Video: Can You Really Clean A CDJ That’s Been To Burning Man?

There’s no denying that the Black Rock Desert in Nevada is one of the harshest environments on the planet to build a massive city in. During the Burning Man event, tons of DJ gear goes out to the desert and gets invaded with dust. In a new video, Christian Jackson has documented his cleaning restoration process for a set of CDJ-2000NXSs that went to this year’s Burning Man.

Cleaning CDJs That Went To Burning Man

The high winds combined with the minuscule, highly alkali particulate that the desert is comprised of means that DJ gear is constantly being infiltrated throughout the week.

I’ve personally had to do a fair amount of cleaning of my own DJ gear “post-playa”. Here’s a few tips:

• Compressed air is your friend. Don’t use an auto air compressor unless you can turn it down to a safe pressure (very high pressures can damage electronics)
• Don’t be tempted to use water on your electronics – unless, like Christian, you have isopropyl alcohol on hand to displace the water. Use distilled water, not tap water.
• One of the common things to fail in dusty environments are tact switches – I’ve seen many pause/play and cue buttons die on Pioneer CDJs and XDJs gear. If you’re comfortable soldering new ones on, you can get them for very cheap on Amazon. Note that this will void your warranty, if any.  
• Don’t take anything to the desert (or any dangerous condition) that you’re not prepared to have destroyed. Even with a guide like Christian’s video, there’s no guarantee that things will magically come back to life.

Read our guide to protecting DJ gear in extreme conditions (like Burning Man)