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Removing Morch DP-6 tonearm wires from cartridge

I will be replacing the cartridge on my Morch/Moerch tonearm once I get my new cartridge. This will be only the second time I have installed a cartridge on a tonearm; please forgive me for all of the the newbie questions.

I noticed that the rubber boots (?? I don't know the proper terminology) that cover the clips on the end of the tonearm wires seem to be a bit dried out, with some small cracks in them as well, and so I am concerned that they might disintegrate when I try to remove the clips from the cartridge contact pins. (I haven't actually touched the boots to see whether or not they are still pliable, this is an observation from visual inspection only.)

Is there a trick to removing the clips easily? (I'm already worried because I know how fragile the wires themselves are.) Is there perhaps some sort of moisturizer or lubricant I can use that won't interfere with the electrical connection but will make it easier to remove the clips, and that might also "replenish" the rubber of the 'boots' ? (Or does the condition of the boots not really matter as long as the wires themselves are OK?)

Holly
oakiris

Showing 10 responses by oakiris

oakiris OP
206 posts
 
Cool - I have alcohol and q-tips so that is what I will use to clean the pins and contacts.

Point taken about tweezers, Doak. :-)

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
lol - thank you sir! I knew they were for color coding, but I thought perhaps they also did....what??? No idea.

I am sure Mehran would charge a pretty penny for this, if it is even something that he can do, or have done. Since it is just a matter of aesthetics, as long as enough of the boot is left for me to determine which clip goes to which pin, I'm not going to worry about it.

(Waiting for my new cartridge to arrive has, apparently, given me too much time to look at all of the other things that might be wrong or could go wrong. I need to chill out for a bit, I think!)

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
I will be very careful removing the wires; they are very fragile and I definitely cannot afford to have the tonearm rewired because I was careless - well, I can't afford to have the tonearm rewired, period, given the prices quoted by you, Rodrigaj. Thank you for the tip about using jeweler's needle nose pliers also - I might just apply some rubber tool dip on the metal jaws of a pair of needle noses I already have.

"I wonder if a dab of Vaseline would make the rubber more pliable without altering anything?"

Hmmm... I know some people recommend using Vaseline on car battery posts to keep them from oxidizing/corroding, so I 'assume'it would be OK on contacts. However, I can also see it attracting dust, which is in plentiful supply here where I live so I don't think I would want to use it. The same probably holds true of dielectric grease, which is used for spark plug boots. If the boot fall apart, I will just need to figure out another way of color coding them

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
As one of the two or three women in this world that do not wear nail polish, that won't work for me; I was thinking a dot of acrylic paint might work, but using Sharpies is even easier - I actually have them in all of the necessary colors, too.

I have several pairs of hemostats - thank you for that tip, Doug.; I had read about the toothpick trick before, but thank you for the reminder!

You are right about vaseline and rubber, of course, BRF - forgot about that negative! lol Silicone grease might work, but, again, there is the dust attracting factor; knowing that the boots are just for color coding reasons, I am not going to worry about them.

In fact, it would probably actually be best if there were no boots all together. That way you can see exactly where the clip is and know the best spot to place your pliers/hemostats in order to pull the clip off of the cartridge pin without damaging the wires. If the boots do fall apart, that might be a good thing!

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
lol - not sure that I will do the yanking part, but I will do my best to be calm about the whole thing. At least I can remove the arm tube from the tonearm pivot so I can work on the cartridge without it being installed on the turntable - makes it a lot easier and safer, especially for someone clumsy like me.

Just got an email that my new cartridge has shipped. YAY!

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
Your suggestion sounds like an excellent one, Stringreen. Thank you for the tip!

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
I actually just got one of those plastic RCA connector cleaning tools so I can clean off the interconnect connectors. Cleaning the tonearm headshell wire connectors and pins sounds like a good idea. I am considering getting a tube of Deoxit Gold; will that work or is there something better (and maybe less expensive, lol) that can be used for this?

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
I managed to get the tonearm wire clips off of the cartridge pins and have removed the old cartridge; still waiting for the new one, but that is progress!

The clips were on the pins pretty tightly so it was scarey, but I didn't damage the wires, and the boots are still intact. I was able to push back the boot on one of the wires far enough to see what the clips looked like so I could grasp each of them in the right place with a pair of needle nose pliers. Whew! Glad that part is done - I definitely don't like messing with those little fragile wires!

When I get the new cartridge, I will clean the tonearm wire clips and the cartridge pins, even though the cartridge is new. I am sure putting the clips back on the pins will be relatively easy; I can always loosen up the clips with a toothpick so they slide right on and then tighten them down a bit - very gently - with the pliers.

Thank you again for all of your help, everyone. This newbie very much appreciated the hand-holding!

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
hmm, thought I had already answered this but my post hasn't appeared, so....

I am very happy that I was able to successfully remove the clips from the old cartridge and I must agree that I don't want to mess with those little wires anymore than I need to; perhaps I will just make sure the cartridge pins are nice and clean before I install the clips.

Thank you for your tips and suggestions. I'm going to be an expert by the time I have my turntable working again! (j/k - but I am definitely learning a lot!)

Holly
oakiris OP
206 posts
 
Yep, I will be removing the arm wand to install the cartridge - much easier and less likely to damage something! Another nice thing about the Moerch DP-6.

I did finally receive my cartridge so I will be installing it later this week. :-)

Holly
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