Hypothetical Question - Accidents with Food/ Drink on ESL panel

[Russr]

That's my gut feeling too, but if washed with just distilled water it might be close to how it was before. I don't believe it would ever be the same though. I'm a little bit obsessive, and it would really bother me.

Is your obsession kicking in about the washing, or the fact that wine/chemicals were involved...?

Reason I ask, is when I'd had my first MLs (Pair of Aerius I bought 2nd hand in ~2000) a couple of years, one developed an occasional "ticking"... Ron @ ML told me to shower with the panels and rinse them with distilled water (at the same time, he shipped me a set of replacement binding posts (the Hex-shaped gold ones) 'cos I'd over-torqued one with a socket wrench!) He was pretty adament it would not affect the audio quality in any way, except perhaps Improve things (back in the 90's a lot more people smoked, even in demo rooms, etc.). He was right!

 

[Robert D]

Is your obsession kicking in about the washing, or the fact that wine/chemicals were involved...?

Reason I ask, is when I'd had my first MLs (Pair of Aerius I bought 2nd hand in ~2000) a couple of years, one developed an occasional "ticking"... Ron @ ML told me to shower with the panels and rinse them with distilled water (at the same time, he shipped me a set of replacement binding posts (the Hex-shaped gold ones) 'cos I'd over-torqued one with a socket wrench!) He was pretty adament it would not affect the audio quality in any way, except perhaps Improve things (back in the 90's a lot more people smoked, even in demo rooms, etc.). He was right!

Hum. No soap, right? Just water?
I'd be bothered by both events, the wine spill and then the water. Perhaps that coating they apply to the mylar is on there pretty good.
Martin Logan should make an official guide about how to clean panels in case of an accident.

 

[amey01]

That's my gut feeling too, but if washed with just distilled water it might be close to how it was before. I don't believe it would ever be the same though. I'm a little bit obsessive, and it would really bother me.

Me too. I'm obsessive too. "Close enough" is not good enough. We can get "close enough" with a pair of Sony speakers.

 

[Dennis Chern]

Yeah, I was thinking about doing the same thing as you. What's to lose if they are already shot. Makes sense. I'd like to know how well bonded the coating is.

the coating on the film is a particular mixture of elements that are applied in a vacuum chamber via, metal vapor deposition. anything more than purified water to clean is questionable. never any kind of solvent. maybe the most mild, diluted type of soap, if necessary. alcohol is not good for them. spritzing with water asap, as was posted here is way to go. if severe grunge , disassembling would be appropriate. the shower thing is more of a stunt, but would work if done judiciously, in proper hands. just get some clean water and gently dry, absorbingly with a soft cotton cloth or microfiber would be fine.

 

[Leporello]

Yeah, I was thinking about doing the same thing as you. What's to lose if they are already shot. Makes sense. I'd like to know how well bonded the coating is.

If you're at the "nothing to lose" stage and the panel really needs a cleaning agent then OK. This should *not* be the case with wine. A thorough rinse should completely remove it. The only issue is whether the coating is damaged by 20% alcohol, which Simple Green would not help. In general, I'd go in stages. Distilled water first, and see if it helps.

On the other hand, $900 doesn't seem like all that much. A lot less than I paid for a CLS II panel a few years ago.

 

[Leporello]

the coating on the film is a particular mixture of elements that are applied in a vacuum chamber via, metal vapor deposition. anything more than purified water to clean is questionable. never any kind of solvent. maybe the most mild, diluted type of soap, if necessary. alcohol is not good for them. spritzing with water asap, as was posted here is way to go. if severe grunge , disassembling would be appropriate. the shower thing is more of a stunt, but would work if done judiciously, in proper hands. just get some clean water and gently dry, absorbingly with a soft cotton cloth or microfiber would be fine.

Hi, Dennis, "new member". Are you the same one (probably) who was the northeast rep and whom I've talked to at shows a few times? Are you still working for ML?

Anyway, good to have feedback from someone from the company. Shower sounded like a stunt to me too, especially if you have a lot of minerals in your water supply, as I do here. If I were to do that at all, I would immediately follow with a distilled water rinse. So far, I have never felt the need. The little dust shadows of the stator perforations I see after a very long time of operation are easily removed with a vacuum after a thorough discharge. Compressed air along with the vacuum, even better. Always do the minimum amount to get the job done. The good thing about the transparent diaphragms is you can actually see what's on them. To me, visibly clean is "good enough", unless there's an obvious arcing problem.

 

[Robert D]

If you're at the "nothing to lose" stage and the panel really needs a cleaning agent then OK. This should *not* be the case with wine. A thorough rinse should completely remove it. The only issue is whether the coating is damaged by 20% alcohol, which Simple Green would not help. In general, I'd go in stages. Distilled water first, and see if it helps.

On the other hand, $900 doesn't seem like all that much. A lot less than I paid for a CLS II panel a few years ago.

Yeah, my Prodigy panels were about $3000 a few years ago.

 

[Robert D]

Hi, Dennis, "new member". Are you the same one (probably) who was the northeast rep and whom I've talked to at shows a few times? Are you still working for ML?

Anyway, good to have feedback from someone from the company. Shower sounded like a stunt to me too, especially if you have a lot of minerals in your water supply, as I do here. If I were to do that at all, I would immediately follow with a distilled water rinse. So far, I have never felt the need. The little dust shadows of the stator perforations I see after a very long time of operation are easily removed with a vacuum after a thorough discharge. Compressed air along with the vacuum, even better. Always do the minimum amount to get the job done. The good thing about the transparent diaphragms is you can actually see what's on them. To me, visibly clean is "good enough", unless there's an obvious arcing problem.

Do you think one of those compressed air cans, like you use on keyboards, is good?