[sdiy] ALPS components durability?

[Robin Whittle]

I have used the ALPS RK09K pots in the Devil Fish:

  http://www.firstpr.com.au/rwi/dfish/

since 1992 without a single reported failure.  I think they are
marvelous pots!  I figure I would hear of failures, since they are hard
to obtain.

The pots in the TB-303 are ALPS - though these types are no longer being
manufactured.  Some of these get an absolute hammering, such as the
Cutoff and Resonance, where some TB-303s have the plastic around the
knob all worn away.  Those pots do sometimes fail, usually due to the
shaft being pushed down and this causing a rim of plastic to cut into
the conductive tracks.  This seems like bad design to me, but with that
exception - and the problem of people spraying oily things into the pot
area which can cause the lugs to loose connection with the tracks - I
think those ALPS parts are reliable in the face of extreme usage far
beyond the ordinary "consumer" use they were intended for.

  - Robin