home-made pot cleaner!

[tyler477]

So, as i was reading about what to do with these noisy pots in my mackie 1604 i came across an old trick to use petroleum jelly and lighter fluid to clean them out.... so of course I was going to try it!

I went to the grocery store and bout some lighter fluid ;3.99
and some mineral oil; 2.99 and mixed them up in a jar.
I then applied it to the top of the pot shaft (under the knob) and turned the knob 50-60 times and viola! pot is clean now and also lubricated!

seems silly to pay 20 bucks for deoxit when fro 7 bucks i have a lifetime supply!

just thought i'd put this out there if anyone else needs this kind of thing.

[bluesman]

Aren't you leaving a residue that will trap future contaminants? Isn't that the purpose of Deoxit & other potentiometer cleaners, to clean without leaving a residue?

[Milkmansound]

only time will tell how well that concoction works - please keep us posted over the next couple of months/years!

the nice thing about deoxit is that you can keep it on a shelf for years. I have only bought a bottle once - and it was almost ten years ago, and it still works just the same. I imagine I will have it forever.

[blackdiscoball]

the nice thing about deoxit is that you can keep it on a shelf for years. I have only bought a bottle once - and it was almost ten years ago, and it still works just the same. I imagine I will have it forever.

This means you dont have enough knobs! Now go out and buy the oldest piece of equipment with the most knobs on it! GO! Ill wait.... got it? Now whats left in that bottle?

[Jay Reynolds]

A magazine and a credit card do the trick nicely.
Oh, wait...

[mixedupsteve]

A magazine and a credit card do the trick nicely.
Oh, wait...

I prefer LP covers.

[Milkmansound]

the nice thing about deoxit is that you can keep it on a shelf for years. I have only bought a bottle once - and it was almost ten years ago, and it still works just the same. I imagine I will have it forever.

This means you dont have enough knobs! Now go out and buy the oldest piece of equipment with the most knobs on it! GO! Ill wait.... got it? Now whats left in that bottle?

maybe some people use too much. I used to repair stereos, synthesizers, and other audio gear as a full time occupation - and I still have a ton left in the can!

[tyler477]

only time will tell how well that concoction works - please keep us posted over the next couple of months/years!

sure thing, I know that mineral oil is used in fish tank style computer cooling, so it is safe on plastics, and lighter fluid is in plastic bic lighters, so neither should be corrosive.... I've heard to use the lighter fluid with petroleum jelly, but it wouldn't have been a thin enough fluid to pass through the top of the mackie so i chose the mineral oil for its fluidity... who knows, maybe it was a horrible decision... time will tell. but for now it works great!

[oldguitars]

I'll stick with deoxit. I have purchased 2 bottles in over 10 years. At that rate, cost is HARDLY a factor...

[Nate Dort]

I was working on an old orban 622b tonight that had what looked and felt like brown petroleum jelly leaking out of all the pots. They were very hard to turn. I got most of it off the outer surface of the pots, but he internals are going to be trickier. I'm going to flush them thoroughly with naptha (lighter fluid) first and then clean them with deoxit after they've been freed up.

So yeah, if you use the petroleum jelly trick, be prepared for them to gum up after 20+ years of neglect.

[tyler477]

I was working on an old orban 622b tonight that had what looked and felt like brown petroleum jelly leaking out of all the pots. They were very hard to turn. I got most of it off the outer surface of the pots, but he internals are going to be trickier. I'm going to flush them thoroughly with naptha (lighter fluid) first and then clean them with deoxit after they've been freed up.

So yeah, if you use the petroleum jelly trick, be prepared for them to gum up after 20+ years of neglect.

Yeah, i assumed as much, thats why i used mineral oil, as it gunks up a lot less and is way more runny.... I just fixed the pots on an swr 350 redface tonight using it, cleaned it up in no time!

[ashcat_lt]

This lighter fluid of which you speak, it's the kind you use to blow yourself up when you light the grill? Or the kind you use to fill your Zippo? Seems that either way Naptha from Home Despot might be even cheaper.

Also, I'm sure my Ghost would eat your can of Deoxit as an hors d'oeuvre.

Anyway, I use something similar to this:

[tyler477]

This lighter fluid of which you speak, it's the kind you use to blow yourself up when you light the grill? Or the kind you use to fill your Zippo? Seems that either way Naptha from Home Despot might be even cheaper.

Also, I'm sure my Ghost would eat your can of Deoxit as an hors d'oeuvre.

Anyway, I use something similar to this:

Yeah i was gonna get it at home depot but it was closed.... so i ended up at the grocery store.... it is just barbecue fluid, got a niced size bottle for 3.99 and the mineral oil was cheap, i have a lifetime supply of the stuff now for 7 bucks, can make 48 ounces of the stuff and even the noisiest pot only takes a q-tip dab.