Potentiometer grease?

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Rodgre
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Potentiometer grease?

Post by Rodgre » Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:35 am

Hello all.

I’m reconditioning some 40 year old gear and I would like to thoroughly clean some slider pots. I was wondering if any of you tech-heads had any suggestions for a kind of grease that will give the sliders a nice drag/friction feel without impeding the resistive qualities or attacking the plastic.

Thank you!
Roger

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Recycled_Brains » Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:08 am

Rodgre wrote:
Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:35 am
Hello all.

I’m reconditioning some 40 year old gear and I would like to thoroughly clean some slider pots. I was wondering if any of you tech-heads had any suggestions for a kind of grease that will give the sliders a nice drag/friction feel without impeding the resistive qualities or attacking the plastic.

Thank you!
Roger
Also curious. I did a heavy clean of a bunch of my guitar pedals after an entire pint of beer landed on my board during a show and now all the pots are way too easy to spin.
Ryan Slowey
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http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by vvv » Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:50 pm

No experience, but I saw this before:
https://www.amazon.com/DEOXIT-FADER-GRE ... B0015ABJA4
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I mix with olive juice.

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Scodiddly » Mon Nov 09, 2020 5:20 pm


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Rodgre
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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Rodgre » Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:57 am

An electronic tech friend suggested I use Molykote 111 for this purpose. I ordered a tube of it and I'll check it out and report back.

Thanks!
Roger

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Nick Sevilla » Tue Nov 10, 2020 7:33 am

Rodgre wrote:
Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:57 am
An electronic tech friend suggested I use Molykote 111 for this purpose. I ordered a tube of it and I'll check it out and report back.

Thanks!
Roger
I'd stay as far away from that as possible. Really.
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by ulriggribbons » Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:30 am

It depends on the faders.

Penny and Giles faders, for instance, should not be lubricated at all. They should only be cleaned with distilled water, or at most a mild detergent ( distilled water with a little dish soap).

It's not about "what do I add to make it smooth again", it's more "how can I get the stuff preventing it from being smooth out of there"

$.02

Jon

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Rodgre
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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Rodgre » Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:24 am

Interesting.... so no go on the Molykote.

P&G just distilled water.

Got it!

What I will be cleaning up soon is a Moog Rogue which has that awful foam that decomposes under the top panel. I have to clean that out and then take the faders apart and clean them too. I will probably use something strong to get the gooey foam gunk off the board and the outsides of the pots, but the insides.... what is the consensus? Just Deoxit? Just distilled water?

Thank you!
Roger

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Scodiddly
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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Scodiddly » Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:30 am

Rodgre wrote:
Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:24 am
what is the consensus? Just Deoxit? Just distilled water?
I don't know about consensus, but as a professional electronics tech I did link to the Caig site up there somewhere, to the proper series of cleaner/lube for faders and controls.

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Tue Nov 10, 2020 2:17 pm

Coupla thoughts: If it's for a Moog Rogue, it might be worth checking to see if theres a replacement fader kit. There are certainly options like that for ARPs, maybe there's something for the Rogue. More money, but if the faders are a real mess it might be worth it.
Other than that, I've had pretty good luck with Caig F100L for bringing back a little of the feel to faders & pots. Not necessarily perfect, but not bad. A little goes a long way.

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by markjazzbassist » Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:49 am

there are replacement faders, i've done some Moog MG-1 (same thing as the rogue basically) and if you can clean the goop off and it works you're golden. if not get a replacement. but those faders are kinda jenky no matter what. that's why they were budget units.

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Rodgre
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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by Rodgre » Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:12 pm

I have done a fader replacement on an MG-1 as well. I think that might be the best solution: to order a kit from Syntaur.

Thanks for all the input!

Roger

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Re: Potentiometer grease?

Post by markjazzbassist » Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:28 pm

Rodgre wrote:
Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:12 pm
I have done a fader replacement on an MG-1 as well. I think that might be the best solution: to order a kit from Syntaur.

Thanks for all the input!

Roger
you can get it a lot cheaper on ebay. it's from overseas (israel or france i believe) but it's WAY cheaper than Syntaur. That guy charges $4 for a .25 cent knob.

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