[aaird]

Hello all;

I've got a Lectron tube amp with a few years on it, and the volume pot is evidently oxidized fairly badly. It can be taken apart, although I would rather loosen the ends so there is a gap and spray something in there that would help the problem go away. The question I have is, is there something in a spray can that you guys have used to clean/lube the internals of a volume pot, or, if not, what other suggestions do you have for getting rid of the problem? I already have an email out to the manufacturer on the price of a replacement, but I would rather find a way to use what I already have if it can be fixed or helped.

Thanks for your time.

Andrew

[rosconey]

remove the seeds before you fire it up
sorry just had too

[Carlman]

You can get general tuner cleaner at any radio shack and it'll probably clean it up considerably.  CAIG products are also nice and readily available online.  You'd probably want DeoxIT and ProGold.

Spray it into the pot, work the volume knob a lot, and spray again.  If you get the CAIG stuff, you can spray it on the contact points after cleaning and it will last a long time before it needs it again.

It'd probably be worthwhile to clean all selector switches, tone controls, etc. while you're at it.

Good luck.

[mitch]

spray the inside of the pot with contact cleaner (no flash typical) available from any electronics shop, work the pot back and forth about fifty times and spray again to clean out the dirt and oxides then let it dry.  Then spray in a small amount of switch lube and again let dry.

The contact cleaner removes everything so the switch lube really is necessary and makes the pot much smoother and free to move.

The above also works very well on switches.

I had the same problem with my Fisher X-100B, crackley pots and very stiff switches, did this proceedure about a year ago and everything is still sommoth and silent.

Warning- some cleaners and switch lubs will attack certain plastics, so read the directions first!

Good luck.

[aaird]

Thanks for these suggestions.   It turns out I already did a version of these instructions the first day I posted the note, and I have already heard a 100% improvement.  There is just a tiny bit of residual pops, barely enough to be heard, so one more treatment ought to do it.

Thanks for the help y'all.

Andrew

 

[Carlman]

I had really old tubes in my preamp that caused what sounded like bad volume pots.  When I replaced the tubes, it went silent... (well, as silent as a tube pre can go....)

Just another thought...

[MaxCast]

remove the seeds before you fire it up
sorry just had too