Pot cleaning

[bsco]

Curious....when cleaning pots I have noticed that after the cleaning, they turn rather freely when compared to another pot that wasn't cleaned with contact cleaner.......and there are tons of cleaners out there....what would you use in order to keep the tension from disappearing.....
Cheers

[Leo_Gnardo]

It's a question & a problem that's been around ever since people started cleaning pots. There's a layer of grease between the stem and bushing that gets diluted & mostly washed away when using solvent cleaners. Not much you can do to prevent that, except don't clean pots unless they really need it. I haven't found any way to force grease back into that tiny gap between stem & bushing. Anybody make a pot with an alemite fitting (takes grease gun tips, you've seen 'em on car suspension and universal joints)?

If you pry a pot open, sometimes you'll see some grease on the track, a couple dabs stuck here and there. I don't think this contributes much to the turning resistance.

There are some pot lubes on the market, like Caig's F5, but I've found them to be light weight and doesn't restore the original resistance to movement. If anything F5 washes away the original grease just like all the other pot sprays.

About the only solution I can think of, if original "feel" is to be preserved, is to apply a very minimal amount of D5 (or your favorite cleaner), just a tiny drop on the end of a toothpick, to the pot track.

[Chuck H]

WD-40



Just kidding! Don't do it!

I've noticed the same thing. AFAICT the typical solvent nature and viscosity is about the same for the pot cleaners I've tried. So not much advantage there. Maybe someone knows of a better product. All I can imagine is that the pot manufacturers use a very high viscosity grease that the pot cleaners strip away and/or dilute with their own lubricant. Just the nature of the beast.

Most pots have a spec for rotational torque. Perhaps selecting a pot with a higher rotational torque could land you where you wish to be after cleaning. The pot may feel overly stiff prior to cleaning. I've accidentally tightened shafts by over tightening mounting nuts. Some pots will simply break if you do this, but others seem to just squeeze the sleeve that the shaft runs through. Not that I recommend trying this as a reliable method for tightening pots. Just fodder for the discussion.

[bsco]

Thanks Leo.....I have some small syringes here that have a very fine needle point on them...I also have them here for filling up ink cartridges......I haven't tried this as of present but I will spray some cleaner into one of the syringes to see how the rubber seal holds up....I never thought of that......then I can inject a small drop of contact cleaner directly into the pot to clean it......I already have that done for light oil......and that has worked out great.......I'll let you know how it works out.......
Cheers,
Bernie

[Chuck H]

Hey! I've got an idea!!!

If you take some high viscosity grease and lower it's viscosity with an evaporating solvent you may be able to get some into the sleeve/shaft space. Then, when the solvent evaporates you should be left with just the higher viscosity grease at the shaft joint. Maybe something like axial grease diluted with lacquer thinner in your syringe. You'll need to allow time for the lacquer thinner to evaporate. Especially true for an amp circuit as lacquer thinner is volatile.

EDIT: You'll need to check compatibility of products, but the same thing may be possible with standard bathroom fare like Vaseline and nail polish remover. The reason I chose lacquer thinner and nail polish remover is that they are very fast evaporating. Something like plain old paint thinner or Naphtha would also work, but would evaporate much more slowly.

[bsco]

WD-40



Just kidding! Don't do it!

I've noticed the same thing. AFAICT the typical solvent nature and viscosity is about the same for the pot cleaners I've tried. So not much advantage there. Maybe someone knows of a better product. All I can imagine is that the pot manufacturers use a very high viscosity grease that the pot cleaners strip away and/or dilute with their own lubricant. Just the nature of the beast.

Most pots have a spec for rotational torque. Perhaps selecting a pot with a higher rotational torque could land you where you wish to be after cleaning. The pot may feel overly stiff prior to cleaning. I've accidentally tightened shafts by over tightening mounting nuts. Some pots will simply break if you do this, but others seem to just squeeze the sleeve that the shaft runs through. Not that I recommend trying this as a reliable method for tightening pots. Just fodder for the discussion.

\

Hahahaaaa. No I won't use that stuff.......I have broken some pots like that as well by over torquing.........If the pots can be taken apart and cleaned, I will do that.....and I usually insert a dab of Vasilene into the bushing area whee the shaft runs through and I find that works well...but the cheap plastic pots do not allow that sort of thing.....and some of them are pretty much sealed up.......so there is no way to force grease down into the bushing......
Cheers

[bsco]

Hey! I've got an idea!!!

