[sdiy] Repair slide pots for ARP sequencer

[Tim Parkhurst]

On 11/8/05, Grant Richter <grichter at asapnet.net> wrote:
>
> Some of the slide pots on my beloved ARP sequencer can't be cleaned
> anymore. The wiper is either at 0V or 10V with no middle control.
> I am sure it is the pots themselves and not the circuit.
>
> In anyone aware of a modern replacement? Or a special cleaning method?
>
> Thank you for any help.
>

In many cases, the problem with ARP sliders is that the resistive material
gets completely worn away by the pot wipers moving back and forth. No amount
of cleaning or lubrication will cure this. If the pot is merely sticky, but
still gives some variation, then a cleaning may do the trick. However, your
symptoms sound like the resistor track is worn away. When this happens, you
either have to replace the pot OR you might be able to tweak the contact
arms on the wipers and move them up or down into an area that still has
resistive coating on it. That's a tricky one, but it could work.
 If you haven't disassembled an ARP slider before, you have to unsolder it
and CAREFULLY tweak the metal clips off each end. The metal clips are not
soldered onto the board (they go through the board and have a slight twist
on the end that holds them to the PCB), but they hold the two halves of the
pot body together and anchor the pot to the PCB so that the solder joints
are not stressed when you move the slider back and forth. The clips have a
seam in them, and once you locate that, you can pry the clip apart and pull
it off the body. I emphasize CAREFULLY because it's easy to break the
plastic body if you apply too much force (especially if the pot has been
sprayed with non plastic friendly cleaners or lubricants).
 I'd love to come up with a modern replacement for these damn sliders, but I
haven't found anything that is quite the right size and/or pin layout. I'm
working on something else to get around this, but it's secret right now. And
by the way, CTS wants $25K just to recreate the molds for the plastic body,
so again that's not really an alternative until I win the lottery tonight.
 If you can't resurect the pots, let me know and I have a few 100K NOS parts
(I'm pretty sure the CV sliders are 100K linear). Anyway, let me know and
we'll work out a deal (insert evil 'muuaa-ha-haaa!' laugh).

Tim (ARP freak) Servo
--
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
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