywhere at all hardly (I didn't even see them talking about it with the flashlights until I did some searching around after I had already gotten it and started using it. It definitely works beautifully in my own flashlight though. This thing uses a lot of power and within 30 minutes on the bright setting it can get really hot to the touch, so I'm trying to take good care of it as well as I can.) No marketing. No one is getting paid to say this. I was just trying to be nice and maybe help some people who might have applications that I think it would help with such as old hardware. (Again though, I would remind people that there are many here who DO use older equipment such as tube amps and such. I'm not clear on if No Ox is good for high voltage applications however. I believe it is -- in fact, I think it must if it works at lower voltages where a small resistance could have a much more significant effect, but haven't had much to test on since just about every one of my entire electronics collection is relatively low voltage.)

I will say this, I've been using it on quite a lot of things lately and while I don't usually actually "lather it on" (I usually want a thin layer -- if nothing else a thick layer will start to hold dust and other such things) it has crossed terminals of a lot of things and there have been exactly zero shorts, no crosstalk, and so on. The fact of the matter is, this stuff is almost dielectric. I'm not sure of the exact properties, but like I said, I think it mostly just works by making the pores of the metal ever so slightly less resistant than the air itself and beyond that it's just a matter of protecting against oxidation. Regardless, I've used it on some pretty sensitive electronics and everything works just beautifully. I've even been using it on stuff like harddrives lately. The only danger I can see is that it could accumulate dust more quickly than a clean surface if you lathered it on thickly (but then this whole time I've been advising a really thin layer. A little bit goes a long way.)

And yes, oxidation happens in the home. Hopefully small, reasonable amounts (obviously heavy moisture such as direct rain or etc greatly increases oxidation rates) but you will have it. This is physics. If you don't like it, go live in space with a space suit and no oxygen in whatever structure you live in. Oxidation is a given anywhere that there is, well, you guessed it: oxygen. The most obvious cases of it will be times like when you can turn a plug and get a scratching noise, but there are other times where even when connectors are still working that oxidation still has some negative impact. Part of my goal at least is to not have to replace things every so often. Maybe I'm silly, but I'd like them to last. Besides, like I said, it has a bit of a lubricating effect, thus making the connections a little smoother and easier, which is kind of nice in its own small way and also helps keep them from wearing quite as quickly. I'm still a bit disappointed in Neutrik -- or I guess I should say Rean -- decreasing overall quality of their 3.5mm connectors. The ones I had on my HD555s for probably less than two years even already show signs of the gold plating wearing off completely. Anything that increases mating cycles is a good thing, especially now that even the quality brands are skimping. I realize this isn't their "professional" line of products and their chief focus is XLR connectors and such, but for many of us 3.5mm connectors are a way of life since everything consumer-level uses them.


EDIT: So I was pretty curious about just how much I could use it on and decided to try it in a high voltage application. I have a water heating thing for coffee/tea that connects to a base via what look like brass contacts. I've been worried since I got this thing that this is something of a weak point for the thing since it uses a LOT of power (not just 120V, but a 1750W heating element.) If it started to tarnish and reduce efficiency of the connection it could be a real problem, perhaps even dangerous. So I tried to get No-Ox over all the conductors (some parts were pretty hard to get to, so long term it may only slow the effects.) In particular, the more exposed huge metal rings on the bottom of the decanter itself. I plugged it into a GFCI and gave it a try. No problems whatsoever. No shorts or anything. It works great. And now I can feel a bit more confident in those contacts hopefully lasting at least a bit longer.

 

[edstrelow]

There are various contact cleaners such as Caig De-ox and its family of products some of which enhance conductivity. I am always impressed when I use one on the terminals of an old battery and the things comes back to life.
 
One needs to be carefull in using these sort of enhancers.  I used something  called Tweak a few years ago which sounded good for a while, more bass, clarity etc. and then became a gummy mess.
 
I periodically clean contacts with a deox product and then use something like Caig Gold with a bit of Silclear.  The trick as the original author noted is to use a very light coating, otherwise you run the risk of things shorting out.
 
As to why more people don't use them, there is a curious closed mindedness among many audiophiles who may be more comfortable plunking $5,000 on a set of new phones to get a 10% increase in sound quality  than trying a $5.00 tweak which may also give a similar range of improvement.  My own attitude is try the cheaper route first.   When you put big bucks out however you get the psychologiocal benefits of joining the big bucks elite.  Using cheap tweaks just puts you in the category of low-end tinkerers.

 

[bigshot]

  As to why more people don't use them, there is a curious closed mindedness among many audiophiles who may be more comfortable plunking $5,000 on a set of new phones to get a 10% increase in sound quality  than trying a $5.00 tweak which may also give a similar range of improvement.

 
I've been a hifi nut for over almost 40 years, and it's been my experience that spending money on transducers is the best place to spend money. Best bang for the buck. But by far, the biggest improvement I ever saw in my system is when I calibrated the response with an equalizer.
 
I've never in 40 years had a problem with cable contacts becoming corroded. If I did, I would clean them, but since I've gone 40 years with no problem, I don't see any need to take any preventative measures on that front.

 

[Strangelove424]

I've used alcohol and artificial cleaners on tube pins before. It helped, but my tube amp's background still had a little noise at full volume. A few days ago I decided to take out some sandpaper and file away the entire surface layer of the pins. I didn't think it would do squat, but I was mistaken. The background, even on full gain and max volume, became black. I couldn't believe it. Not a hint of noise anymore. Did this change the sound at normal listening levels? Not at all, but I'll take a black background if I can get it.
 
This incident led me to conclude, however, that I should never again mess about with cleaners or solvents. From here on out, if a connection is questionable or looks dirty I will simply lop off the end of the wire and strip a fresh part of the strand or sand the surface. It's a cheaper solution than the chemicals, and more effective.

 

[Nazo]

Except right there is a perfect description of where preventative measures would be the perfect solution. You can keep sanding it down more and more making it harder and harder for it to fully contact eventually and making it a fair bit of labor every time, or just protect it once and likely never touch it again.

Of course, I'm recommending a protection, not a cleaner. The cleaner is no good as a long term solution because even as you get the layer of oxidized material off, a new layer begins forming anyway.

 

[bigshot]

you can always just get a new cable at monoprice