Receptacle Cover Plates & ISOCLEAN Alternatives?


I have five unused receptacles in a dedicated 20A room circuit (I built the house and am a GC). Was considering removing them (they are all off pigtails) in an effort to reduce overall resistance through the circuit and placing brass cover plate over the openings. Have you guys who have done similar experienced any notable benefits?

Noticed ISOCLEAN used plated copper to reduce EMI/RFI. What are some cost-effective alternatives (e.g. manufacturer of nickel plated brass)?
adamlau

Showing 3 responses by ivan_nosnibor

Hi Adamlau, I'm an audiophile not an ee, but there are lots of those products out there now - some pricey, some not - but I'm not so sure many are based on solid reasoning...most seemed to be based on what passes these days for conventional wisdom and most manufacturers themselves don't seem to be in any hurry to correct any false assumptions among their client base IME, assuming they even understand them. If you want MY 2 cents, first you need to choose your material carefully: Any ferrous metal creates inductance, a choke point at the point of install, the worst. Then there's plastic which allows too much static build-up, possibly better but still not good (btw, all of these ideas hold true for the recepticle box as well as the cover). Carbon fiber creates excess inductance at certain frequency ranges. This can be useful in certain applications (like in certain types of low-level digital circuits), but is detrimental in AC power applications, this is not much better. To make things worse, they can be agregiously expensive (as certain metal types can be as well). About the only commonly available material left is wood. Wood does not retain excessive amounts of static, doesn't ring like metal and maybe most importantly also doesn't exhibit any electrical anomalies since it is an insulator. The only problem with wood is that it vibrates. But, some species vibrate less than others and if you make a good selection there you're halfway home. There's Ebony, but it's both hard to find and pricey. Among the most commonly available ones in the US, maple may be the most sensible choice (provided it is the yellow, softwood variety found mainly in the homeland as opposed to the, harder, white varieties found in both the US and Canada). However, that said, the BEST-performing choice for Hi-Fi applications may be the ones sold by Waipuna Sound. These are made of Oregon-grown myrtlewood and are known to sound better in this application than maple. Cost - about $35(if I remember right) per cover. As I understand it, the vibration will "flavor" the sound (mainly through the midrange) - this flavoring will tend to be either large in amplitude or amusical, or both, if the species of choice is unflattering, or, either smaller in amplitude or more musical in character, or both, if the choice is a good one. But, there's just one last step, regardless of wood choice. The vibration will necessarily be influenced by the duplex-cover screw itself. This screw should never be over-tightened in this application as it will tend to close down the sound in the upper mids and highs. Instead, just arrive at a medium (finger-tight) setting and you will be much closer to the mark. You'll notice in some situations you'll be able to dial the sound in by ear to your preference, but in any case it will result in a noticeable improvement to the sound. But, I say stay far away from the majority of the "designer" options as these strike me as groups of folks who've figured out that customers in doubt tend to spend more money on Hi-Fi than is necessary to achieve good and solid performance. Hope this helps. If you still have any more questions for me and I haven't checked back for some reason, you can always email me.
I know. I would've thought the very same at first. All I can say is 'have a good laugh' if you don't believe it.