Ideas for cleaning 3 and 7 pin XLR pins and sockets

[TromNek]

Anybody have any clever ways of cleaning the tarnish off of these.

Sockets
I've been using deoxIT and torch tip and carburetor port cleaners.
The torch tip cleaners are a little too abrasive so I polish them a little.
I'd like to find something comparable to this made of brass.

Pins
I haven't found anything good for these.
Right now, I take the carburetor port cleaners and bend/wrap them around a pin to form a spiral that goes around the XLR pins.
I would love some kind of thin cylinder with a brass brush on the inside.

Figured I'd see if anyone has any clever ideas I could adopt

thanks

 

[Tubetec]

I use an old toothbrush and smokers toothpaste to clean up tarnished pins , does no damage and leaves them like new .

 

[emrr]

Silver oxide has the same contintuity as the base metal so they are just as good when tarnished.

 

[hodad]

The GUM Go Between Proxabrush things do pretty well with the female XLRs—get the biggest size you can.

 

[TromNek]

Thanks everyone.
I use Proxabrush for lot's of things.
But would like something with a little more abrasive.

Steadman has a product for the 3pin XLR size. But too expensive for me.

If I come across anything clever and cheap, I'll report back here.

 

[C12VR]

Silver oxide has the same contintuity as the base metal so they are just as good when tarnished.

I always wondered why they chose to silver plate those connectors. Thanks Doug.

 

[Lampie519]

For fixed installations:

https://mgchemicals.com/products/gr...trically-conductive-grease/conductive-grease/
Or:
fiberglass cleaning pencil

 

[k brown]

I've never found it neccesary to do anything more than DeOxit in the female end, connect/reconnect with male a few times, spray again, and wipe off the execess.

About once a year.

 

[cyrano]

Silver oxide has the same contintuity as the base metal so they are just as good when tarnished.

Likewise for the coating Philips used on it's DIN plugs and other connectors. When new, it was matt beige. If you keep 'm in your drawer for many years, they get irregular black spots that look very unhealthy. They still work fine though, even when completely black..

Was that coating based on Cadmium? My memory is hazy...

 

[rh001]

Best solution is World Pro Audio Brown Stuff apllied and rubbed clean with a swab. Dremel tool with tapered buffer bit makes easy work of it. The pins will brighten up but most importantly they will be clean even if there is still some discoloration and will no longer contribute to adding distortion or unreliability. A coating of WPA Clear Stuff makes mating easier and prevents oxidation.
https://www.worldproaudio.com/Pro-Audioi-Extras/WPA-Brown-Stuff-01https://www.worldproaudio.com/WPA-Clear-Stuff-01

 

[MicMaven]

Nuts -- too much reliance on chemicals. De-Oxit is highly overrated. (There I dare to say it!)

I prefer a very super fine burnishing tool which costs a few dollars. We clean silver contacts on Morse Code Keys, and lots of corroded connectors with simple burnishing tools like this - Vibroplex has been making fine code keys for 117 years, they must know something by now:

www.dxengineering.com/parts/vib-405-ccs​

​

https://tinyurl.com/y7t892yt​

OR, do as fountain pen collectors and burnish with a very, super thin polished sheet of brass foil like this:

www.gouletpens.com/products/goulet-brass-sheets​

A light touch is all it takes and you do not gunk up the works with cream or spray chemicals. Less abrasive than steel wool, and what we use on silver key contacts we want to use a long time. Just MY take. James - K8JHR

 

[Laura B]

I love Deoxit personaly, but you have to carefully chose which product you use: D5 for connectors and F5 for faders and pots. I've just done my entire studio's worth of plugs, sockets & patchbays with D5, all while listening to the results, I have a great clear, open and fat sound I also just serviced my ARP 2600, a synth made circa 1976, the faders on it were awful and scratchy and Deoxit F5 cleaned and lubed them in one go. It was astonishing. And thanks to the chemical action I didn't have to move the faders up and down for ages to push the rubbish at each end of the track, just moved them a couple of times and now they feel really clean and smooth (and not gunged up), and they sound great and fat. I will try the Fader lube next to make them even smoother but just for now, I can't fault Deoxit at all, these 2 products are ace.

 

[Newmarket]

I love Deoxit personaly, but you have to carefully chose which product you use: D5 for connectors and F5 for faders and pots.

I'll just mention that while F5 might be the optimum for pots, I had great success with D5 on a load of rotary pots on a Marshall guitar combo that I got free with no speaker fitted. Virtually unusable at first (after new speaker fitted obvs ). A few took a double application. was a while ago. Still good.
Also remember that D5 comes in "Flush" and "No Drip" options.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I always wondered why they chose to silver plate those connectors. Thanks Doug.

Ag is much cheaper than Au, and an excellent conductor, even when oxydized,. Ag is very ductile, so, plated in (relatively) high thickness (1-10um -c ompare with 0.3-0.4um for gold) it offers a very large contact surface, resulting in very low resistance and high current capability.
Au is recommended for connectors that are permanently connected, so there is no oxydization.
Ag is recommended for connectors that are routinely disconnected/reconnected.
De-oxing Ag contacts just wears out the plating, which ultimately results in contact with the underplate material (typically Cu or Ni) and scratchy connections.

