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With the change this weekend to daylight savings time, the thoughts of spring and the cleaning that follows entered my head. Every year the spring brings the thoughts of evaluation and upgrade, and before a reasonable evaluation can take place, the system must be at peak performance.

  it may not yet be spring, but when the time changes it seems like it

This means that the electrical chassis of each component must be opened, cleaned of accumulated dust and any other debris, and checked for any other abnormal changes. I usually make a day of it, as thorough cleaning involves a quick vacuuming, then a fine cleaning with either canned air or cotton swabs.

a good swab collection comes in handy for many things

Disc trays accumulate a lot of fine dust at the rear, and all other places where the discs don’t ride. I usually use some swabs to thoroughly clean the glides of the trays, and then use the appropriate lubricant on the moving parts. In most cases petroleum jelly works best, as it doesn’t evaporate onto the spinning discs, and doesn’t degrade the plastic or metal parts of the disc trays. A word of caution here - if there are any rubber parts in your tray assembly, do not use petroleum jelly, as it will destroy the rubber. I have only seen a few mechanisms that use rubber parts, but it pays to check. If your mechanism uses rubber, try using Armor-All on the rubber parts, and leave the petroleum jelly alone.

this stuff works for scratchy pots, and old television tuners, too

If, by chance your preamplifier or amplifier knobs have started to give a scratchy noise when turned, a trip to the electronics store for some ‘tuner cleaner’ will be in order. The name ‘tuner cleaner’ comes from the days when television tuners were mechanical items, before the days of ICs and the varactor. Anyway, a good spray to the affected potentiometers while moving the control through its complete range is what is called for here. 

Next, it’s time to check all the speakers for wear and tear. Each surround should be checked, then the cone should carefully be moved through its range of motion to make sure that the voice coil is not rubbing. Any electronics in the speakers, such as a subwoofer amplifier, should get the same check that the other amplifiers get. Now would also be a good time to vacuum the speaker grilles - you will be amazed how much dust these things can pick up.

removing oxidation without removing metal is always good!

Last, the interconnections should all be removed, cleaned, and reconnected. This applies to speaker wires as well. If you use gold spades, banana plugs, or tips, all that should be required is a gentle swiping with a damp cloth. If you are using brass, or bare copper connections, its time to bring out the Brasso, or other metal polish, and work on your connections. The oxidation that occurs over a years time degrades the sound significantly, and your ears will thank you after all your connections are once again clean.

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