Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

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Eanna
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Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by Eanna »

Hi,

I picked up two Scope cards - what a fabulous experience.
Have much to say about it!

But my immediate issue is that one of the "Classic 20" cables (six RCA's and three Midi) are badly tarnished, and the Scope board isn't recognising that they are connected.

Since these are just cables (no chips or electronic components - afaik) - I thought I might boil the connector in water with salt and vinegar - picked that tip up from some Antique's site for cleaning copper vessels... Then leave it to thoroughly dry.

As for potential corrosion on the Scope backplate (the female side of the connector), I will try to use a wire brush... altho that side doesn't appear to suffer as badly with the corrosion.

What do you guys think? Will this boiling trick work??


Thank you,

Eanna
Not because it is easy, but because it is hard...
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garyb
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Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by garyb »

it might....

it also might remove chrome, nickel or gold conductive coating...

there are some very good commercial contact cleaners like Cramolin, Stabilant and Deoxit D5. i'd use one of those. also, you want to be sure that the wires or solders inside the d-sub aren't broken.
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yayajohn
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Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by yayajohn »

are you suggesting that your Scope cards are antiques? :lol:
Eanna
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Location: Ireland

Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by Eanna »

Thank you lads. Good points, the solder, aye... Yes it's about time I got contact cleaner.... Might just try swabbing with some Vinegar and hot water tonight, I'll let you know how I go...

As for antiques - well, sometimes an oversized and partially-corroded remnant from the past is priceless... Despite me having to drill rivets out of my PC's case to fit 15+6 DSP cards in my machine, despite the fact that, by the time I was done taking out two UAD-1 cards and fitting these in their place, I was left with a touch of lumbago, I do feel like I've just landed a (corrosion-free?) goldmine.... :-)

As a happy Noah owner, Scope has simply been a wonderful experience so far....

Here's hoping that we can all aid Sonic Core getting the recognition by the industry that the platform so completely deserves... that it is a cost-effective gateway to top-notch sonic quality, that it's made given my aging PC a whole new lease of life, and turned it into the most comprehensive synthesizer/sampler/modular/effects/mixdown/mastering tool that I know of, with the deepest DAW integration you can imagine, and with the opening up of the platform and a whole new DAW on the horizon.....

I just feel lucky!


Eanna
Not because it is easy, but because it is hard...
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garyb
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Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by garyb »

if you use vinegar and water, you must flush with 99% or better alcohol or contact cleaner. the vinegar will remove any suface hardened finish and the water will leave a film.... :)
Eanna
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Location: Ireland

Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by Eanna »

So, bit of warm water and a tad of vinegar, three bristles from a suede cleaner, a very bright lamp, and a bit of patience, looks like they all are clean as a whistle.

I now have tested ever port, and everything is working.

I don't have the conducting lacquer stuff to keep things clean and free from further corrosion. Where I have it now is dry and clean - never seen any damage. I will keep an eye out for it tho, sounds like something I would use, and something that's plain useful to have...

Thank you for getting back to me.

Eanna
Not because it is easy, but because it is hard...
Eanna
Posts: 615
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:57 am
Location: Ireland

Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by Eanna »

Oh and yes, I did wash out after with some alcohol I picked up from the pharmacy...

Cheers... hic!
Not because it is easy, but because it is hard...
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garyb
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Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by garyb »

:^)

just fyi, rubbing alcohol isn't really pure enough(too much water). if you use alcohol as a cleaning agent, you should always use 99% or better.
Eanna
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Location: Ireland

Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by Eanna »

Yeah, I used Surgical Spirit (99% isopropryl) and a Coffee filter as a lint-free swab... ;-)

God I love Scope. My interconnectivity fetish is sated... It's just so much in a single package. Just not the most comfortable bed partner... ;-)

Not sure about the importance of my Noah EX in my setup anymore. Hard to believe it's come to that... Altho, with Noah's ADAT Outs and slaving to a common wordclock with my Presonus Digimax FS, I have only recently started to appreciate the versatility of having a couple of mixer configurations with Noah as a frontend with Dynamics, EQ and some effect or other as a decent A/D for my DI'ed guitar/bass, preamp'ed mic and line-level synths, or even as an analog insert on the mixer.

Interesting times for me and my setup. Things I thought I couldn't do without haven't been switched on in a while now...
Not because it is easy, but because it is hard...
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garyb
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Re: Cleaning tarnished/corroded "Classic 20" connector

Post by garyb »

:)
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