Maintenance for Tube Preamps

Cleaning connections on a regular basis is a good practice, but I advise against products that leave a film because over time it can get messy and cause problems. A good electrical contact cleaner that leaves no film is your best bet.

Rrog and sibelius offer good avdice. Cramolin, is great at first, then leaves black goo...not good. Clean and connect. Change tubes when noise is an issue. Jallen

Thanks to all who responded - good advice! A bit of contact cleaning is probably a worthwhile thing to do.

I would stay away from Cramolin. It does tend to keep cleaning even when you don't want it to and can leave crud behind. I use pro gold but again if it isn't broke don't fix it. Changes can be made sonically to the preamp by replacing coupling caps etc.

By the way, I mentioned Cramolin but haven't used it for at least a decade. Cramolin violates some EPA regulations and was not rated as safe for plastics. Cramolin is no longer readily available, and I only mentioned it in case you happen to have some lying around. The Caig Deoxit Gold 5% solution/Pro Gold are much better. Interestingly, you cannot legally ship Deoxit/Pro Gold through the air - it must travel by ground. And if you order more than one can, it must travel in a separate package. I think this only applies to the aerosol version.

Anyway, the point is if you already have a can of Cramolin lying around, go ahead and use it, but sparingly, wiping off any excess with a lint-free cloth. Since you probably don't have it, order a can of Deoxit Gold 5%. You can find it any number of places online if it's not carried in your area. Musician's Friend had a good deal on it recently, and you can definitely find it on Amazon.