Cleaning dirty/crackly pots?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Agent47
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Agent47

Dismember
Ok, I've got a dirty knob (ho ho!) on my Samson C-control. It has a good old crackle whenever I turn the 'speaker a' knob, which is my main control room volume knob. Crackle crackle...

Any chemicals or solutions to stop it crackling? Any advice?

Ta,

Agent 47.
 
Dunno about Samson stuff - they may have lesser potentiometers - but on higher line studio gear you work the scratchy knob back and forth until the wiper inside cleans itself.

It works quickly - you should hear a substantial change within half a dozen sweeps. If you don't hear an improvement or if the scratchiness gets worse discontinue working the pot back and forth and post again for more ideas.

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Agent47 said:
Ok, I've got a dirty knob (ho ho!) on my Samson C-control. It has a good old crackle whenever I turn the 'speaker a' knob, which is my main control room volume knob. Crackle crackle...

Any chemicals or solutions to stop it crackling? Any advice?

Ta,

Agent 47.
Click to expand...
Here in America, many of us use Deoxit Spray and Deoxit Fader Lube It worked pretty good on my mixer.

RawDepth
 
Thanks. I'll try sweeping it up and down a few times. Although, after a while the crackliness stops - it's usually when I first start using it in the morning, so I guess the dust gets moved around during first use. At the moment, no crackles, so I'll give it a go tomorrow morning...

RawDepth - I'm not sure if we can get that here in the UK. I'll look it up.
 
GAIG stuff is the bomb diggity. If you can't find CAIG, you can also find similar products marketed as Contact Cleaner or TV Tuner Cleaner. Also look for PureTronics as anohter alternative to the CAIG stuff.
 
I actually use 99% Isopropyl to clean my pots and then some WD40 on the shaft to lubricate it, But this is when the Pots are out of the equipment so it may not work for you....

Cheers
 
Minion said:
and then some WD40 on the shaft to lubricate it,
Click to expand...
Out of the equipment or not, WD40 is guaranteed to attract dust and grease and all kinds of stuff that's the exact opposite of what's wanted of needed inside a potentiometer.

Don't use it.

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Generally its a bad idea to spray anything into a pot, it may be a quick fix but ultimately it will just attract more crap or worse, mix with whatever is in there and eventually seize the pot altogether. I would look for a replacement or unsolder the pot and take it apart and clean it
 
Pots Scratching

Ahh, the nostaligic sound of a scratchy pot. It's no use squirting stuff into it. You have to remove it, prise it apart, clean the wiper and track with alcohol and reassemble. Or buy a new one.
 
Don't forget to lube. Cleaners strip the lube off the fader, if you don't replace it the wiper will ruin the strip in short order.
 
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