[sdiy] Cleaning scratchy pots

[Neil Johnson]

Hi Antti,

> I'm about to clean a scratchy volume pot of my Korg Polysix. I was thinking of dismantling the pot and using isoprophyl alcohol to clean the wiper contacts. However, am I also supposed to add some very small amount of lubricant (such as PRF Kontakt 7-78) to the contacts after cleaning or would it be better to leave it dry?
>
> Also, in general do new factory fresh pots have lubricant on the contacts or are they dry?

If you have a scratchy pot it would probably be better to replace it
than spend time messing around with a short-term fix.

The only pots really worth cleaning are those designed to be
serviced/cleaned, such as Penny & Giles faders:
https://www.rane.com/pdf/fpg45man.pdf

You should *never* put anything on the tracks themselves as that will
affect the contacts and also stick dust to the track and make things a
lot worse.
>From the factory pots will have lubricant only on metal-metal
interfaces, e.g., in rotary pots where the shaft goes through the
bush.

Cheers,
Neil