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Perhaps I'm missing something on the 'restoring old synths' vibe, but surely replacing old dead pots with new ones isn't unauthentic ? People happily replace capacitors that still have decades of life in them.</div>
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Unlike in the 70s, sliders are available in far more sizes and values now so there's bound to be one suitable. The pins will be in different positions but a little pin-drilling into the PCB, hot melt the slider to the PCB, add some solder links and possibly
reroute a few tracks that are in the way and the synth will feel better than new.</div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> Synth-diy <synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org> on behalf of Mike Beauchamp <list@mikebeauchamp.com><br>
<b>Sent:</b> 29 April 2026 23:18<br>
<b>To:</b> synth-diy@synth-diy.org <synth-diy@synth-diy.org><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [sdiy] Slide pot cleaning</font>
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<div class="PlainText">I want to suggest desoldering them, disassembling, cleaning and
<br>
re-lubricating them. But even with my hakko desoldering iron, I've <br>
occasionally lifted pads off circuit boards while doing this. Single <br>
sided boards are especially easily to mess up, because they don't have <br>
plated thru-holes holding things together.<br>
<br>
If you've done it before, and know how to rework a board if a pad lifts, <br>
go for it. You could also see if replacement pots are available through <br>
mouser that have the same footprint dimensions and lever dimensions <br>
(check the datasheets). Some slide pots are also available with an <br>
integrated dust cover in case the synth ends up under another bed for 10 <br>
years.<br>
<br>
Easiest thing is to just use Deoxit Fader F5, spray and move the slider <br>
around a bunch of times.<br>
<br>
Mike<br>
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On 2026-04-28 07:53, rburnett@richieburnett.co.uk wrote:<br>
> Can anyone recommend a good process for cleaning dust our of slide <br>
> potentiometers on an old Roland SH-09?<br>
> <br>
> The synth was stored underneath a bed in the spare room when we moved <br>
> house about ten years ago, and I *thought* it had a dust cover over it! <br>
> It turns out it didn't (>.<) and the slide pots are in quite bad shape <br>
> now.<br>
> <br>
> The synth is functional but the sliders feel scratchy and there is <br>
> obviously intermittent electrical contact because cutoff, LFO rate, etc <br>
> jump around a lot when the sliders are adjusted. The slide switches are <br>
> okay, and the keys aren't too bad after a bit of use.<br>
> <br>
> I've removed the front panel and also found that there is some sort of <br>
> black felt/foam sheet that was obviously originally meant to be a dust <br>
> shield for the slide pots. The problem is that this material has become <br>
> brittle and literally crumbles upon touching. Can anyone recommend a <br>
> good material to replace this with?<br>
> <br>
> If I can fix the pots with a squirt of some magic spray that would be <br>
> fantastic, but I'm also prepared to de-solder then and carefully open <br>
> them up for cleaning if that is what is required. I would rather take <br>
> time to do the job properly, but not sure what is the best way to <br>
> proceed? I have access to a dry compressed-air line, dish soap, cotton <br>
> buds, Isopropyl alcohol, acetone, silicone grease, <br>
> soldering/de-soldering tools, etc, but don't want to risk making the <br>
> problem worse without asking for advice first.<br>
> <br>
> Thanks in advance for any advice,<br>
> <br>
> -Richie,<br>
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