DeOxit - Snake oil or not?

I don't know of any magical chemical that's practical to use on non-accessible contacts and then leaves no residue. Oxidation should be to be physically removed lightly. If removing it causes the base metal to be shown, the item should be replaced. Spraying chemicals into something that can't be accessed is not advised.

if it's not recommended to spray DeoxIT on connectors, how can I remove oxidation without using any solvent?

oxidation is a thin coating layer which must be removed for better audio quality

Focus on the big picture.

Service all old boxes that have big caps in them. Mount all boxes on something decent. Use Naim wires. Buy more music. Open a cold one and kick back. Imo.

Chris

Christopher_M posted:

Focus on the big picture.

Service all old boxes that have big caps in them. Mount all boxes on something decent. Use Naim wires. Buy more music. Open a cold one and kick back. Imo.

Chris

i managed to get my sound back in action without service.

my units seem to still be in good shape despite  their age being approx 13-15 years old.

I use a StanDesign rack with 4 shelves, each Naim unit sits on each shelf.

Kicking back is so much fun now! Thanks

This is great news, enjoy your music.

C.

kowalski posted:

if it's not recommended to spray DeoxIT on connectors, how can I remove oxidation without using any solvent?

oxidation is a thin coating layer which must be removed for better audio quality

No metal polish/cleaner on any connector. It will leave a residue. Pure acetone or alcohol would be fine, but then you risk it wicking into internals.

Just push the connectors in and out a few times to physically remove the oxide. If the oxide is that bad, then you'll need to replace the connectors.

It depends what you mean by oxidation,  its a word that is frequently misused as a generic description of a visible deposit or colour change & it varies depending on the pin material.   If its silver tarnish I would not bother, the thin line contact in a DIN connector is perfectly fixed by pushing in/out a few times.  

I used to work in an industry that included electronics & comms equipment used in marine environments,  corrosion (not oxidisation) was an ongoing issue & we treated everything with different DeOxit products to delay - by 2 or 3 years - the inevitable start of connection reliability.    I've also used DeOxit to clean & protect connections in equipment used in stage/group/disco which (in those days) were covered in tobacco related crud.    DeOxit does work,  but there are different products for different purposes & the stuff we see sold around the audio/AV world is really intended to clean & protect already reasonably clean connects - plus the push/pull (in/out) self cleaning - & it does an OK job.  But as Count.D says,  there is not a magic chemical.

Count.D and Mike-B are correct DIN connectors are referred to a having wiping contacts - this means that to clean them all you need to do is to remove and reinsert the connector (maybe twice), the high contact pressure will clean the contact patch.  Most DIN connectors (but not gold ones) are guaranteed for >250 insertions (Prehkeytec are actually rated >500), so doing this every 6 months they will last at least 62 years!

If you're getting significant corrosion of contacts in a domestic environment, then you really need to investigate that, if only for the sake of your health!

i had my naim for about 15 years now.

there's bound to be oxide on DIN connectors internal housing, when I sprayed CRC Contact cleaner into DIN housing, solvent turned bluish when I let the solvent drip on kitchen paper, solvent did remove oxidation on my DIN connectors. I did this cleaning once maybe It's a better idea not to do it anymore?

I do sometimes push in/pull out my DIN connectors to scrape them clean from oxidation.

I noticed another thing, I have Ixos scart cables, these are the gold series, Ixos use to have 3 different series for sale.

Gold -  Silver - bronze series.

My gold series Ixos scart had an oxidation on the rectangular gold casing bracket which is pushed into the scart socket, oxidation was nasty and tainted. Maybe cleaning with CRC contact cleaner and rubbing with a piece of cloth  is a good idea to remove the nasty oxidation?

Gold plating shouldn't oxidate, should it?

Any corrosion of a gold plated component in a domestic environment either indicates very poor gold plating or mechanical damage of the plating.

..........   or as is the case in cheap plated items,  it's not gold.  Various ways to imitate gold plate using copper & zinc alloys that sometimes contain a small trace of gold.  The best & most commonly used in industry is titanium nitride,  with maybe a flash of gold.

ixos profiled them self as a high end brand for A/V

my scart is approx 13 years this must be normal wear n tear with oxidation??

Why would a SCART plug be subject to significant mechanical wear?

the strange thing is the oxidation  on gold plating happened when the scart was plugged into my tv. I have never seen this before. I felt the oxidation with my finger it was like stains from chicken pox 

Yes if you do use it make sure to remove any left over residue as much as possible . Easier with RCA as you can get in there properly with something. Not easy on the DIN as lots of crooks and nannies going on that will collect the residue and shove it into the contact.  De- oxit is not to be recommended personally as I found it to provide more problems long term , a lot better by a mile is ' Kontak ' fluid, more purer and after a little polish leaves a clean dry contact that stays clean longer.

I've used De-oxit on my contacts though not going in to the unit itself.  It's removed dirt and build up.  Afterwards I go over everything with peroxide, straight out of the bottle.  That seems to get rid of any residue.

...Have you tried spraying De-oxit on some kitchen paper and using it to clean along the length of the cable/cables ? All the dust that's formed on the cable/cables are doing more harm by introducing static into the picture.  Dirty cable = dirty sound.

I have never heard of dust causing static, only dust being attracted to static charge....

Oh, it definitely does - the localised lightning you can get in some of the largest dust storms is a case in point!

I'd be worried if it happened in a domestic setting though.