Dirty pots help!

Jim Whitaker · From: Ohio, USA

What's the best thing to use to clean up dirty pots

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

De-Oxit control cleaner (not contact cleaner) or something similar to De-Oxit brand cleaner.

This applies to pots that are open or have an opening that cleaner can be sprayed into. Obviously you can't do this with sealed pots (normally).

Jim Bates · From: Alvin, Texas, USA

What is similar cleaner like the De-oxit?

Thanx,
Jim

Chuck Snider R.I.P. · From: West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV

I just ordered some stuff the techs at Peavey use to clean out pots called "Funk-out" or something like that. If you talk to the guys in the parts dept they know what it is.

-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Some electronics stores (not Radio Shack!) carry a product by GC Electronics called De-Ox-Id - it's very similar to Deoxit at 1/4 the price. However, I still prefer the Caig products.

As mentioned DO NOT use "contact cleaner" Use a cleaner that has a lubricant or you'll destroy your electronic parts the first time you use them!
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
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1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Lynn Oliver · From: Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.

I like a product called DeoxIT FaderLube.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

I saw a very interesting old gadget at a garage sale Saturday. The old guy used to be a tv and radio repairman. This device looked like a big syringe! The end of the syringe where you would normally put the needle, had female threads that match up to the mounting threads of a pot. You put your cleaner/lube into the syringe, screw it onto the pot, and "inject" the pot down the shaft. Never seen anything like it before! He wouldn't sell it separately, unfortunately.

Mitch Druckman · From: Arizona, USA

Stewart-MacDonald sells a similar product.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Cleaners_and_lubricants/Pot_Cleaning_Cap.html

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Cool toll Mitch!

Jim Dickinson · From: Washington, USA

Some of the older pots, especially those of larger diameter, can be cleaned up simply by working them. What happens is that often the pots are turned to one position repeatedly and a bit of carbon builds on that spot. By spending a few minutes turning the knob, full rotation, one can polish the windings and clean it up. We used this method for years with old ALTEC mixers, just sit there for a few minutes and " exercise" the controls, always worked, made then quiet. Many older guitars used the same pots, try it, it costs nothing other than a few minutes. Now if the control is worn out, it's worn out and nothing will work, other than changing it. The sprays sometimes help, especially to lube the shafts. Jim

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

Jim, to make that "exercising" even easier, I have a long rubber band that I cut. I wrap it around the knob and just pull the ends back and forth. Easier on the old fingers than twisting the pot a multitude of times.

Chuck Snider R.I.P. · From: West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV

I got my shipment of "Funk-Out" from the Peavey folks. I was reading the label and was surprised/enlightened to notice the first ingredient in the contents list is none other than "DeoxIT", along with naptha and propellent. What a small world we live in!!

By the way, I ordered from Stewart-MacDonald one of those little gadgets to screw onto the top of a pot so you can sqirt it with cleaner. I'll post a comment once I get it and try it out on a noisey pot in one of my NV400's.

-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad.

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

please do report back Chuck.
just bought a fender reverb unit and every knob is crackling badly

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

I did my pots on my Nashville 400's with ''Funk Out '' . It was fine for a while but now some of the scratch is back . I'm thinking of buying all new pots for them both . Mike Brown told me to try the Funk Out first so i did but i may have to buy new pots . It's a lot of work to remove the head and insert the cleaner i think .

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

It sounds like the Peavey "funk out" is basically repackaged DeOxit.

If you "clean" a pot and the problem comes back or doesn't help it, the only option is to replace the pot. It is a hassle on many amps as you have to remove the board (Preamp board in a Peavey) to properly remove the old pot and solder a new on in.

Jim Dickinson · From: Washington, USA

Sometimes it's just easier to keep blasting the pots with cleaner than to replace them, until it become unbearable, we've all been there. Jim

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

On most devices you have to keep removing the chassis or removing a cover to spray the pot. That becomes a hassle after a while and the best thing is to just replace the defective pot(s) and be done with it.

In a way it's like the guy that comes to the gig every week with the same bad cord or whatever week after week.

Chuck Snider R.I.P. · From: West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV

My shipment arrived from Stewart-MacDonald today which contained the little gadget to screw onto a POT to allow for getting the DeoxIT down the shaft of the POT. The good news it is a well made little thing, and I hope I don't loose it. The bad news for those of you waiting to see what I found out, if you had hoped to order one to use on pot in your footpedal, it is likley not going to work. At least not as it was made. I have a Clarostat Type J pot that I had removed from my Goodrich pedal, and tried mounting the little gadget on it. Unfortunately the shaft of the pot is too long, or maybe a different way to say it, the opening in the gadget is too small to allow you to slip it down onto the shaft, with the shaft extending out of it. Now some of you guys out there with a metal lathe, you may be able to make one of these so it would allow the shaft to extend through the opening. However, it appears this was made for pots with shorter shafts, so that the shaft would not extend through it, but bottom out onto the opening once it was screwed onto the pot.

