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Cleaning lens contacts on Canon cameras
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Jan 10, 2019 07:03:07   #
DaveO Loc: Northeast CT
 
Longshadow wrote:
Gold does not oxidize.
It just would get dirty.


Metals around the gold oxidize much easier and can tarnish the gold with impurities.

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Jan 10, 2019 07:35:36   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
DaveO wrote:
Metals around the gold oxidize much easier and can tarnish the gold with impurities.


True, but if the plating job is done well, there should be no oxidation problem. That's why they use gold for contacts. Poorly done plating would cause some problems over time.

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Jan 10, 2019 07:44:03   #
DaveO Loc: Northeast CT
 
Longshadow wrote:
True, but if the plating job is done well, there should be no oxidation problem. That's why they use gold for contacts. Poorly done plating would cause some problems over time.


At some point, non plated and plated meet...apparently something causes the tarnish to form and products have been developed to assist with conductivity protection. One such product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A7KHK8/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Even glass tarnishes.

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Jan 10, 2019 07:51:01   #
larryepage Loc: North Texas area
 
Years ago there was a big discussion in a different discipline around gold plated connectors. One side said that if you leave things plugged in, there's no need for the gold plating. The other side said that if you plug and unplug, there's no need for gold because since the plating is only a few atoms thick, it will quickly erode off.
Bottom line is that both of those statements are true, but contacts still need to be clean in order to work properly.
Any cleaning that 'rubs' contamination off is going to create residue of both the contamination and of itself. It may be unavoidable, and you may just have to deal with it as a second cleaning step. But once the gold is gone, oxidation will become a problem.
This is just a cost of having exposed contacts and removable lenses.
But frequent, gentle cleaning is preferable to more vigorous cleaning. Once you get everything working again, I'd suggest forming the habit of periodic cleaning to stay ahead of the problem.

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Jan 10, 2019 08:03:04   #
Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States
 
DaveO wrote:
At some point, non plated and plated meet...apparently something causes the tarnish to form and products have been developed to assist with conductivity protection. One such product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003A7KHK8/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Even glass tarnishes.


Non-gold plated will tarnish.
But in everything I've seen so far, both "sides" are gold plated:
Lens-camera body; computer mother board-accessory board; memory card-receptacle; male end of cable-female end of cable (but I wouldn't trust a dollar-two ninety eight cable).

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Jan 10, 2019 08:21:59   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
TriX wrote:
Electrical contact cleaner applied with a non-abrasive cloth. Available on Amazon from multiple sources. Make sure to get one without lubricant.


Right On!

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Jan 10, 2019 08:36:05   #
Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada
 
Pure alcohol and lens wipes as noted and you can use a 'piece' of clean coffee filter material for a cleaning cloth (slight texture, lens wipes are very smooth); I often use the coffee filters for cleaning electrical contacts. I use Isopropyl 99% for cleaning... very little residue.

Dik

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Jan 10, 2019 09:01:00   #
DaveO Loc: Northeast CT
 
Longshadow wrote:
Non-gold plated will tarnish.
But in everything I've seen so far, both "sides" are gold plated:
Lens-camera body; computer mother board-accessory board; memory card-receptacle; male end of cable-female end of cable (but I wouldn't trust a dollar-two ninety eight cable).


That was basically my point and the gold plate ends up tarnished as well. To additionally use an abrasive, such as an eraser, wears away the plating. Affixing a lens is abrasive enough! We are fortunate that these things are easy enough to research.

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Jan 10, 2019 09:01:02   #
fetzler Loc: North West PA
 
I have used lens wipes( Mine are Nikon brand). they are lightly soaked (by the manufacturer) with isopropanol. Contact cleaner like Deoxit would be bad as it contains oil. Particles from the eraser would make me nervous.

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Jan 10, 2019 09:13:51   #
peterg Loc: Santa Rosa, CA
 
I've always had success cleaning lens contacts with >90% alcohol. It's cheap & available. For serious contact cleaning, I use one of the Deoxit products, https://caig.com. Their "Dexoit Gold G-Series" https://caig.com/deoxit-gold-g-series/, is specifically made for gold and other precious metal contacts. Caig specifically recommends this for lens contacts, memory cards, batteries, etc.

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Jan 10, 2019 09:38:02   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

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Jan 10, 2019 09:39:27   #
rcarol
 
DaveO wrote:
Unsubstantiated? I spent some time online a couple years ago and several reputable sources are readily available that advised against using an eraser for the stated reasons.


Why don't you share some of those reputable sources?

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Jan 10, 2019 09:45:52   #
rcarol
 
Longshadow wrote:
Gold does not oxidize.
It just would get dirty.


24 carat gold does not tarnish but it is aloyed with other metals when used for electrical contacts that do tarnish.

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Jan 10, 2019 09:47:36   #
DaveO Loc: Northeast CT
 
rcarol wrote:
Why don't you share some of those reputable sources?


Why don't you spend a few minutes researching and educate yourself? Do you doubt that the plating is quite thin and that most erasers contain an abrasive? If you are comfortable with using an eraser, far be it from me to convince you to do otherwise.

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Jan 10, 2019 09:55:09   #
imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida
 
I think I would use Lens cleaner on a Q-tip. For stubborn cleaning, I might use Mothers metal polish on Q-tip followed by 99% algohol If cleaning does not work, I would look for mechanical looseness as the problem.

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