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Tube Amp Vintage Jacks

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Posted on July 19, 2015 at 05:27:28
mark.korda@myfairpoint.net
Audiophile

Posts: 1253
Location: Maine
Joined: August 16, 2011
 Hi, what secrets or techniques do you vintage tube amp owners do to make an old tarnished output jacks shiny, outside and in? I know most of us would want a gold replacement jack but if you can't have that at the time what do you do. After trying little strips of 320 grit sand paper around the outside of the jack I'm about to try Brasso with a used Tootsie Pop stick and a thin rag in the inside.Someone must have some better idea.....thanks..Mark Korda

 

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RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 06:17:29
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 Dremel with a cotton buffing tip is good. It's a lot of work for a smaller return. They look better though. Hard to get the undersides where the actual connection happens. Ultimately I think replacement is worth the $$ and effort.

E
T

ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 08:09:43
dee eye why
Audiophile

Posts: 1148
Location: so. ohio
Joined: March 20, 2003
 The inside is tough to clean. Your plan sounds like a good idea. Cleaning these old jacks often results in removing the plating. I generally replace them.
Check out Partsexpress part# 090-280. A nickle plated jack pretty much identical to originals. Part# 090-278 for the gold plated version.
I use the nickle plated ones to keep the original appearance.

.
Freak out...Far out...In out....

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 11:08:32
Alpha Al
Industry Professional

Posts: 2958
Location: N. Carolina
Joined: February 16, 2004
Contributor
  Since: December 3, 2015
 I would not recommend Brasso. It removes oxidation by being somewhat corrosive. It would be hard to get all of it removed from the jack, and the chemical action would continue.

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 11:49:53
mark.korda@myfairpoint.net
Audiophile

Posts: 1253
Location: Maine
Joined: August 16, 2011
 Hi. thanks you guys for the tips. I held off on the Brasso, probably because of the messy factor. Alpha Al I never thought of the corrosive effect. Awe-D-O-File, the Dremel drill was a good idea but the tips I have are scattered and I need to put a Heathkit AA-32, 8 watt stereo tube amp to fill in for my amp that needs a fix. Dee Eye, when the nickel plating wears off, what metal is underneath? This is what I did for the inside.I cut a small piece of fine grit sandpaper the size of a matchbook. I folded one side in as small as my fingers could make it. I started to roll it up like a joint making it as pin sized as I could concentrating on one end so it started looking like a funnel.Once the funnel tip made it inside the jack the sandpaper pin joint tool unraveled to the shape of the inside jack and could be spun freely and pushed back and forth.You can see the gray oxide on the tan colored sandpaper. After what I learned from you guys I guess this should only be a quick fix.I thought the old jacks were solid nickel and didn't think of the plating.Thanks for your direction and still want to hear any other ways to shine things up....Mark.

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 12:22:29
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 Steel is a likely base metal in "vintage" jacks. That's what H/K used in the Cit. 2. Of course, brass is a possibility.

To remove the corrosion on the inside, use pipe cleaners moistened with DeOxit. Follow with more pipe cleaners moistened with anhydrous isopropanol. You end up residue and water free. :>)


Eli D.

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 13:31:39
dee eye why
Audiophile

Posts: 1148
Location: so. ohio
Joined: March 20, 2003
 Yes, steel is always what I've found in vintage gear. The new ones from Partsexpress are likely also steel or the "mystery metal" that is used in most of their other so called "brass" and "copper" connectors.
I also use Deoxit and pipe cleaners but hadn't thought of using alcohol afterwards. Is denatured alcohol OK?

.
Freak out...Far out...In out....

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 19, 2015 at 16:18:44
Eli Duttman
Audiophile

Posts: 10455
Location: Monroe Township, NJ
Joined: March 31, 2000
 "Is denatured alcohol OK?"

If you are 100% sure it's anhydrous, yes it is. Water is an enemy of ferrous metal. A number of substances are used to denature ethanol, among them methanol. Methanol vapor is toxic. So, if you use denatured alcohol, work in a VERY well ventilated space. The toxicity of isopropanol is low, hence its popularity.

Mouser charges $11 for a pint of 99.8% pure isopropanol. That will last a long time and is quite useful for cleaning connectors and removing rosin flux. BTW, it's long odds that the last 0.2% is benzene (C6H6). It's not possible to obtain anhydrous alcohol from an alcohol water mixture by simple distillation. A constant boiling point (azeotropic) mixture forms. Adding benzene to the azeotrope and distilling again is an economical way to obtain an anhydrous product.


Eli D.

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 20, 2015 at 06:03:09
geezerrocket






Mark;

I have used a wire brush and Dremel tool on many vintage jacks with great success. The Dremel tool and brush polishes the old tarnished machine screws to a high luster.

They can be purchased at any home improvement store.




 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 20, 2015 at 06:10:31
mark.korda@myfairpoint.net
Audiophile

Posts: 1253
Location: Maine
Joined: August 16, 2011
 Wow, thanks Eli. What a solution! When you said (Anhydrous) I felt like Gilligan talking to the professor. I'll try that technique. I ordered stuff from Mouser a while back, and now with the computer it's made as easy as tying your shoe to get parts now.I tried it the other day and was shocked at the ease of ordering...just to let others know....thank you Eli....Mark.

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 20, 2015 at 08:12:04
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 Just when I thought I knew everything, you once again expand my knowledge. I agree that for sound, it is best to replace, but when a piece has historical significance, you want to keep things as original as possible. Thanks for the great tip!

Dave

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 20, 2015 at 09:07:58
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 What metal is the jack made of that they are they plating?

TIA!

Dave

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 20, 2015 at 15:47:32
dee eye why
Audiophile

Posts: 1148
Location: so. ohio
Joined: March 20, 2003
 A lot of partsexpress connectors, and most of the China made ones on Ebay are made of a slightly magnetic whitish material that looks a LOT like pot metal. Total crap.
The good news: I just ran a file across one of the vintage style replacements from Partsexpress and they are brass! Totally non magnetic.
Not bad at 77 cents each.

.
Freak out...Far out...In out....

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 22, 2015 at 07:14:05
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 Cool! Is it the same part numbers?


Dave

 

RE: Tube Amp Vintage Jacks, posted on July 22, 2015 at 08:42:00
dee eye why
Audiophile

Posts: 1148
Location: so. ohio
Joined: March 20, 2003
 Yes. 090-280 for nickel and 090-278 for gold.

.
Freak out...Far out...In out....

 

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