PinoyDVD: The Pinoy Digital Video & Devices Community

Home Theater => General => Service => Topic started by: kid on Feb 19, 2004 at 10:31 AM

Title: Equipment Maintenance
Post by: kid on Feb 19, 2004 at 10:31 AM
Fellow PinoyDVD Member:

How do you maintain you audio/video equipments?

Pls. post it here....  8)
Title: Re:Equiptment Maintenance
Post by: greatbop on Feb 19, 2004 at 01:01 PM
periodic cleaning ng connectors.

wiping the cabinets with a damp cloth to keep dusts away.. that's pretty much it.. they're basically low maintenance naman eh.

Title: Re:Equiptment Maintenance
Post by: av_phile1 on Feb 19, 2004 at 01:46 PM
Just wipe away the dust from the tops when you see them accumulating, usually every weekend.  Then I use a large paint brush to brush away accumulated dust on top of knobs and switches and in crevices on the front panel.   That's about it.

Oh, and I play a CD disc cleaner every month or two.  

It is suggested that you unplug and re-plug the RCAs repeatedly to remove some corrosions on the terminals.  That I hardly do but I should.  
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: slowhand on Feb 19, 2004 at 03:37 PM
One of the best things you can do is make sure a CD or DVD is clean before you put it in the player. It's amazing how much we take that for granted.

For connectors, there's someone who's selling Caig Progold cleaner. Highly recommended.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: av_phile1 on Feb 19, 2004 at 03:45 PM
They say the audio system is a chain starting with the human ear, the speakers all the way to the source record.  So don't forget the ears!!!!.  You'd be surprised how cleaning the earwax out can do wonders to getting brilliant highs   he he ;D
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: kid on Feb 19, 2004 at 03:56 PM
same thing with me. how about the insde part of the equipment, is it necessary to have it sprayed by an air compressor to remove the dirt inside? I saw them using a compressor when i have my mini compo repaired few years ago.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: av_phile1 on Feb 19, 2004 at 04:21 PM
It's very much a given than those ventillation holes will allow dirt to accumulate inside any component that has them over a period of time.  For me, i find those dirt more an annoyance than anything elese.  

For sure opening your gears would invalidate the warranty.  So if the warranty has expired and you are confident on how to open these things up,  a vacuum clearner turned on reverse as a blower could make the insides a bit cleaner. Though I doubt such a ceremonious activity will improve the sound or performance of your gear.  I think it matters more on CD/DVD players and cassette/VHS players with moving parts than amps, equalizers, processors and receivers. You could bring the units to a service center for something like this if you feel squeamish about dirt.  Am just not sure if they charge so much for this.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: kid on Feb 19, 2004 at 05:50 PM
am just wondering why they do that, spraying inside the equipment....
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: av_phile1 on Feb 19, 2004 at 06:06 PM
What might appear like spraying could be jet-blowing with air to rid the insides of dust debris.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: indridcold on Feb 19, 2004 at 09:23 PM
malamang compressed air yung ginagamit nila.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: alfred on Feb 20, 2004 at 12:28 AM
They say the audio system is a chain starting with the human ear, the speakers all the way to the source record.  So don't forget the ears!!!!.  You'd be surprised how cleaning the earwax out can do wonders to getting brilliant highs   he he ;D

hehe...nice one ;)
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: bravoexo on Feb 20, 2004 at 01:52 AM
RPTV's needs to e vacuumed from time to time...  I even clean the reflector plexiglass from the inside...for my other equipment, a good shakedown is recommended, especially consoles...
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: Dracula on Feb 20, 2004 at 05:03 AM
How about speakers what do you do if the speaker cones get dirty?
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: av_phile1 on Feb 20, 2004 at 01:08 PM
How about speakers what do you do if the speaker cones get dirty?

I've read a magz in my early days in the hobby that paper-based cones should be supple and pliant. Over tine, they get dried-out and the magz recommended using baby oil to sort of rejuvenate them.  Pour some baby oil over a piece of clean cloth, (NEVER on the speaker itsef) and wipe the driver cone and the suspension surrounds.  I've done this with my previous Sansui speakers after a couple of years.  Maybe this procedure can also apply with other speaker cones of a different materials, but I haven't tried..  

Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: alexg on Feb 26, 2004 at 01:37 PM
I usually use a soft brush to remove dust on my equipment and once a year, I use my compressor to blow dust off my A/V equipment (I usually open the chassis).
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: greatbop on Feb 26, 2004 at 01:55 PM
how about... cleaning the rca inputs and outputs?

Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: kid on Feb 26, 2004 at 05:10 PM
I usually use a soft brush to remove dust on my equipment and once a year, I use my compressor to blow dust off my A/V equipment (I usually open the chassis).

What areas are you cleaning inside your receiver? What air level do you chose to blow up the dust in your equipment?
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: av_phile1 on Feb 26, 2004 at 05:24 PM
how about... cleaning the rca inputs and outputs?



Hehe ;D  I hardly clean them.  

It is suggested that they be unplugged and plugged a number of times to take out the gum, fungus or oxide build-ups.  But usually, once they are tightly plugged from the start, they could last for years without any problem.

In my case, about the only times i unplug and re-plug an rca cable are when I replace the unit with a new one.   ;D

Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: slowhand on Feb 26, 2004 at 09:48 PM
About cleaning RCAs...that's what the Caig product I mentioned excels at.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: arnel90 on Feb 26, 2004 at 10:07 PM
One of the best things you can do is make sure a CD or DVD is clean before you put it in the player. It's amazing how much we take that for granted.

For connectors, there's someone who's selling Caig Progold cleaner. Highly recommended.

bro, who's selling this contact cleaner? thanks
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: slowhand on Feb 26, 2004 at 10:14 PM
be976 -

Try calling +639189269460.
I got mine through his post here at PinoyDVD.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: arnel90 on Feb 26, 2004 at 10:20 PM
thanks slowhand
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: onedown on Mar 04, 2004 at 12:05 PM
just want to make sure before i proceed. is it safe to use household glass cleaner to clean the screen of a crt television? it just came on to me that screens might be coated with something and glass cleaners might cause damage.

thanks.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: nebula on Mar 04, 2004 at 01:04 PM
just to add to this thread. i place a dehumidifier in my a/v cabinet to soak up all the humidity, lakas din makasira yan ng mga IC contacts (vs. corrosion/molds). it is the plastic dehumidifier with white pellets inside. just be careful not to make it spill when it gets full of water. i also use it to protect my photo devices, so that molds don't grow on the lens.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: alexg on Mar 04, 2004 at 01:46 PM
onedown,

I would not use glass cleaner on crt screens, most of the direct view tv  I owned advise against using glass cleaner because of the ammonia that might dissolve the coating of the crt.

I use very low concentration of mild detergent on warm water, I usually dampen a washing foam and wipe the screen, followed by wiping using soft cotton rag.

Hope this helps.
Title: Re:Equipment Maintenance
Post by: onedown on Mar 04, 2004 at 04:55 PM
thanks, alexg.
Title: Re: Equipment Maintenance
Post by: KEN on Sep 13, 2005 at 10:56 PM
Hi,

Is it safe to use oil based contact cleaner ? Which is better for cleaning RCA connectors? speaker binding post(inside and outside cabinet) oiled or non oil ?


TIA