Pot cleaning

[Jazz P Bass]

My older brothers showed me how to do it with an LP record cover. Oh wait.... oops.

Ha, ha, Ha, HA.

Got my funny bone on that one, yes you did.
Thanks.

[bsco]

Geez, must be something wrong with me. I LIKE the pots to move freely. It's like KY for Kontrols.

The grease on the shafts of the pots on the old Tapco mixers got so stiff you could barely turn them. They actually had cans of some solvent to soften it so the pots could turn.

Hahahaaa....I like that......KY jelly.......

[TimmyP1955]

Nothing like the nearly friction free feel of a vintage Fender pot.

I use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner. I've yet to find a plastic that it will harm.

Some pots can be cleaned by dribbling some cleaner down the side of the shaft. Others have be be blasted two or three times with copious amounts of cleaner shot into the slot. For PC mount pots (yuk) I have two of the little straws heatshrunk together to make a super long straw, and the end is curved 90 degrees so I can shoot up into the pot.

[bsco]

Nothing like the nearly friction free feel of a vintage Fender pot.

I use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner. I've yet to find a plastic that it will harm.

Some pots can be cleaned by dribbling some cleaner down the side of the shaft. Others have be be blasted two or three times with copious amounts of cleaner shot into the slot. For PC mount pots (yuk) I have two of the little straws heatshrunk together to make a super long straw, and the end is curved 90 degrees so I can shoot up into the pot.

I had used a piece of plastic tubing which is slipped down over the shaft of the pot..you just squirt a small mount of cleaner in there and it seeps down into the pot....but then it washes away the grease that was there making the pot extremely easy to turn...some people complain about the feel...so I was trying to get opinions on how to re-install the grease without too much trouble...sounds like that is going to be a tall order...I also have two straws joined together with the end bent so it can better reach into the pot opening.....but I find that it shoots out too much cleaner even though there is an adjustable valve on the can.....so I am going to give the syringe a try to see how that works....probably after the weekend.... Thank you for the reply....it is much appreciated.....
Cheers......
Have a good weekend guys and gals!!

[Enzo]

My trick for "up into" the pot, is to turn the amp over and let gravity assist. I put one end of the chassis on the bench, open side down. Then I lift the free end over my head so I am looking up into the chassis. The pots are now sticking down from the board, with the slot facing up. Now I put the end of my squirt tube against the pot wafer and spray. The liquid comes out and drains down the wafer into the pot. I usually do three or four at a time, then reach around and twiddle the knobs to spread it.

[Leo_Gnardo]

The grease on the shafts of the pots on the old Tapco mixers got so stiff you could barely turn them.

Crikeys yes I remember those, you needed a cheater bar to move 'em. Seemed like glue not grease. I was worried the shaft would snap off you had to put on so much torque. What. were. they. thinkin'??? Glad those days are over, it was the bottom of the learning curve. Tapco eventually morphed into Mackie, much better gear all around.

[J M Fahey]

I used Argentine made pots (when we still had an Industry) and one thing I did not like was that they felt "soft/raspy" compared to what I found in, say, an Acoustic or Peavey amp.

So I gave some samples to the pot maker asking him to disassemble and analyze what the btrick was ... and to copy it for my personal use.

After some time, he found it: he didn't need any fancy machine, simply to smear a little grease around the pot shaft, before inserting it into the threaded mounting bushing.
As simple as smearing a little with a Q-Tip or even the little finger pinky.
Best grease was a *very* sticky type which is designed for bearings, maybe somebody can suggest some US brand.

Stifness and feel was the same as my US made and Japanese reference pots.

So if somebody disassembles a pot for reconstruction, he can try this trick.

Disassembling them *just* for this is not worth it, bending/unbending mounting tabs cracks them after 2 or 3 operations.

[g1]

Yeah, I remember those tapco pots as well, and wasn't there another name also used on them? Maybe that was a Canadian version.

A trick I learned for the spray tubes is to put a heatshrink extension on them. Now stick a piece of tag-wire or stripped twist tie in there. Bend as required to get around corners etc.

[Mick Bailey]

The best grease for pot shafts is Rocol 'Kilopoise'. Getting small quantities nowadays is pretty difficult. It comes in different grades and is also used for lenses, microscopes and anywhere else a damped motion is required.

[nevetslab]

Getting a small quantity of a fine lubricant grease like Racal Kilopoise is indeed a problem. Though I'm still using the small yogurt container of red bearing grease I got from a keyboard 'surgeon' a few years back for restoring the shaft/bushing lubricant, after taking those pots that DO come completely apart. Cleaning the resistive track & contact wipers carefully with denatured alcohol, re-lubing them with a thin film of Caig DeOxit 5 brushed on, then dabbing on a small amount of the red bearing grease, working it back onto the insides of the shaft/bushing joint, restoring that nice viscosity feel it had. The pots that have the shaft/wiper assembly swagged on.....I seldom use a spray. Only the small brush that comes in the cap of the small bottle of DeOxit 5. Most of the time, I'm removing PCB pots from their associated boards, unless the PCB quality is really poor, or prior damage exists from previous carelessness of technicians. I'll do my best to seep in the cleaner/lubricant thru the joint between the cover and wafer board, or into the opening that's rarely accessible.

Multiple deck pots.....dis-assembly is no longer an option, and clearly a problem when they're Allen-Bradly Type J or the equivalent. Even the A/B Mod Pots....no access to the resistive element..same with Clarostat & Bourns square pots that are riveted together. The less expensive ones having an opening in the cover...I normally work the brush thru the opening on both sides, letting the wiper distributed the lubricant/cleaner around. Anyone have a good solution on the 'sealed multi-deck pots?

And yes, long term repeated dis-assembly of those 'cheap' pots' cover tabs you do risk breaking the tab. I do dislike having to outright replace a pot, as most are just not available in form/fit/function from distribution. Restoring them has always been my preference.

I've never come up with a good solution in restoring a shaft-bushing section that can't be opened. Spraying in Teflon-Silicon spray sometimes works. I'll have to try some of the proposed methods shared.