Cornman Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Over the past few year's the subject of cleaning tube pins & other connections has been posted here several times. Being a Maintenance man by profession, I am well aware of the advantages of good clean electrical connections in various components, reduced resistance ,lower amp draw etc.. But I was not expecting the audible results I got when I finally got around to cleaning my 6c33 tube pin. I polished each pin with 600 sandpaper, then deoxitted with Craigs.Took me a little over an hour to do a through job on these big 6c33's, although they were purchased new directly from Russia fairly recently, the pins were badly oxidized (dark gray to almost black) probably from sitting in Russian warehouses for more then a decade. They were shinny clean when I finished, & the audible difference was very real, no placebo effect here for sure especially in the noise floor. Before I had a low buzzz that was audible out of the Cornwalls out to almost 2 feet. Now that buzzz level has been reduced by half! No bull guys this works, probably more so on some equipment then others, but definitely worth the effort. If nothing else the clean pins will ensure cooler operation & a longer life for your tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnatnoop Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 great information. will watch mine closely and keep 'em clean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Great info.... I may do this project this weekend... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Good job! I've been preaching this for about 10 years now. Once a year clean the tube pins, tube sockets, controls and re-tension any sockets that the tubes remove or insert easily. Unsoldered electrical connections are like magnets to oxidization. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornman Posted August 10, 2011 Author Share Posted August 10, 2011 Thanks Craig, your advise has always been good thru out the years. I hope I will take action sooner then later on good tips like these that you provide. [:$] Downright foolish of me to spend big $ upgrading my tube sockets to Teflon, then leave the tubes with corroded pins - duuuh. "unsoldered electrical connections are like magnets to oxidation" - Another good one liner that says it all. Cornman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Tube pins and sockets, interconnect pins and sockets, speaker cable ends, switches and pots, and even the crossover to driver connections inside the speaker, will all benefit from periodic cleaning and retightening. Ribbon cable and other connectors inside equipment need to be cleaned and checked as a first step if the piece of equipment has become noisy or inoperative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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