Crackling pot fix?

[gordon]

I bought my son a used PRS electric.  A few of the pots crackle when you turn them.  Is this by corrosion?  If so is there a way to address it or should I install a new set of pots?
Thanks.

[FRANK]

you can run to radio shack ? and purchase electronics cleaner comes with a straw and shoot the stuff right in shake well Cheers PHB

[gordon]

Thanks Paul. I'll give that a try.

[Tom Krebs]

Spray is great, but If your lucky; sometimes just sweeping the pots back and forth a few dozen times will clear things up. If both of those fail. It's replacement time.

[gordon]

Hi Tom. He's been playing it for a while now and two of the pots did work themselves out but the other two are still crackling.

[Rob Mercure]

AES is pretty good (I'm a commercial customer - "CE-distribution") as Tom suggested but MCM - http://www.mcmelectronics.com - probably has more for a general audience not specialized in amplifier and pro-sound repair.

Rob

[Rob Mercure]

Caig De-Oxit is the standard for the electronics repair profession. If that doesn't fix it then more serious repair/replacement is usually warranted.

Rob

[gordon]

Where can I find Caig De-Oxit Rob?

[FRANK]

just hit the shack they have what you need i have used it for 10 years

[Rob Mercure]

Paul,

I''m glad the "rat shack" (as affectionately known by many techs) has satisfied your needs but generally their products are disdained by folks who wind up cleaning many components daily and live in horror of having a customer return work with complaint.

There are three qualities, at least, needed to eliminate the noise: cleaning off any old accumulated noisy funk, lubricating the assembly so that it works smoothly, and not leaving a sticky residue that will collect new funk and grime. While ratshack products are pretty good for the cleaning task I've found that they really don't leave a good long term lubricate and, worse, tend to accumulate a new layer of gunk. But I also have to admit a difference between a guitar interior which is "kinda" sealed up and a power amp set low on a rack at floor level with a fan pulling dust along with the cooling air along with it or a mixer slider what's moved repeatedly during a multi-performer venue - especially the "open mic" where the pot may be reset literally on every song. These are much more demanding environments where the RS stuff doesn't cut it but the DeOxit, and other pro-level products, do.

Not that DeOxit is the holy grail as there are times I've found that on really worn controls it doesn't leave enough lubricant so I have to follow up with my antique tube of vaseline like "Tuner-Lube" ("turret" type TV tuners, nothing to do with guitar machines although I've actually used it to lube a machine or two in pinch ).

So, glad that RS fills your needs and hope it continues to do so. But in my almost 40 years of various repairs I've watched it change from a place where I could pick up almost any repair component needed to one where I have to explain to the staff what a resistor is or a film capacitor just to find one. But boy to they know where the various video games are or the 63 diffferent colored cell phone keyboard protectors . "Aging fart" ranting I know .

Rob

[Tom Krebs]

http://www.tubesandmore.com/

click - Tech / Chemicals / Caig

[Barry Crump]

Slightly off topic - but anyone in the UK looking for a good pot cleaner might want to try 'Servisol Super 10 Switch Cleaner'. Its designed for cleaning hi-fi contacts and is great for crackly pots. Don't be tempted to try WD-40 - it just gunks up inside, and soaks into the PCBs, which is bad news in the long run.