DeoxIT® GOLD - Audio Field Test
Let’s face the facts. We all live and die by the quality of our connection, whether it’s that new A&R contact at a hot record label or the insistence on the finest cabling of mics, snakes and patch cords. Connections make the pro audio industry what it is.
Unfortunately, along the way, connections have become clouded. The average life span of A&R jobs seems to be about four months, and the world of electrical connections is no less harsh, with dust, dirt, smoke, crud and airborne pollutants mounting a continuous assault on wires, plugs, jacks and interconnects.
You can’t buy your way into a chart-topping record deal, but you can do something about cleaning up electrical connections. CAIG Laboratories has been supplying chemicals/cleaners to the audio, computer, communications and electronics industries since 1956, and one of the company’s specialties is contact enhancers and nonabrasive solvents/cleaners for removing oxidation, corrosion and contaminants.
CAIG’s DeoxIT® GOLD, is a conditioning treatment, that deoxidizes minimal amounts of oxidation, and has the unique ability to penetrate plated surfaces and physically bond with the molecules of the base metal.
Due to its high conductivity and resistance to oxidation, gold plating is frequently used for electronic connectors. After a number of continual insertions or reconnections, however, the plating may wear thin and expose the base metal, which can corrode and increase the contact resistance of the connection.
This is particularly problematic with edge card connectors, as the plating tends to be fairly thin and porous. Additionally, any oxidation or corrosion that forms in cracks or holes in the plating eventually may form under the plating, which can separate it from the base. Of course, once the gold plating flakes off, the oxidation problem becomes worse, and given the pricey nature of audio processing cards, it’s not a very pleasant scenario.
DeoxIT® GOLD is available in pen, wipe, bottle, needle and environmentally safe aerosols, as well as bulk containers for manufacturing users.
I had the opportunity to test the spray, wipe and pen forms, and began my testing by using the DeoxIT® GOLD G100S (100% concentration) spray to treat the five-way binding post inputs on my studio monitors. I make it a habit to check, clean and tighten these connectors at least once a year, so they aren’t overly gunked-up or oxidized.
However, the nickel plating on the dual-banana-plug input posts could certainly have been cleaner, and improving conductivity in this multi-metal (copper speaker wire to nickel banana plug to gold binding post) connection is always a good idea. On playback, I think it sounded better, but was I just imagining it? Time for another test...
In consoles, patchbays are a constant problem, at least in my studio. These 400 connectors are a natural target for airborne contaminants. I don’t allow smoking in my control room, so that isn’t an issue, but dust will inevitably settle into any connector (particularly those that face upward), and oxidation is always a concern.
I have a couple of patch points that occasionally were problematic, or at least require reinsertion of the jack a few times to clear the connection (re-insertion temporarily removes some of the oxidation). After a quick squirt of the DeoxIT® GOLD G5 spray (5% strength) into each of the offending sockets. The improvement was clearly audible.
I’ve had some problems with an older reverb unit, because the device would occasionally act erratically or emit that tell-tale “lights on, nobody home.” The problem turned out to be dirty pins on the program EPROM, which was socketed.
I pulled the chip, cleaned the pins with a DeoxIT® GOLD wipe and used the tip of the DeoxIT® GOLD pen to get into the chip socket. The wipes (small squares of cloth saturated with DeoxIT® GOLD) are nonabrasive and lint-free. The pen has a nice reach for getting into tight spaces.
Bottom line, outstanding products that perform exactly as promised!
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