cleaning mics

P

Pony!

New member
Long story short:

I had read a lot about headbasket mods and I figured I might inspect my headbaskets and see how its done. Not do it myself, per se, just see if I could see how its done. Anywho, I took my M-Audio Luna apart (which was bought used like most of my mics) and noticed that there's a lot of dust all over the capsule. So, then I took apart a couple other mics. The same thing... except a few of them look like they've got significant amount of dried spittle on them.

So, I searched around for what people think would be a good way to clean it off. I've found a lot. But most people recommend sending them to a professional.

So, I guess I was wondering. Who are these professionals and how much would a cleaning cost? I have a lot of mics and I'm wondering if it would be significantly more money saving to go at them myself (starting with cheaper ones to teach myself and graduating up to my sputnik).

good cleaning instructions I've found:
http://www.josephson.com/clean.txt
 
A normal AF condenser mic. attracts dust to it by electrostatic action (NB: this does not happen on an RF condenser like the Sennheiser MKH range).

Cleaning a capsule is a skilled and delicate process that really needs to be done by an expert with de-ionised water and a very fine brush and a lot of skill (I have seen it being done and would not attempt this myself).

If it's a Neumann, then Martin Gathard at Sennheiser UK is the Guru. For other mics, talk to the distributor in your country.

If it's heavily soiled, then a new capsule may be required.
 
I don't know about ruined. I'm sure that if you left it on the counter while you run to the head, someone would snag / drink it.

Fine haired brush sounds safe-ish, if gently used. That's how I clean my studio monitors when they get too much dust on them. Actually I use an old paintbrush on them. Maybe a little bit of compressed air from a distance. Otherwise you're probably looking at liquids. Which gets ultra risky. More so with expensive and/or old microphones. Perhaps one of those sonic things to clean jewelry on it. Check out the replacement mic element part price first. As that's the cost of failure. And if the professional cleaning exceeds that price, you might opt for the part anyway.
 
But when it comes to LDCs do you have to have them cleaned or is that part of the microphone maturing as it moves into the vintage years of it's life?





:cool:
 
How about this one? The guitar player/singer in my band is constantly spraying the mics with a rubbing alcohol solution. After every bands set if we do the sound, and after every practice. I'm thinking he is killing my mics. He picked this practice up from the sound guy at an old local club.

I've been searching the forums and the general internet and I can't find a definitive answer on this one.
 
PhilTact said:
How about this one? The guitar player/singer in my band is constantly spraying the mics with a rubbing alcohol solution. After every bands set if we do the sound, and after every practice. I'm thinking he is killing my mics. He picked this practice up from the sound guy at an old local club.

I've been searching the forums and the general internet and I can't find a definitive answer on this one.
Click to expand...

depends on the type of mic, but i wouldn't spray anything on any mic. use a disinfectant wipe if he's worried about cooties.
 
PhilTact said:
How about this one? The guitar player/singer in my band is constantly spraying the mics with a rubbing alcohol solution. After every bands set if we do the sound, and after every practice. I'm thinking he is killing my mics. He picked this practice up from the sound guy at an old local club.
Click to expand...

I would say a definite no-no to this.

Antiseptic wipes are the best way as they don't spray moisture through the grill onto the capsule.
 
Thanks for all your responses... I've found a response here:
http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/mv/msg/28844/0/16/0/

from someone who repairs mic's for a living. He mentioned (for LDC's) to get some distilled water and drip it on open capsule and then spin it off... Then to store the LDC in a ziploc bag (or something hermetically sealed) with some silica gell overnight to dry.

I think I might try that before some of the other things I've seen... Like trying a very fine brush or cotton.
 
Pony! said:
Thanks for all your responses... I've found a response here:
http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/mv/msg/28844/0/16/0/

from someone who repairs mic's for a living. He mentioned (for LDC's) to get some distilled water and drip it on open capsule and then spin it off... Then to store the LDC in a ziploc bag (or something hermetically sealed) with some silica gell overnight to dry.

I think I might try that before some of the other things I've seen... Like trying a very fine brush or cotton.
Click to expand...

from the link that you provided:

That bit on the Neumann web site about "distilled water and a fine brush" has done more harm than good. One of the rare duds in an otherwise informative assembly of documents on the company's web site.
Click to expand...
 
He was referring to vintage neumann capsules... because, I think, they have a very different make-up than modern capsules. People recommend the brush thing with more modern capsules because they can take it.

I've got myself some ziploc bags and some distilled water. I've also got tons of desiccant... However... my desiccant comes from my job. I work in a shoe store and we get tons of desiccant every day in shipments... would it be a good idea to dry these microphones with desiccant that's been used before but not entirely?
 
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