volume pot cleaning help needed

Steve Waltz · From: USA

I have a goodrich 120. The pot gets crakels like they do. The last time I pulled it apart I think I noticed the pot istelf is sealed up quite a bit. I didn't see much of a way to get the contact cleaner in there. I think I just did it on the shaft or whatever and it worked for a month or two but it's back. I have a show tonight so a new pot isn't going to happen.

I thought I read that someone drilled a hole into the pot so that the contact cleaner could get in there better.

Any tricks.

Steve

Jonathan Shacklock · From: London, UK

Hi Steve, you can prize up the lugs that hold the back of the pot on with a small screwdriver. See Greg Cutshaw's page here - the sixth picture should show you what to look for. Longnosed pliers will help squeeze the lugs back into place after cleaning.

Here's the important bit: don't use ordinary contact cleaner which is usually for metal-to-metal contacts and not suitable for the carbon wiper in a pot. Instead, spring for a small can of Caig 'Deoxit Fader Lube F5' (formerly known as 'CaliLube MCL'). It's expensive but it works, and you only need a tiny amount. I learned about this stuff here on the forum and I fixed my Goodrich 120 pot with Fader Lube, no more crackles.

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Some of us have done the cleaning and spraying process and found that it worked well for a few months, but then got scratchy again. Here's something worth messing with maybe. I learned this from a famous pro who files around the world restoring and maintaining the legendary British recording consoles by Trident, namely the 80B series. Anyway, he's WAY into cleaning electronics. He convinced me to never ever again use the Caig Deoxit (the red liquid) spray stuff ever on anything. He said the CaliLube is a bit better but still suffers from the problems of not lasting long enough and leaving a residue that attracts dust and dirt. He said the best contact is a clean one, and he uses pure anhydrous isopropyl alcohol to clean metal contacts and also conductive plastic pots or faders. Just flush and wash out with alcohol. If a pot is carbon and not conductive plastic, he said to first clean entirely with pure alcohol, and then add the very tiniest amount of turbine or sewing machine oil. He said as a lube, that's the very purest oil you can use, and it's the least attractive to dust and dirt. If your pot is conductive plastic he said that the plastic is self-lubricating and needs nothing but cleaning with alcohol. I think the old AB pots we like so much are carbon tracks. I believe the newer PEC's are conductive plastic. Not sure though.

So I haven't tried this yet with my sealed steel guitar type pots, but I think I will next time. But I have stopped using electronic spray cleaners for the most part, and now it's just pure alcohol for a perfectly clean and dry contacts on jacks, molex connectors, and tube pins/sockets. The simple alcohol approach seems to be holding up so far in a number of places.

Brad

Steve Waltz · From: USA

Thanks for the help. I'm going to pop that back off when I get home and clean it.

Thanks,

Steve

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

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I'd stick with the Caig recommendations - you really can't go wrong.

And it bears repeating - NEVER use just a "cleaner" on pots or you will ruin them almost instantly. IT HAS to be a cleaner lubricant (I'm a littel worried about the oil recommendation, having used sewing machine oil for decades on B Benders until I found Teflon Lube (not suitable for pots) - sewing machine oil actually picks up quite a bit of dirt.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Jonathan Shacklock · From: London, UK

Lynn, thanks for finding that link, you are absolutely correct that DeoxIT 100% spray (D100S) is the product they recommend for pot cleaning, to their forum members also.

I'm a bit confused about Caig's marketing since DeoxIT FaderLube F5 is described as a "Cleaner and lubricant for conductive plastic faders and controls" including carbon-based potentiometers. It's also recommended on Caig's website here and here. As a company they suffer from a confusing and overlapping product range with name changes all over the place, however either product will prolong the life of a dirty pot if it's not already damaged beyond repair. FaderLube comes in a smaller, cheaper can but D100S, while it doesn't have the flushing properties of the former, represents better value and probably has a greater range of uses. Neither product contains solvents so should be safe on plastics. There, clear as mud!?

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Radio Shack sells a cleaner-lubricant for pots that contains silicone, and that would probably be satisfactory. It's important to remember that pots, like any other mechanical device, require periodic service to keep performing optimally. Every two years, you should put a touch of oil on the shaft (where it goes into the bushing). And every 4 years, you should remove the cover of the pot, spray it well with a cleaner-lubricant, and then shake it off and re-install the back. A half-dozen pots have gotten me through over 40 years of playing, so I have a better opinion of them than most players (that never bother with them until they fail).

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

Ray Thomas · From: Goldsboro North Carolina

I drilled a small hole and used a spray cleaner. So far its working well.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Here's a simple version:

1. Clean pot with Caig Deoxit. If very oxidized, leave it overnight.

2. Treat pot with Caig Pro Gold. Wait 2 minutes before turning anything on.

I've used that system for several years with no "repeat offenders". The thing I don't get is the so-called expert who recommends NOT using Deoxit...but never mentions Pro Gold, which is a critical part of the process. In fact, you normally only use Pro Gold for most applications - Deoxit is for more severe situations.

The use of sewing machine oil (gun oil is another one sometimes mentioned) as a pot lube is 1950's Heathkit mentality. My dad used to do it that way. And no matter how light viscosity the oil, it will collect dirt - and dirt is deadly to a pot. Scratches don't go away.

Like Donny, I clean my pots about every 4 years or so - and the only ones I'v ever had to replace were two Dunlop Wah pots and cheap import pots when doing electronics upgrades.

Never had a volume pedal, guitar or amp pot go bad enough that it could not be cleaned, lubed and brought back to life. Never drilled one, either - you can get enough material in through small gaps.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Would I be correct in assuming that Caig F5 is the same product as Cramolin F5 that used to be available, under a different name?

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Brint - as far as I've heard, yes. I can't back it up with any data, but that's the buzz around the amp-building sites.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Mike Wheeler · From: Delaware, Ohio, USA

I can verify that. I used to use Cramolin products ages ago, then it disappeared. Actually, the name was changed, and the dealer network was revamped. It came back as Caig products...same stuff, with a few new items added. It was all made by Caig anyway.

Jim's reference to using DeOxit, followed by ProGold, it spot on. I used that combo in studio gear, amps, guitars, about anything with low voltage/current electrical contacts. Great stuff.
_________________
Best regards,
Mike

Mike Black · From: New Mexico, USA

xzxzx

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Sorry for "off topic", but where'd you get the Bigsby coffee mug?

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