[TenTec] DeoxIT

[Dave Haupt]

There's an indoor vendor @ the Dayton Hamvention who shows up with all the CAIG products every year.  I don't recall their name, but I always bring a list of what I might be out of.

Some years ago, I put in an order to CAIG for a dozen products and it's served me well.

DeoxIT is a mild acid in a carrier, fairly weak.  The spray stuff is weaker than the liquid, but the spray stuff can still attack some plastics.  As others have said, it is really best to use a liquid and dab it on.  Then operate the device manually and then wipe off any excess.

On old Drake gear, a common problem is "crackling" in the receive audio.  Lots of hams start replacing coupling and bypass caps right and left, but the usual culprit is oxidation of the tube pins and socket contacts for the hottest tube in the receiver, which is the audio output tube.  I pull the tube, wipe liquid DeoxIT on the pins, then insert and remove the tube a few times.  Then wipe off the pins, re-insert, pull out and wipe again.  After doing that, it'll be nearly ten years before the oxidation returns.

DeoxIT has a little bit of contact treatment in it, so I have never felt the need to use a contact preservative.

But, DeoxIT is for metal contacts only.  Do not use it to clean potentiometers.  The product for that is "Cailube" also from Caig.  It has some sort of lube in it that leaves the pots feeling a bit more velvety as well.

Of all the Caig stuff I bought some years ago, the only products I'm presently using is DeoxIT liquid and Cailube.  The Cailube is in a spray can - about the only way you can get into a potentiometer.

In addition to ordering directly from Caig, I have also ordered most of their stuff from MCM Electronics.  But it's been quite a while since I needed any refills anyway.

73,

Dave W8NF