Good contact and potmeter cleaners?

This weekend I retrieved an old shortwave receiver from a closet to put back into use. Needless to say the volume potmeter crackled like crazy and the pre-selector switch was and still is erratic. My trusty old "Kontakt 600" spray can blew its top while treating the potmeter, spraying everywhere but in nozzle direction.

While it is now manufactured by CRC it seems not to be sold in the US. Farnell in Europe carries it but their partner network Newark does not. This stuff is really good. Or was :-(

I know Fader Lube is suitable for potmeters but what is good as a contact cleaner that will not harm, etch, corrode or otherwise impair contacts later?

While we are at it, I see that Fader Lube now comes in green, yellow and pink flavors. Which is best for potmeters or does it not matter all that much?

I've found LPS2 to be very effective. It leaves an oil residue which I usua lly clean off the exposed surfaces at least. It never become conductive but if dust sticks to it the dust might be conductive.

It also lubes the shaft. It has some component that are volatile but have s uch a low viscosity that you can literally shoot it on the front at the sha ft and bushing and it will penetrate and clean the pot. However that is mes sy and wasteful, and the s*it is not cheap.

Going in from the front works sometimes because when you clean a pot you ar e actually cleaning the ring to on which the center part of the wiper slide s, not the resistive element around the perimeter. Usually.

On some pots that are tough jobs it helps to push on the shaft while turnin g. If it has a thrust washer that can collapse it increases the pressure an d facilitates better cleaning.

People say WD-40 is the same but it is not, LPS2 is used in the aerospace i ndustry for maintaining jets and whatever. One thing about it is it has a v ery unique odor that sticks around for some time.

Best price I found on it was at Zoro.com. I don't know if they ship interna tionally. Not to discourage you from them, they are suspect in sending me b edbugs which were hell to get rid of, so get rid of the packaging right awa y just in case. IF I order from them again I will unpack the order outside. but the price was very good on that. I don't really know about anything el se they sell, I needed the LPS and got it.

There is a very good product here called Deoxit which is good if the proble m is oxidation, which it is many times. However it is so expensive it warra nts taking the pot apart and using a Qtip to apply. Caig either makes it or distributes it along with actual cleaners, all not on the cheap, but good. I don't know if anyone ships you your location though.

Chemtools made in US

Deox-it D5 spray or Deox R44 (R44 is also a lube)

Carl's post:

According to the MSDS at

it is a mix of pentane and hydrotreated light naptha, with CO2 as the propellant. No magic ingredients, just basic fully saturated volatile hydrocarbons. The CRC product QD clean (something like that :-)) is similar, with some added hexanes and octanes and HFC-152a as the propellant instead of CO2 so as Jeff would say, my guess (tm) is that is would work just as well and evaporate very slightly slower.

Joerg:

Thanks but at $49 per can that's a bit steep. Someone must be making a huge profit.

BTW, it would be better to post above the sig line of people, else you text won't show up in replies. Normall a newsreader should not even show anything below "-- ".

It is marketed purely as a lubricant though.

Will it really fix heavily scratchy potmeters where the wire contact has become erratic?

I'd never used WD-40 on that, just as I don't on my bicycles.

There often is no way to take them apart, like when they are consisting of plastic shells glued or melted together.

become erratic? "

Barring mechanical problems it seems to fix everything. (well kinda)

I have had very good luck with it. However that is for dirt etc. I do not b elieve it has a reducer in it like Caig deoxit. It may be that the solvents clean the oxidation off rather than reversing it.

I guess it depends on what you're dealing with. You might want LPS2 and sol vent around for normal use and some deoxit for those times it doesn't work. Though as I said, around here anyway, deoxit is expensive so I, and where I worked generally took the switch apart and applied it with a Qtip. Bad en ough to see the price, whe you see the itty bitty can then it really sinks in. On top of the cost it is not good to run out. So we treat it like good cocaine.

I don't use drugs so I can't relate :-)

Though yes, the tiny can is expensive but I ordered the DeoxIt D5 anyhow. My last can of Tuner 600 wasn't much larger and lasted decades. All you typically need is a 1-2sec spritz.

The biggest PITA by far IMO is actually getting the stuff inside onto the potentiometer track. They seem to be so well sealed in. Crazy. :(

So far I always managed to do that. I have no qualms about lifting stuff with the swiss army knife, putting a wee crack in there using a vise or drilling a small hole. After all, a crackling potmeter is useless so why not try?

So what do you do if the pot that needs drilling is so deep in between other boards that you can't get anywhere near it? Oh yeah, you say, like just take the other boards out of the way. Like f*ck!

Joerg, just lurking here. For my old tractor I spray in WD-40.. Well, first I poke out the mud wasp nest with a screw driver. :^) There's a bottle (2 fl oz, 1.5 left) of GC electronics DE-'OX'-ID electronic contact cleaner, in my tool box, it hasn't been opened in ~20 years. I'd be happy to put it in the mail.

George H.

Thanks, George, but I just received the DeoxIt D5S-6 today. The can isn't smaller than my old Kontakt 600 can which lasted over 20 years until the nozzle mechanism failed, probably corroded inside. So I should be set for the next 20 years. Sweetwater added in some candy. That was a very nice touch.

WD-40, duct tape, and channel lock pliers, what else does a man need?

George H.

Wire. You can never have enough (kinds of) wire.

If it moves you duct-tape it. If it squeaks you WD40 it. If it's stuck you hit it with a hammer.

to:

swiss army knife.

Bye Jack

Lets not forget the silicone sealant :-)

Bailing wire, a credit card and beer :-)

Also, as Jack wrote, I won't go anywhere without my Swiss Army knife except when the journey requires a TSA check or similar.