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How to clean a tuner (analog)

Here are pics of some white-green oxidation on the tuning shaft.

Cleaned it off at several points on the brass shaft and sounds clean and clear.

For those who over spray or overdo fluids enough to shift the station alignment,
I would not panic just yet. I have found after 3 or so days, it can shift back pretty close as it dries and stabilizes. [And even if you decide to make adjustments so the pointer and dial synch, before drifting settles, the tuner stations could still be shifting until it stabilizes.]

Pics show corrosion, before and after cleaning.

Pioneer TX-7800

Add photos of tuner pointer shift on day of cleaning 1/29 and follow up photos on 1/30, 2/1 using 98.1 as station reference. Also 101.5 on 2/1. Angle of photos look good, but may be off a smidge.
 

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Thanks, dr*audio. I got a temp tuna from some auction site and cleaned it up per your guidelines. Got rid of some green funk and it now sounds great!!
 
Speaking of green funk, I did a couple of tuners that initially seemed clean and after the first pass there was a lot of green goop oozing out. I was wondering if that was corrosion being flushed out and I should just keep going until it is gone, or is that some sort of nasty reaction to my cleaner and I should change brands? For what its worth the tuners worked better after.
 
I believe copper/brass turns green when it oxidizes. Corrosion would be if the metal actually pits or gets damaged.
 
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This ground cleaning worked great for a tuner that drifted, and would just cut out often. Problem solved. For those like me who want to clean it 'right now' rather than waiting for an internet order, Home Depot sells CRC Electrical Grade QD Contact Cleaner, non-residue ($6-ish/11 oz)
 
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Year after year ago... I would go to Radio Shack and purchase the "color t.v. tuner cleaner'' they offered, to spray past the knobs on the receivers I collected as hand me downs... It worked great. Kept the old crap working in the hobby shop for years. Now I have cool vintage Yammie receivers for my cottage I call Peaches. I cherish these receivers and want to take care of them so. Where can I purchase non residue contact cleaner and CAIG MCL. What is the difference between the good old Radio Shack stuff and this stuff?
 
MCM sells both. Use the link at the bottom of the page. Caig MCL is now called Faderlube. The old Radioshack cleaner is not a non - residue cleaner, it has lubricant in it. Also, spraying past the knobs does not get the cleaner into the controls properly, it mostly gets a bunch of oil all over the inside of your receiver and the oil attracts dust. You have to open the receiver up and inject the cleaner directly into the controls through any available opening. If you read up this thread toward the beginning, I gave the name of the non - residue cleaner.
 
It cleaned up my realistic tm-70 nice. Strong AM signal, but no FM, does anyone know if I need to place a cap somewhere, and vise versa for my NAD 7030 stereophonic receiver. On the NAD, the FM side works, but the AM side does not tune either.
 
dr*audio said:
1. Vacuum out all the dust you can from the interior. Don't touch the fins on the tuning cap!

2. Blow the dust out of the fins with compressed air. Don't touch the fins.

3. If you examine the tuner cap, you will see brass contacts at each point where the shaft passes through the metal housing. (Including where it passes through the internal walls.) These make the ground contact and they get dirty. Buy some NON - RESIDUE contact cleaner, and inject it into all these brass contacts, then work the tuner back and forth across the dial at least 20 - 30 times.
4. Then apply just a drop of CAIG MCL to each contact. It is better to use a syringe to apply it, rather than trying to spray a small amount. If you contaminate the fins of the cap or the circuitry, you will detune the circuit. Work the tuner back and forth 20 - 30 times again.
This procedure will cure all kinds of woes; noise when you turn the dial, certain stations not being received sometimes, when other times they come in clearly, etc.
Click to expand...

This is good information, really helpful and worth implementing.
 
Too much cleaner...99.5 ---> 102.0

Apparently I got too much cleaner on the tuning capacitors as 99.5 is showing on the dial as 102.0. Sigh.

I was advised to pass a lamp over the tuning capacitors to evaporate the excess, and if this does not work then to use brake cleaner fluid. Where exactly are these capacitors on the QX-949?

Thanks......

Lyman
 
Okay, I see where I screwed up and why it detuned. I used DeOxit D-5 on the Fins when I should have used a non-residue cleaner. Home Depot's sells CRC Electrical Grade QD Contact Cleaner, non-residue, will qualify as a cleaner for the fins? So, going forward I need to use DxOxit for pots but NOT for the Fins...
 
Yes, the CRC should get rid of the DeOxit. Flush the fins out well, in a well ventilated area, preferably outside. If you re-read this post from the beginning, you'll see that the idea is to first blow the fins clean with compressed air, then use the non - residue cleaner on the contacts on the shaft, rotate back and forth, then apply a drop or 2 of CAIG Faderlube to the contacts. De-Oxit doesn't work, I've tried it.
 
LGLDSR73 said:
Apparently I got too much cleaner on the tuning capacitors as 99.5 is showing on the dial as 102.0. Sigh.

I was advised to pass a lamp over the tuning capacitors to evaporate the excess, and if this does not work then to use brake cleaner fluid. Where exactly are these capacitors on the QX-949?

Thanks......

Lyman
Click to expand...

Don't panic and try to mess too much.

Give it 3-4 days rest, you may see the station locations slowly drift back on the scale on its own. At least pretty close.

See my post #41 with pics:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2453687&postcount=41
 
terra1 said:
Don't panic and try to mess too much.

Give it 3-4 days rest, you may see the station locations slowly drift back on the scale on its own. At least pretty close.

See my post #41 with pics:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2453687&postcount=41
Click to expand...
I see. So the non-residue cleaner will go on the shaft on not on the fins. For the thick-headed like myself, do you have a photograph showing which points on the shaft (and/or on the caps as well if applicable) the fluid should go?

Thanks,

Lyman
 
LGLDSR73 said:
I see. So the non-residue cleaner will go on the shaft on not on the fins. For the thick-headed like myself, do you have a photograph showing which points on the shaft (and/or on the caps as well if applicable) the fluid should go?

Thanks,

Lyman
Click to expand...

First, are you experiencing symptoms indicating dirty FM reception? If not, you may not need further cleaning. In my case, I had green/white oxidation on the shaft very close to the plate that supports the shaft. And I had distorted reception as I turned the tuning knob --- like a locomotive chugging through the speakers.

You will see references to applying cleaner to the shaft where the shaft passes through the frame contacts. See post 30 where they point to where the shaft should approximately pass through the frame.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1642640&postcount=30

In my pics (post 41), you can closeups to see where the vertical frame plates support and contacts the shaft. For cleaning, you would turn the tuning knob back and forth from one end of scale to the other end as needed to wipe the pivot points.
 
Cleaning the case...

Thanks for the great advice on cleaning the tuner capacitor.

What is a good cleaner for cleaning the exterior casing and connectors of a tuner (or any other vintage audio)? I have a Pioneer F-26 and a Sansui TU-X1 that I want to clean but in doing so I don't want to make things worse. Also, is there a cleaner that can help rejuvenate the look of chrome or gold RCA connectors or should I attempt to remove the old slightly oxidized connectors and replace with new shiny ones?

Thanks,


Chris
 
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