How Often Do You Clean The Connections Of Your Equipment, Speakers and Cables

The use of contact cleaner is generally discouraged. Natural abrasion by unplugging and replugging connections several times every 6 months is the advice you will generally get from a Naim dealer.

Solvents can leave a microscopic film that, while leaving a clean looking connector, can result in worse contact than before cleaning.

feeling_zen posted:

The use of contact cleaner is generally discouraged. Natural abrasion by unplugging and replugging connections several times every 6 months is the advice you will generally get from a Naim dealer.

Solvents can leave a microscopic film that, while leaving a clean looking connector, can result in worse contact than before cleaning.

This is something new to me. Thanks for the information.

Mind you - for years we were told to clean our mains plugs with Duraglit the the like. Perhaps this is similarly detrimental? I also remember Green stuff for cleaning styli as promoted by Linn. No way I'd ever put that anywhere near my Kandid. If you are going to use a contact cleaner Kontak is still the best in my book but as advised breaking and remaking connections is probably best along with a smoke-free environment.

I'd recommend clean them with your chosen product then still plug & unplug numerous times before leaving. Best of both worlds then

Ravenswood10 posted:

Mind you - for years we were told to clean our mains plugs with Duraglit the the like. Perhaps this is similarly detrimental? 

 

I did, and I think make things sound better, more sparking, airy, and lively after a good clean.

Remove and re-plug-in the signal connectors about every 4-6 weeks is what I find is clearly worthwhile. No special cleaning, just pull them out and re-insert. Others may hear it different, but that is what works in my system.

Largest benefit is the IC between Source and Pre. Next the Speaker cables - pull-out and re-insert works.

Don't get paranoid on this though - if after a few weeks it sounds a bit dull then this works in my system. I had a friend around listening and I re-plugged in the IC lead (had not been touched for many weeks) and the comment was 'that was a big improvement' which is how I heard it.

DB.

I do a double job . Clean with as mild substance within the usual snake vinegars then a good buff with kitchen paper to get rid of any residue before reconnecting about every 5- 8 months. Usually the best result is just gettin rid of the dust that forms around the sleeve running along cables which I try to do 2 or 3 times a day.

My DIN & RCA IC's get the pull & reinsert treatment without any cleaning agent every 6 months.   I disassemble rack & boxes for vacuum, dust & polish once a year when the rest get a touch of DeoxiT.  The main plug pins have DeoxiT applied with a green scouring pad scrub,  banana plugs & terminals with cotton buds & the 13a & IEC sockets get a squirt up their orifices.

I don't use Duraglit & Brasso type cleaners as they leave a film to preserve the shine & delay oxidation,  not a great conductor.

TOBYJUG posted:

I do a double job . Clean with as mild substance within the usual snake vinegars then a good buff with kitchen paper to get rid of any residue before reconnecting about every 5- 8 months. Usually the best result is just gettin rid of the dust that forms around the sleeve running along cables which I try to do 2 or 3 times a day.

A little bit of me hopes you are joking.

I do have a tale to tell here I think... A while ago I used nordost's Blue Heaven speaker cables and found that if I applied a precise spray of a type of electrical contact enhancer on the banana ends and then inserted into my speakers inputs still "wet" I had unbelievable clarity and detail for a while ...Soon as the liquid dried so did the Liquid sound dry up and end up scratchy and disjointed. Eventually the banana ends had to be reterminated because of solvent rust abuse !

It's exactly what happens with a certain type of alcohol inserted into the human body.

I unplug all connections once a year and it seems to add a touch of clarity.

DIN connectors have "wiping" contacts - they are designed to be self cleaning with just 2 cycles of unplugging and re-insertion.  I do this about every 6 months - Most DIN connectors are rated for 250 - 500 insertions, so that sets the maximum frequency if you want good life expectancy from your equipment.

The requirement for 4mm plugs depends on their plating material.  For gold, just wipe with a soft cloth, for nickel and chrome, wipe vigorously with an unsized paper such as kitchen roll.  For the sockets do the same thing but wrap the cloth / paper round a suitable sized plastic rod.  As a simpler alternative, using multiple cycles of unplugging and re-insertion does seem to work in practice.

