Only thing I have on hand is electronic lubricant. Can I use anyting else to clean tube pins, sockets, etc.?

Isopropyl alcohol and some elbow grease works well. DO NOT use rubbing alcohol, though, as it contains mineral oils that are bad for tubes. Good luck

The best material for cleaning connections, pins, etc. is Caig Deoxit. Available from some of the radio parts suppliers, through Amazon, or directly from Caig on the web.

-David

Mary, go to Wal-Mart automotive department for some CRC QD Electronic Cleaner, in a huge 11 oz. spray can, for $5. It's the clear stuff and is great for spraying out tube sockets, and volume, tone and bass controls. This stuff really is good! You can literally flood your controls with the stuff, and it doesn't matter how much gets inside the amp. It dries up almost immediately, leaving no residue.

Just found a can of that same stuff in my tools! Thanks...everyone!

That CRC cleaner is very good also. I use it a lot, when I don't think I need the Deoxit. It is much cheaper and works well. CRC also has a stronger Electrical Parts Cleaner for motors, relays, switches, and automotive electrical parts which I also use but not on delicate components or controls.

-David

Mary get both CRC and something with DeOxit in it. Here is why...

CRC is a GREAT cleaner but does just that and not really anything else. It is great for cleaning the underneath of a chassis or a first step in pots-tubes and sockets. It dries residue free which is great but the problem I have found with the CRC is down the road my pots would start to get stiff and noisy again after a fairly short time. I would notice pots would on occasion become stiff and I could feel definite friction inside. Believe it or not pots actually have a small amount of lube in them when first manufactured and should have a small amount in them to work properly after being cleaned, buy a new pot a crack it open and you will see.

Now DeOxit is not only a cleaner but a light lubricant as well. I buy mine from Radio Shack...get Radio Shack's own labeled electrical cleaner...but read the contents on the various ones and only buy the one that contains DeOxit in the contents list. It runs only about $5 a can. Otherwise if you buy the labeled DeOxit product you will pay like $20 for a tiny bottle.

When using DeOxit do it very sparingly it really goes a long way and you can waste it easily. I find DeOxit works FAR superior to CRC cleaner on pots and tube sockets etc. It is amazing stuff and that is why they can charge so much! LOL It not only cleans but lubricates and protects the inside of the pots and yes they work smooth as silk afterwards. I have yet to come across a pot I have treated with a DeOxit product that has become dirty or noisy again unlike CRC.

Like I said I buy and use both products. The CRC I use for external cleaning as it cleans great and leaves no residue and deoxit for tube sockets, tube pins and the insides of pots where you need that better contact and that bit of lubricant that deoxit provides.

FWIW I've used Caig stuff for over 20 years and I have a lower opinion of its effectiveness than they do. It does flush dust and leaves little residue, but so does compressed air. It does NOT remove or prevent oxidation from prone metals.

Thanks..
but now I have a dumb question...
What's a "POT"!? Lol

Pot is short for Potentiometer which is the volume control on your 7EF player. These are also used as Bass, Treble, Tone, or balance controls on your SHC-4.

You should pick up Phil Vourtsis book not only does it have good info on 45 players, history of RCA and the 45 history etc but has a basic section on rebuilding 45 players which carries over to stuff like this.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Fabulous-Victrola-Phil-Vourtsis/dp/0764316370

Or look for a beginners book on tube amp electronics at the library. There is several that deal with guitar amps etc but are basically the same thing. I think the "RCA 45 Victrola book" would give you enough info to get you a solid base of understanding record players and amps.

T,
You sound like you have been in the business for decades. First flush out all the dirt and debris with solvent then just a touch of contact lubricant. If you still have a problem, carefully warming the contacts with a blow dryer between the solvent flush and the lubricant can also be beneficial.

I'm going to strongly side with Bastardbus.

Caig products have undergone some degree of improvement over the last two decades. I wasn't impressed back in 1994 when I opened Classic Audio Repair. However, in 2012, Caig DeoxIT D5 and Caig Gold are the only products we use to treat switches and controls, and the jacks on the back of various audio components.

First, let me do a sidebar and turn to the word "clean." In California, if I say "cleaned switches and controls" on a service invoice, the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair can technically issue me a citation. Why? The reason is simple. Cleaning a control or switch will not generally do much for it. Moreover, there's a long history of businesses that charged big fees for "cleaning" equipment (stereos, radios, tv's.) and implied that "cleaning" would eliminate numerous malfunctions. This was an example of snake oil in the repair business. So many consumers got bit by these scams that the regulators (who I generally loathe) decided to step in.

Removing dust and grime from a switch or control will provide a temporary remediation of a portion of what we all know as touchy switches and noisy controls, but the benefit is very limited. To restore the switch or control, you mainly need a lubricant and a chemical that reverses and/or retards oxidation.

Caig products do exactly that. Along with lubricants, they DO contain chemicals that reverse and/or retard oxidation. The D5 formulation is adequate for routine applications, and the Gold is a highly concentrated formulation. If you doubt that it contains a chemical that attacks oxidation, consider this. My store is in a beach community. Every year I see many hundreds of sets that have horribly oxidized RCA jacks on the rear panel. If you spray Caig Gold on these jacks, the chemical restoration of the jacks is intense and exothermic. The chemical attacks the oxides so strongly you can literally see it bubble!

We use Caig DeoxIT D5 or the concentrated Gold formulation on thousands of sets every year. After the service, the improvements persist for months or years. When Caig products don't restore a switch or controls, I resort to Plan B . . . which is to send the control to Mark Oppat for a rebuild!

Fred
owner
Classic Audio Repair
servicing audio gear since the Pleistocene

I always spray control pots with the clear tuner spray first, absolutely flooding them while turning each control, which cleans out all the dirt out of the pots. I then stuff a wash rag under each control and spray out each control with Radio Shack control cleaner/lubricant spray. I then work each control back and forth about 10 times to lubricate the pot. The wash rag collects any run off from the lubricant spray as you don't want any of that mess on the chassis.

Tube sockets only get the clear tuner cleaner spray... there is no need for lubricating spray in tube sockets. After spraying, I then take a pipe cleaner and dip it in rubbing alcohol and clean each individual socket all the way around for additional socket cleaning. Furthermore, I use a small copper wire brush and clean all the pins on each tube with the wire brush to remove oxidation and provide a better contact with the sockets.

It's true that tube pins don't require lubrication BUT... the protective film that the contact cleaner leaves behind inhibits oxidation. I also apply contact cleaner to a Q-tip and clean the tube pins as well.
I give tubes "the rock test" where I rock the tube in the socket while the unit is operating to check for any intermittent operation or noise.
"The tap test", tapping gently on a tube with a red plastic XceLite ¼-inch #8 nut driver handle (no substitutions please) while the set is operating can also reveal intermittent issues with the tubes themselves.