CAIG Helps Resuscitate Synth, RADIO WORLD
by Alan R. Peterson
Studio Sessions Reprinted from August 6, 1997
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Some months ago, the production toy of my dreams arrived in a big box: a vintage '70s MiniMoog analog synthesizer.
Prior to my acquisition, this retired specimen spent nearly eight years stuck in an HVAC machinery room. The oiled walnut case was filled with dust, and all pots and electrical contacts to speak of were covered with a layer of crud.
Steel wool and Tung Oil took care of the cabinet; the front panel was treated with some tire-and-dashboard spray. But keyboard contacts, switches and pot wipers were a real challenge. Tuner cleaner only stunk up the house and I did not want to use an emery board on the silver-wire keyboard contacts.
Fortunately, a care package arrived from CAIG Laboratories just in time. Inside, samples of DeoxIT®, DeoxIT® GOLD and DeoxIT® FaderLube spray.
"The perfect test," I thought.
Riding the rails
Under the Moog's keyboard are metal rails that carry DC voltages. Depressing a key closes a contact that throws the juice across a precision resistor ladder, determining the pitch of a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). If the contacts are fouled, the thing simply will not work properly.
The rails and key contacts received a cleaning with a DeoxIT® GOLD wipe, one square inch of cloth saturated with solution that cleans, and conditiions electrical contacts while leaving behind a layer of lubrication. The company says the compound penetrates plated surfaces, and bonds to base metals on the molecular level.
I cannot prove that without an electron microscope, but after treatment, my test with an oscilloscope confirmed each key made solid contact with no noise. The DeoxIT® GOLD worked as stated.
(CAIG DeoxIT® contact cleaner is sprayed into the Moog's Waveform switch.)
Creeping crud
The gray beard of loose dust inside the MiniMoog was vacuumed out, but a layer of junk covered all rotary and rocker switch contacts, and the pots were stiff and noisy.
I tried a few shots of DeoxIT® contact cleaner spray on the rockers. After spraying, I worked the switches back and forth several times, then used a lint-free swab to remove dirt and surface contaminants flushed out with the spray.
This is not the standard way to use DeoxIT®, but I wanted to get out as much of the debris as I could. Then another shot of DeoxIT® spray and I was done.
Except for a few sealed heavy-duty Allen-Bradley jobbies, all pots and rotary switches also received a dose of DeoxIT® contact cleaner to clean things out, followed by a shot of DeoxIT® FaderLube lubricant for moving contacts.
A number of phone jacks were equally caked from age and neglect. Saturating a stiff brush with DeoxIT® and working it in and out of the jacks brought them back.
No bad stuff
I am impressed that CAIG Laboratories went out of its way to develop products that are environmentally safe. No CFC or HCFC spray propellants are used, and products are available in non-flammable versions and are non-toxic. The result: no more noisy, stiff contacts, and pots with several more years left to them.
CAIG products are ideal for use in the station production room. A quick spritz or two does wonders for linear faders. Wipes and brush-on compounds keep plugs and jacks clean and noise-free. Best of all, the room does not reek of WD-40 for a week afterwards.
I do have more work ahead of me. One VCO refuses to work, and thermal drift over the years has clobbered the synth's accuracy. But at last I have my own classic Moog, one which I hope will be working soon.
With products from CAIG Laboratories, the restoration job is going a lot quicker.
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