FYI: Silver oxide is a better conductor of electricity than clean copper.
What solution to clean silver and gold contacts?
Hello!
I am looking for a product to use to clean contacts in my audio system. Contacts are mostly gold plated, but some of them are pure silver on pure silver.
I do not want anything that leaves any kind of residue / contact enhancement product. I read on forums that some members claim these products improve the sound at first, but later degrade it. So in the end, they removed all of the contact enhancement product from the actual contact.
Right now I am mostly leaning towards using pure ethanol alcohol, as I think all of it would evaporate.
Thanks in advance for all of your advices.
I am looking for a product to use to clean contacts in my audio system. Contacts are mostly gold plated, but some of them are pure silver on pure silver.
I do not want anything that leaves any kind of residue / contact enhancement product. I read on forums that some members claim these products improve the sound at first, but later degrade it. So in the end, they removed all of the contact enhancement product from the actual contact.
Right now I am mostly leaning towards using pure ethanol alcohol, as I think all of it would evaporate.
Thanks in advance for all of your advices.
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- 20 posts total
Silver does not form an oxide layer. In fact it is very difficult to oxidize silver under ambient conditions. The black tarnish is silver sulfide which affects the conductivity. Depending on the amount of sulfur in your local environment, silver can form a mono layer of silver sulfide in a matter of minutes. |
Thank you all. It seems that everyone agree that tarnish layer is silver sulfide, that does reduce conductivity, and therefore can affect the sound. I prefer to clean it with something that does not leave any layer behind. Would alcohol remove the silver sulfide? Or at least, clean the contact from the dust safely? What can remove it, without leaving anything behind? ljgerens, are you sure that silver sulfide can form in minutes? |
Unless you’re living in a Sulfur-rich environment(ie: around volcanoes/chicken coops/sewage treatment plants), you needn’t worry about sulfites forming in, "a matter of minutes"! https://www.powellind.com/sites/downloads/ProductAssets/01.4TB.080%20Switchgear%20in%20a%20Sulphur%2...Various conductivities/causes, concerning oxides/sulfides, discussed here: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/dielectric-grease-on-connection-ends/post?postid=1381403#1381... BTW: What stanleylocke and williewonka said, +1(each) |
I did this experiment back in the 90s with silver in upstate New York. We exposed clean silver prepared in ultra high vacuum to ambient atmosphere for various lengths of time and found a monolayer of silver sulfide formed between 5 to 10 minutes. A monolayer should not affect conductivity and it is not visible to the naked eye but it shows how quickly silver sulfide forms. You do not need to be near volcanoes, chicken coops, or sewage treatment plants to have sulfur in the atmosphere. If your silver tarnishes there is sulfur in the air. When the tarnish is visible, thousands of layers of silver sulfide have already formed. Alcohol will not remove silver sulfide. you need an abrasive cleaner. The problem is when you use these abrasive cleaners they can pit the silver on a micro scale which makes the silver surface more reactive with sulfur. All cleaners will leave a layer of something behind. Even alcohol will leave a layer of hydrocarbons on the cleaned surface, that is unavoidable. |
- 20 posts total