Potentiomieter Cleaner?

[Richie086]

Hello!

I am in the process of restoring a vintage mixer and i noticed a lot
of the pots were very dirty and occasionally stick. What is the best
way to clean these old pots out? I would rather not put in new ones if
I dont have to so I can keep it as original as possible, but i know a
few of them will need to be replaced for sure. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Richie

 

[Walter Harley]

"Richie086" <richie086@richie08.netcola.com> wrote in message
news:jn8wc.7671$Nu2.2817@fe30.usenetserver.com...

I am in the process of restoring a vintage mixer and i noticed a lot
of the pots were very dirty and occasionally stick. What is the best
way to clean these old pots out?

Some pots on some high-quality mixers were designed for regular maintenance,
using mildly soapy water and a cotton swab. I remember doing this routinely
on P&G faders on broadcast mixers.

If the pot is sealed, there's not much you can do - my experience is that
trying to open them up, clean them, and get them back together doesn't work
real well, although I'm sure others may have had better results than me. If
the pot is not sealed, the general approach is to spray in some spray
electronics cleaner designed for this purpose, such as Caig Labs "CaiLube"
(http://www.caig.com), and turn the knob back and forth a few times.

Do NOT use general-purpose contact cleaner (such as Caig Labs DeoxIT), or
WD-40, or a solvent of any sort. You'll either weaken the plastic or remove
the lubrication. The purpose-made pot cleaner compounds are gentle and
include a lubricant.

 

[Art]

Lubra Clean or another produce specifically made for cleaning tuner contacts
will suffice.
"Walter Harley" <walterh@cafewalterNOSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:c9tal5$u30$0@216.39.172.65...

"Richie086" <richie086@richie08.netcola.com> wrote in message
news:jn8wc.7671$Nu2.2817@fe30.usenetserver.com...
I am in the process of restoring a vintage mixer and i noticed a lot
of the pots were very dirty and occasionally stick. What is the best
way to clean these old pots out?

Some pots on some high-quality mixers were designed for regular
maintenance,
using mildly soapy water and a cotton swab. I remember doing this
routinely
on P&G faders on broadcast mixers.

If the pot is sealed, there's not much you can do - my experience is that
trying to open them up, clean them, and get them back together doesn't
work
real well, although I'm sure others may have had better results than me.
If
the pot is not sealed, the general approach is to spray in some spray
electronics cleaner designed for this purpose, such as Caig Labs "CaiLube"
(http://www.caig.com), and turn the knob back and forth a few times.

Do NOT use general-purpose contact cleaner (such as Caig Labs DeoxIT), or
WD-40, or a solvent of any sort. You'll either weaken the plastic or
remove
the lubrication. The purpose-made pot cleaner compounds are gentle and
include a lubricant.