Output Jack Cleaning | My Les Paul Forum

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• Thread starter HenryHill
• Start date Dec 6, 2014
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HenryHill

Senior Member

Joined Nov 26, 2010 Messages 16,239 Reaction score 40,413 Erlewine uses a graphite type cleaner on a semi hollow body on his bench in the accompanying DVD with his book Guitar Player Repair Guide. I have seen one, although I've looked thru some of the major places on the supplies and tools list sticky. What I'd like to know is the best way to clean a jack, and if there is a cleaner available that may help you to do it faster by not having to remove it from the guitar body and manually polish on the contact points. How do you clean a jack, and has anyone seen this screwdriver handled type graphite jack cleaner?

bruce bennett

Banned

Joined Jun 3, 2009 Messages 4,564 Reaction score 3,728 while I've seen what your talking about. I use a piece of tightly rolled up 600 grit sandpaper about 3" X 3" square. sprayed with a little bit of contact cleaner. the roll is long enough to hit both the outer sleeve and the tip at the same time and its big around enough to almost act like a plug ,so it is stiff enough that as you push it in it pushes the tip back just like a plug will. and I use a turning/push-pull action it gets the jack clean and polished in about a minute.

Freddy G

V.I.P. Member Joined Mar 18, 2007 Messages 20,235 Reaction score 59,793 First off....kudos for calling it an output jack! I cringe every time someone calls it an input jack To add to Bruce's comment, as an audio engineer I have to perform regular maintenance on all patch points and connectors in the studio/theatre system etc. That's hundreds of points! My cleaner of choice is MG Chemicals Super Contact Cleaner Spray a bit on a q-tip and then clean the contacts with that. Sometimes I see people just spray straight into the connector. That's lazy and sloppy and makes a mess! Also, while I might use an abrasive as a last resort for a heavily corroded connector, I avoid it for regular maintenance because it will wear the plating off the connector.

Dr.Distortion

V.I.P. Member Joined Dec 6, 2009 Messages 5,283 Reaction score 5,762 I use the contact cleaner/Q tip method. If it needs abrasive, I open up the guitar, amp, effect and clean or replace the jack. That way I'm not leaving the crap I cleaned inside the circuit... Also, if it's a switched jack, I can clean the switch contacts. R

Ronsonic

Senior Member

Joined Apr 29, 2010 Messages 417 Reaction score 157 Use Caig Deoxit D5. The inert ingredient is naphtha, it's benign to plastics and wood and the active ingredients do remove oxides from metal. Shoot a very short burst into the jack using the straw. If you hold the end of the straw just short of the jack's sleeve you'll get the whole inside of the jack. Run a plug in and out of the jack about ten times. If you feel a bit, uh, excited by that, it's only natural. Try the jack. If it is still noisy and cuts out repeat the process. If two cleaning attempts with Deox don't fix it, replace the jack. Really. If I really need to clean switched contact (more common on amps than guitar) I'll use the Deox and a burnishing tool. Electronics supply houses can supply them for not much money. It doesn't remove metal, just smooths the base metal and removes oxides. The problem with heavy abrasives is that they damage the plating and the jack becomes more prone to corrosion. Descending spiral. I knew one guy who used a .25 caliber rifle bore brush on the really nasty ones; rusted up old Peavey amps and the like.

Roman

Master Luthier V.I.P.

V.I.P. Member Joined Dec 4, 2007 Messages 6,688 Reaction score 5,822 When I was in the Air Force I learned a real simple tip. Good old fashioned pencil eraser. Worked real well. We had racks full of jacks similar to a patchbay. Just open up the rack and start scrubbing. You must log in or register to reply here.

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