 

[rh001]

Regarding DeOxit...it really doesn't remove anything except maybe some dust and smog/smoke residue, and does nothing about the oxidation. There is no chemical that can disolve oxidation without dissolving metal. And ask yourselves....if the oxidation is disolved...where does it go...into the air?...is there a puff of vapor from the DeOxit disolving the oxidation, like there is when a chemical disolves a metal? One bloke once said" I love DeOxit...I just put some on about once a year and it does the trick" ....yes, for about a year, sometimes less. It's hiding the oxidation "roughness" with mineral oil, that's all. You can ge same results with hardware store mineral oil (baby oil without the scent) World Pro Audio Brown stuff actually mechanically cuts away the oxidation at the root...at the micro level where electronic contact oxidation looks like a coral reef. WPA Brown Stuff should be followed with rinse of isopropyl or CRC Quick Dry Contact Cleaner (can get that at Amazon) and then followed with WPA Clear Stuff which is Miller Stephenson Contact Lube and Renew to add a protective barrier to new oxidation. Can easily last for decades.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

There is no chemical that can disolve oxidation without dissolving metal.

I believe you should revise your notions about chemistry.
Rust is oxidation, right? There are several products that dissolve rust, generally based on phosphoric acid, hydrochloric acid, even vinegar (acetic acid) and ... Coca-Cola. Rust is chemically dissolved and eliminated by rinsing.
Jewellers recommand baking soda, acetic acid or aluminium powder for cleaning silver. They also recommand toothpaste, but it's a physical action that's at work, due to the abrasives.

And ask yourselves....if the oxidation is disolved...where does it go...into the air?...is there a puff of vapor from the DeOxit disolving the oxidation, like there is when a chemical disolves a metal?

Oxidation is the result of a metal combining with oxigen. It is not dificult to think the reverse can happen, liberating oxigen, which is quite benign, no puff, no lightning, no smell, no earthquake.
Oxidation is an exothermal reaction, meaning it produces some heat. Reduction, the opposite of oxidation absorbs some heat, meaning it tends to cool the metal. But it's a minor effect.

 

[rh001]

Ummm....exposure of oxidized metal to an acid may result in the reversal of some oxidation but I don't know anyone that thinks it's a good idea to treat oxidized audio connectors and contacts with an acid. I don't know of any chemical that can release oxidation from electrical contact metal without harming the metal...if there was it would have been sold as a contact cleaner a long time ago...like in the 1930's or 40's, and likely would have been developed in the USA by Western Electric and probably separately and independently in Europe and Japan.

Best way to clean fine electrical contacts is via the mechanical method of WPA Brown Stuff which is too "soft" to scratch metal but "hard" enough and sharp enough to cut away the oxidation. Brown Stuff is so effective that it can be used as a diagnostic...if it can't clean and de-oxidize the contact nothing else can, so no need to try anything else. Also Brown Stuff is totally non-toxic.

The skeptical are encouraged to give it a try.
https://www.worldproaudio.com/Pro-Audioi-Extras/WPA-Brown-Stuff-01

 

[k brown]

https://treasurepursuits.com/how-to-remove-corrosion/

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Ummm....exposure of oxidized metal to an acid may result in the reversal of some oxidation but I don't know anyone that thinks it's a good idea to treat oxidized audio connectors and contacts with an acid.

Not really worse than applying an abrasive, which will also attack metal as well as the oxide.
Remember Ag and Au are quite resistant to most chemical agents, when Ag2O is dissolvable in acids.
I would agree that treating audio connectors with an acid or an abrasive is a bad idea.

I don't know of any chemical that can release oxidation from electrical contact metal without harming the metal...if there was it would have been sold as a contact cleaner a long time ago...

What do you think is the magic agent in DeoxIt?

like in the 1930's or 40's, and likely would have been developed in the USA by Western Electric and probably separately and independently in Europe and Japan.

Deox products existed way before the idea of electric contact, relying on the use of acids (mainly phosphoric and hydrochloric).

Best way to clean fine electrical contacts is via the mechanical method of WPA Brown Stuff which is too "soft" to scratch metal but "hard" enough and sharp enough to cut away the oxidation.

Strange concept. Actually, the hardness of silver oxide is very similar to that of metal silver, so cleaning oxide removes metal as well.

Brown Stuff is so effective that it can be used as a diagnostic...if it can't clean and de-oxidize the contact nothing else can, so no need to try anything else.

Brown Stuff's active ingredient (Dichloro -1-Fluoroethane, also known as refrigerant R141) is a very strong solvant. It has no chemical action on silver oxide, neither on metal. That's why the recommanded procedure requires physical abrasion.
Use of refrigerants for cleaning PCB's is well known, because they dissolve many organic matters, a physical action, but are chemically relatively neutral.

 

[aaquilato]

What about the pins on vacuum tubes? I normally soak them in DeoxIt when trying to clean them.