Dutchman Posted March 10 Posted March 10 I saw this on a guitar repair site. For those of us that try to avoid pulling pots on Hollow and Semi Hollow body guitars this seems to be the ticket. You can find them here! https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/tool-potentiometer-cleaning-cap-aluminum 1 Quote
HSB0531 Posted March 10 Posted March 10 It's a great idea to try and clean the pot from the top, saving time, especially if it was a semi-hollow guitar with no back plate. But unfortunately two things prevent this from working well, or at all. The space between the outer shaft the inner shaft passes through is very tight and it would be very hard for a liquid to pass through it. The other thing is that the carbon and wiper arm are on the complete opposite side and facing downward. See the video below which shows the insides of a typical potentiometer: Quote
Dutchman Posted March 10 Author Posted March 10 2 minutes ago, HSB0531 said: It's a great idea to try and clean the pot from the top, saving time, especially if it was a semi-hollow guitar with no back plate. But unfortunately two things prevent this from working well, or at all. The space between the outer shaft the inner shaft passes through is very tight and it would be very hard for a liquid to pass through it. The other thing is that the carbon and wiper arm are on the complete opposite side and facing downward. See the video below which shows the insides of a typical potentiometer: I've had many vintage pots apart in attempt to save them. I have not tried this but I believe the cleaner is to sit in the chamber as the you turn the pot. Allowing the cleaner to seep by. No way as good as directly spraying them. But with those models without a back plate if you have to take one pot out the entire assembly has to come out. If this can cure it, it's 1hr of bench time the guitar owner won't have to pay. So for $9.00 it's worth a try. If they're really bad then yes I agree removal and disassembly is the only way. 1 Quote
HSB0531 Posted March 10 Posted March 10 You know what....$9 is worth the try. I once did a swap with a pair of Dimarzio Al Di Meola pickups in a late 1950's Gibson Super 400. Tedious, time consuming and scary thinking I might damage the guitar. So yeah, I completely understand the reasons to try it. 2 Quote
topekatj Posted March 10 Posted March 10 I bought a similar item from Stew-Mac several years ago, it worked great to quiet a scratchy pot on my Daytona and didn’t require removal of the pickguard. https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/amps/components-and-parts/pot-cleaning-cap ETA: I don’t recall paying $24 for this item! 2 Quote
cmatthes Posted March 13 Posted March 13 Need to try that for an amp that's been sitting and has gotten scratchy! Quote
HSB0531 Posted March 14 Posted March 14 19 hours ago, cmatthes said: Need to try that for an amp that's been sitting and has gotten scratchy! DeoxIT F100S-L2 was the correct spray to use on all carbon and conductive plastic pots because it didn't wear down the carbon. https://www.parts-express.com/CAIG-F100S-L2-DeoxIT-Fader-Spray-100-Solution-2-oz.-57-g-341-254?quantity=1 Unfortunately they don't make it anymore, but they do make it in non-aerosol droppers and grease, which defeats the purpose in close spaces. Quote
stobro Posted March 14 Posted March 14 11 hours ago, HSB0531 said: DeoxIT F100S-L2 was the correct spray to use on all carbon and conductive plastic pots because it didn't wear down the carbon. https://www.parts-express.com/CAIG-F100S-L2-DeoxIT-Fader-Spray-100-Solution-2-oz.-57-g-341-254?quantity=1 Unfortunately they don't make it anymore, but they do make it in non-aerosol droppers and grease, which defeats the purpose in close spaces. How different is F100 from F5? I've been using F5 for years and it's still being sold. Quote
HSB0531 Posted March 14 Posted March 14 (edited) 4 hours ago, stobro said: How different is F100 from F5? I've been using F5 for years and it's still being sold. Good question: The one I used on conductive plastic faders was the F5. That version is a conductive plastic fader cleaner and lubricant which is a 5% solution. It has only 5% fader/carbon lubricant with the rest being cleaner and propellant. The discontinued F100 was 100% fader/carbon lubricant with 0% cleaner and a propellant. The cleaner portion of the F5 spray can cause wear on the carbon trace over time and can rub it off if its a thin film. Here's the application chart that says what is good for what: https://caig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Deoxit-d-series-tech-info-new.pdf https://caig.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/SB-WDIU-18.pdf Edited March 14 by HSB0531 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.