I will try it on one of the pots in one of my NV400 amps. They may be made so it works on them. Stay tuned for that info. It may be a day or so before I get a chance to do that research.

-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad.

Chuck Snider R.I.P. · From: West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV

OK, I finally got around to cleaning the POTs in one of my NV400's and wanted to pass along comments on the "Pot Cleaning Cap" (item number 0291) from Stewart-MacDonald. Here is what the thing looks like

It does fit the pots on the NV400, after you pull the knob off. It is possible to use this without removing the amp-head from the cabinet.

In my case, I had already removed the amp-head to clean all of the pots. I tried it on one of the pots.

It does easily screw onto the pot. No need to overtighten it, just gently snug it down. Insert the tube of the spray into the small hole on the side as shown, and give it a little squirt. Then, with a small screwdriver inserted into the larger hole, opererate the shaft of the pot back and forth several times. If you want, you could give it another squirt of cleaner, work the shaft. Repeat as needed, until you think you have it cleaned. Keep in mind, that if you do this without removing the amp-head, all that cleaner is running down into the amp-head. So, don't over do it.

Since I was cleaning all of the pots, I cannot say with certainty that this solved the scratchy pot in my amp, as I'm not certain which one it was. However, here are my observations:
1. It did seem to route some of the cleaner down into the pot, and it looked as though it might do the trick in a pinch to clean a scratchy pot and save you from pulling the amp-head out of the case.
2. It did not work as well as I expected, I would prefer to get more of the cleaner down into the pot.
3. It should fit most amplifier pots in place. I could only try this on a Peavey amp, it may also fit pots installed in other amps.
4. It WILL NOT work on a long shaft pot mounted in volume pedals.[/list]
5. Hard to say whether I would buy it if I had it to do over again. On the other hand, it could be invaluable if you had it with you, and a pot became scratchy in your amp.
6. It is definitely not as thorough as pulling the amp, and getting the spray tube into the little hole on the backside of the pot.

I would not suggest everyone go order one of these, but if you do some of your own maintenance, have some Funk-Out or DeOxit spray cans, and happen to be ordering something from Stewart-MacDonald, you might think about getting one of them. I've wasted much more money, on much dumber things, than what this costs. Don't view this as an endorsement, because I'm not certain it will work in every situation, but it might just do the trick at the right time.

-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad.

Chuck Huffman · Posted 14 Oct 2009 12:49 pm

Chuck,
Thanks for the review I find it very helpful as I have a noisy pot to deal with on my Vegas 400. I'm thinking I might try the spray without the tool and if it doesn't do the trick, I'll send it to the shop.

Chuck
_________________
ZumSteel SD-10 5-8, GFI Ultra SD-10 3+4, Goodrich V/P, Boss DD3, FenderFM, Vegas 400. Learning to play for my Savior, Jesus......

Ray Thomas · From: Goldsboro North Carolina

Whats a source for the De-Oxit control cleaner?

Chuck Snider R.I.P. · From: West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV

Hi Ray, you can get DeOxit from electronic parts suppliers other than these guys, but I've always been happy dealing with the folks at Stewart-MacDonald. Here is a link to the DeOxit on their site as well as that little cap pictured in my previous update:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Cleaners_and_lubricants.html

You might also give them a call to get their catalog, which has loads of stuff for repairing guitars and other stringed instruments. I love to just read thru it!!!

I should also mention that I was using some stuff from Peavey which they use in their shop. It is called Funk-Out, and if you call them up you can order it ove rthe phone. Their can ingredients mention it has DeOxit in it, along with a couple of other ingredients. It is similar in price to the DeOxit I got from Stew-Mac. It also seems to work just as well.

-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad.

c c johnson · From: killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.

I have been using the Stewmac gadget ever since they came out, and it works fine all these yrs. cc

Jim Palenscar · From: Oceanside, Calif, USA

For those wanting to extend the life of their old AB pot it is really no big deal to take it apart by bending the 4 tabs back on the backing cup and remove the assembly. You can either then just spray/clean it or take very fine abrasive (600 grit) between the 2 contacts and gently rotate the wiper and base basically fine sanding the 2 contacts then chase the procedure with some Deoxit when done. I am able to recover about 60% of the pots I've done this to and it takes only a few minutes. Some of those pots are still in use years later. Those that don't respond- C-est la vie- nothing ventured~ nothing gained.

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