cleaning contacts

[uwansumadis]

I prewired my house during its construction with a 10M DVI cable. It had protective caps on the ends, but one was removed and drywall plaster was "accidentally" sprayed on the end.

It seems to scrape off pretty easily on the outside, but I am unsure as to what I should do to clean off all of the prongs. Any suggestions?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I prewired my house during its construction with a 10M DVI cable. It had protective caps on the ends, but one was removed and drywall plaster was "accidentally" sprayed on the end.

It seems to scrape off pretty easily on the outside, but I am unsure as to what I should do to clean off all of the prongs. Any suggestions?

If it is drywall mud dried on the ends, use an old toothbrush and some water as it is water soluble. Then dry it out and you are in business.

 

[uwansumadis]

If it is drywall mud dried on the ends, use an old toothbrush and some water as it is water soluble. Then dry it out and you are in business.

Thanks. Do I have to be careful about water damaging the cable at all?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Thanks. Do I have to be careful about water damaging the cable at all?

Naw, don't drown the cable, just dunk your old toothbrush in a cup of water and brush. Then to be on the safe side, use a hair dryer for a few minutes.

Were the protective caps on the plug end? And the mud splashed into the plug? You can still brush it out/ The bristles are soft.

 

[uwansumadis]

Naw, don't drown the cable, just dunk your old toothbrush in a cup of water and brush. Then to be on the safe side, use a hair dryer for a few minutes.

Were the protective caps on the plug end? And the mud splashed into the plug? You can still brush it out/ The bristles are soft.

Yes the protective cabs were on when I installed the wire, but one must have accidentally come off. I will try the toothbrush on Friday. Someone from Cobalt cable responded by saying to use acetone with a cotton swab.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Yes the protective cabs were on when I installed the wire, but one must have accidentally come off. I will try the toothbrush on Friday. Someone from Cobalt cable responded by saying to use acetone with a cotton swab.

That may work too but the swab is rather fat and may not get where it needs to. Try that first and see if you have to use a toothbrush, a soft one.

 

[brian32672]

Someone from Cobalt cable responded by saying to use acetone with a cotton swab.

Uhmm, acetone would be way to strong.
I would use denatured alcohol or mineral spirits and a toothbrush.
The mineral spirits will leave a slight residue, but a drop of dish soap and water mixed - will take it off.
Heck, the guy should have just said use gasoline or lacquer thinner.

The good thing with acetone, is that it evaporates quick. But it is to strong for plastic and rubber.
And if accidentally put on to much - it will soften and or melt the cable sheath and or cable plug end.

 

[uwansumadis]

This is he actual message from Cobalt:

"If it is just dusted with the plaster, I would use a light paint remover
(something like finger nail polish) and a cotton swab to try to clean
the pins. You may have to remove the cotton from the tip so that it is
just the "stick" portion of the swab. If the connector was sprayed
heavily I would use something to dig the plaster out before attempting
to clean it in this manner. Do not submerge the connector, only apply
it, and be sure that you do not bend any pins".

I think I will try a soft, dry toothbrush first. Then maybe some alcohol on a swab.

 

[brian32672]

(something like finger nail polish)

You do realize that fingernail polish 'remover' is actually acetone.
Granted it is not full strength, but it is not good for soft or hard plastics.
Being not full strength yeah women do use it on the acrylic nails, however I am pretty sure it is recommended that they use a brand that does not contain acetone for acrylics.

EDIT:: By chance my mother just came over while I was typing this post.
And yeah, she confirms that the acetone based is not recommended for acrylics.

 

[uwansumadis]

You do realize that fingernail polish 'remover' is actually acetone.
Granted it is not full strength, but it is not good for soft or hard plastics.
Being not full strength yeah women do use it on the acrylic nails, however I am pretty sure it is recommended that they use a brand that does not contain acetone for acrylics.

EDIT:: By chance my mother just came over while I was typing this post.
And yeah, she confirms that the acetone based is not recommended for acrylics.

Yes, I know that polish remover is acteone. that is why I posted what they recommended after reading your comment about acetone. My wife never uses acetone based remover on her acrylic nails, so I wasn't about to use it on my cable.

I ended up using a toothbrush, some water and some alcohol and it seemed to do OK.

 

[CobaltCable]

You do realize that fingernail polish 'remover' is actually acetone.
Granted it is not full strength, but it is not good for soft or hard plastics.
Being not full strength yeah women do use it on the acrylic nails, however I am pretty sure it is recommended that they use a brand that does not contain acetone for acrylics.

EDIT:: By chance my mother just came over while I was typing this post.
And yeah, she confirms that the acetone based is not recommended for acrylics.

Hi, this is Jeff Simon with Cobalt Cable. I was the one that recommended this customer used finger nail polish, or specifically a "light paint remover".

The use of small amounts of acetone or nail polish remover on a cotton swab should not damage the cable in any way and will evaporate well before it can do any damage to the cable. Even if it did, our lifetime guarantee would cover it. If you were still concerned you could dillute the acetone with water. In this instance the cable was already installed in-wall so it was important to get the existing cable to work.

For the record, I would never recommend soaking or saturating the cable in an acetone product, obviously that would be bad and given a long enough exposure would ruin the cable. I can assure you though, using it in the method I have described will not damage the connector. uwansumadis, if you do have any problems with that cable, please let me know.

Jeff Simon
Product Specialist
Cobalt Cable