If you take some high viscosity grease and lower it's viscosity with an evaporating solvent you may be able to get some into the sleeve/shaft space. Then, when the solvent evaporates you should be left with just the higher viscosity grease at the shaft joint. Maybe something like axial grease diluted with lacquer thinner in your syringe. You'll need to allow time for the lacquer thinner to evaporate. Especially true for an amp circuit as lacquer thinner is volatile.

Ok. But instead of Lacquer thinner how about mixing it with some regular contact cleaner?? I will try that out hopefully later today and let you know how it works out......if it does at all..........gotta get to work........have to pay bills......lol......

[Chuck H]

Ok. But instead of Lacquer thinner how about mixing it with some regular contact cleaner?? I will try that out hopefully later today and let you know how it works out......if it does at all..........gotta get to work........have to pay bills......lol......

Regular contact cleaner has it's own lubricant in it that will dilute the heavier greases viscosity (see above EDIT for more on this). Lacquer thinner or acetone (nail polish remover) don't contribute any thin oils so when they evaporate only the grease will be left behind.

[bsco]

Regular contact cleaner has it's own lubricant in it that will dilute the heavier greases viscosity (see above EDIT for more on this). Lacquer thinner or acetone (nail polish remover) don't contribute any thin oils so when they evaporate only the grease will be left behind.

Ok. I'll go with nail polish remover and try that........thanks for the info....
Cheers

[Leo_Gnardo]

Regular contact cleaner has it's own lubricant in it that will dilute the heavier greases viscosity (see above EDIT for more on this). Lacquer thinner or acetone (nail polish remover) don't contribute any thin oils so when they evaporate only the grease will be left behind.

I'd be very careful about slinging strong solvents into pots, brings back the memory of the late 80's when all the guitarists in the area started following Cesar Diaz's bad advice they read in Guitar Holder* magazine, squirting carb or brake cleaner spray into their amps. Pots would melt down or seize up, baaaad juju.

Said it before, in a pinch WD40 ain't so bad. Wouldn't use it regularly, only if it's "do or die" - as in concert must start in 10 minutes and there's nothing else available.

About 25 years ago there was a gadget marketed that screwed onto 3/8" standard pitch bushings, the idea was you could force pot cleaner thru the bushing sleeve and avoid having to take your amp, guitar, mixer etc apart to get to the back of those pots. If you used one, of course the grease was washed out of the bearing. Now if there was a similar device that let you jam grease into that gap, and had a choice of bushing threads to match any pot, that would be a hit. Machine shop guys & gals, here's your chance!

*Always someone on the cover holding a guitar. Often with lots of tattoos & piercings & rock star clothes. I think you know what I mean.

[Chuck H]

I agree about not wanting to get the solvent into the track case. There's a big difference between spraying brake cleaner into the track case and using a syringe to attempt squeezing lube into the shaft sleeve. As long as no solvent gets on the track it should evaporate in short order. So, right, no hot solvent on plastic parts or tracks. But hot solvents are the best candidates for evaporating in a reasonable time. I guess plastic shaft pots aren't good candidates for this experiment.

[bsco]

I agree about not wanting to get the solvent into the track case. There's a big difference between spraying brake cleaner into the track case and using a syringe to attempt squeezing lube into the shaft sleeve. As long as no solvent gets on the track it should evaporate in short order. So, right, no hot solvent on plastic parts or tracks. But hot solvents are the best candidates for evaporating in a reasonable time. I guess plastic shaft pots aren't good candidates for this experiment.

Maybe using the syringe to inject a very small amount of contact cleaner into the pot somewhere through the body cavity might be a better choice after all.....but I will still try the grease/nail polish remover idea later when I get a chance.... Thanks guys...
Cheers

[g1]

Pot cleaning

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

I think you are going to have to get the grease back in to the shaft bushing. I think Chuck may be on to something, but it's still going to be tough to get a syringe into the bushing.
Here's the jig Leo mentioned: Pot Cleaning Cap | stewmac.com

A variation of it should do the trick. You would need a tube with one end threaded, one end capped, and a grease fitting. Different sizes for different pot sizes. I would think lithium grease a good bet. The trick would be the insane hydraulic pressure. Trying to force it in with a grease gun could blow the pot apart. So you would have to go slow, or you might need to heat the grease to thin it, or use a thinner that would evaporate like Chuck mentioned.
Sounds like a lot of work, but once it was set up, I bet it would be pretty slick. Probably a sale-able item also.
A variation would also enable you to clean sealed pots, followed by another jig to regrease. That would be the ticket for mixing consoles that get trashed because all the sealed pots need cleaning. (unless they're really just worn out )

[T9c]

Deoxit D5L has a 2" needle on the bottle. It works better than the spray when you want to preserve the turning resistance (grease). A little bit goes a long way too.

[Enzo]

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.