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Contact cleaners/What's good?

What is your favorite contact cleaner/treatment product? I used to use something called Cramolin (which I can no longer find). I replaced the Cramolin with a small bottle of De-Oxit which worked well on the used equipment that I have purchased as well as the outlets. Unfortunately the bottle of De-Oxit was tossed out by accident when we recently cleaned out under the sink and I need a new bottle of something, preferably a one step treatment unless their is a good reason to use one that is multi-step. I had also wanted to try it on tube sockets as well (another piece of used gear) and wonder if this is advised. Thanks.
128x128dekay
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dekay OP
5,563 posts
 
Gallaine: I cheaped out before and did not purchase the Pro-Gold. Now that I think about it the preservative would have been nice to use on the main wall outlet which involves moving heavy furniture to access.
cornfedboy
1,645 posts
 
i haven't used commercial cleaners or preservatives for several years after experiencing a build up of "gunk" on contacts no matter how little i used or carefully i recleaned. as i recollect, i previously used cramolin. i now use industrial grade isopropyl alcohol for cleaning contacts. i've been told that some enviromentally friendly cleaners can eat up plastic caps and similar parts real quick. i'd be more than a little reticent about cleaning tube sockets with commercial cleaners unless i were very certain it would do no harm.
doug28450
199 posts
 
Interesting thoughts on the alcohol idea Cornfed. I have used the Caig products in the past. Anybody have any good suggestions for cleaning AES/EBU connectors? Other than squirting juice on them and seating/unseating several times? Thanks Doug
redkiwi
1,092 posts
 
I have had similar experience to the Corn-fed one, that is, repeated use of cleaning fluids causing more of a problem than it cures. I find that if I just disconnect and reconnect each cable once a month (disturbing the cable as little as possible folks - you would be surprised how bending a cable sends its sound out of whack for a while) that I get the same or better results than using cleaning fluids. Of course this may not be enough in humid areas where real corrosion set in more easily.
bob_bundus
1,834 posts
 
Regular alcohol is not good because there's lanolin in it (an oil). Denatured alcohol is OK though; recommended on tape heads, pinch rollers, etc. so that's good for contact cleaning too. Pro Gold also contains an oil film, which, although it theoretically prevents contact oxidation, the oil helps attract dust accumulation into a connector & you really don't want that. Kontact or Audioquest Ultraconnect are both good & pure non-residue cleaners. Although I'm not for sure, I believe that Caig DeOxit is non-residue cleaner too - can anyone confirm this?
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