Note that, in reality, there are very limited options available with base metals

On chrome the oxide layer cannot be permanently removed - it's hard and even if you do remove it, then in breathable air it re-establishes itself in seconds, however it's impervious to oxygen, so it's self-limiting.
On nickel the re-oxidation is slower (hours), but it continues to build (it slows, but never stops completely).  Nickel oxide is softer and microscopically thin films can mostly be removed by abrasion with paper.

Nanostructure layers of transition metal oxides (e.g. chrome and nickel) do however allow electron tunneling, and so don't prevent electrical contact.

Huge posted:

The requirement for 4mm plugs depends on their plating material.  For gold, just wipe with a soft cloth, for nickel and chrome, wipe vigorously with an unsized paper such as kitchen roll.  For the sockets do the same thing but wrap the cloth / paper round a suitable sized plastic rod.  As a simpler alternative, using multiple cycles of unplugging and re-insertion does seem to work in practice.

This brings more complications, dissimilar metals can cause reactions & maybe erosion.      After having crud problems in the past with the Naim 4mm nickel pins into gold plated speaker terminal posts,   I now only use the Naim nickel pins in the Naim amp sockets that are also nickel.  The speaker ends are gold into gold  

Yep, same here.

Nickel socket <- nickel plug.
Gold socket <- gold plug.
Chrome socket <- gold plug.

In practical terms dissimilar metals only result in galvanic corrosion under damp conditions - but there are degrees of dampness - humidity- and except in extremely low humidity conditions the possibility exists. Gold and nickel are sufficiently close to each other electrochemically  that under normal temperate domestic conditions galvanic corrosion is unlikely, though with high humidity it may occur. Pairing like metals for electrical contacts as suggested would remove any concern over galvanic corrosion, however some metals are more reactive than others and change in ways unrelated to galvanic corrosion, e.g. reacting with oxygen in the air (oxidation), or sulphur compounds etc.

chrome is more dissimilar to gold than is nickel, so not as good a choice. nickel would be better with chrome if chrome not available (not sure who uses chrome sockets in their equipment?)  Gold-Nickel is similar to Nickel-Chrome

The prime reason for the popularity of gold is its unreactive nature and its resistance to forming oxided, or reacting with pollutants in the air, unlike silver, which otherwise would be an excellent contact material due to its very high electrical conductivity.

Regarding mains electrical connections, most mains sockets have brass contact surfaces. That is ideal with brass plug pins. Gold plated contact pins are sufficiently close to brass electrochemically to be unlikely to corrode in dry environments, but they are likey to corrode if it is humid.

1mm² of 25μ chrome has a bulk resistance of 25x10^-6 x 13x10^-8 / (10^-3 x 10^-3)  = 3.25μΩ.

I don't think that's too important in the greater scheme of things!

Hi IB,  Gold is OK against chrome because of the transparent conductive oxide layer that forms on the chromium.  This is highly impervious, preventing contact between the chromium and oxygen or water.

Huge posted:

Hi IB,  Gold is OK against chrome because of the transparent conductive oxide layer that forms on the chromium.  This is highly impervious, preventing contact between the chromium and oxygen or water.

Good point, Huge - yes indeed.

never.

I reconnect the whole thing every 6 months, that's it.

its now about a year since i reset my system as a whole. one of these days i guess.

enjoy

ken

As an update, the cleaning of the connections has surely benefited the system. I pay particular emphasis on the tone of the piano and the notes not only sound richer (more tube-like) but linger in the background after they were struck. Just beautiful. On top of that, the slight glare or hardness is removed. 

Believe it or not it takes about 1 week for the changes to fully come into effect. On the first day the connections were cleaned, the music sounds great. On the 2nd day, it got a bit worse. After reading the comments here, I re-cleaned all connections by using dry cotton buds to remove the excess residue on all metal plugs and connections. Surprisingly the cotton buds picked up the residue with the dirt/rust sticking onto the buds. 3rd and 4th day it improved a little but after 7 days, it now sounds great.

Jay Coleman posted:

This thread inspired me to unplug and rep lug all the connections in the system. Much improved. I try to do it about twice a year.

This thread inspired me to pour a glass of red anti-oxidant, sit back, relax and listen to Jean Michel Jarre for twenty minutes