RCA Jack Quiet Caps Set of 12

(This is a continuation of my current review)

This process becomes tedious after a while, especially if you have a lot of jacks to cover, however the great price for these caps make up for that somewhat. But if you go to the trouble of "DeoxIT-ing" all your jacks, you'll appreciate the protection these caps will give as well as the time and hassle you'll save not having to clean and recoat these jacks nearly as often: they'll still be shiny and ready to use when you remove the caps. That makes the effort worth it!

Please refer to my first review. I purchased a second group of 36 caps and I found that there were more tight caps in this group than in the first, and none that would let me seat them fully on the jack. I tried some possible fixes but none of them were satisfactory. Then I found a fix that seemed to work for me which I'll now share with you: I used a variable-speed drill motor with a 21/64" drill bit and electrician's pliers (they have a fine cross-hatch on their jaws; a smooth-face vice will also work very well). I placed a cap on the drill bit, pushing the bit down into the cap until it seated, then--using a heavy rag to protect the cap--gripped the cap on the rim with the pliers to keep it from spinning and drilled the inside of the cap. The diameter of the drill bit is almost exactly the same as the inside diameter of the cap on the open end, but is fractionally larger than the rim end. Drilling shaves the excess metal from cap near the rim. Using the RCA coupler as a guide I checked the fit, drilling more as needed, until the cap slipped on with some friction and, most importantly, seated fully onto the jack. I took the caps over to the target component. If a cap was a little too loose, I used the smooth part of my needle-nose pliers jaws to compress the open, "wing" end of the jack slightly, then checked the fit again. If the fit became a little too tight I just slipped the cap onto the coupler to open the "wings" a bit. With a light coat of DeoxIT Gold on the jack and the inside of the cap to lubricate and protect, I pushed the cap onto the jack. It went on exactly the way it should have in the first place: snug enough to hold it fully seated onto the jack, yet not so snug that I couldn't pull it off with my fingers.

As with others who have reviewed this product have found, I also found that these caps varied in their sizing. Some caps slipped on with just the right amount of friction, others were so tight that I was afraid they would damage the RCA jack pushing them in or, especially, removing them.

There is probably a good reason why the Cardas caps are so much more expensive. They're made of brass and plated with nickel--not exactly cheap metals and processes. While I have not purchased the Cardas caps, I suspect that their quality control is higher also, avoiding the sizing variability these caps suffer from. However, for the price, I'll not carp too loudly. I have already used three sets of these caps, and they have only covered my source components' unused jacks! I still have my preamp/processor to go--there's at least 60+ RCA jacks on that component. For what it would cost to use Cardas' caps to cover all my unsused jacks I could buy a very expensive set of interconnect cables!

I'm primarily using these caps to protect my RCA jacks from corrosion and dirt. I've already cleaned and coated them with DeoxIT and DeoxIT Gold, and the caps will help keep their shiny gold finish.

These caps are handsome out of the package, and seem to be well made. But the polished aluminum will tarnish in time, unless they are anodized (not noted). I used the angled nose of needle-nosed pliers to widen the cap's flanges, and used Caig Laboratories DeoxIT Gold to lubricate the inside of the cap and jack before installing it. I'll try using an old RCA coupler to force the tighter caps to ease up some next time around.

This is another example of a "No Name" product carried by Parts Express where the manufacturer is not identified. I find that curious. As a consumer I would like to know who manufactured this product and where it was made!