Noisy pot?
Try following the directions in this link. The TV Tuner cleaner / lubricant at Radio Shack does work okay so long as you thoroughly flush the control out as listed in these directions. It is pretty mild and should not harm any plastics if you have some nearby. DO NOT waste your money on the "Color" TV tuner cleaner as the only difference is the fact that they have added some type of perfume into mix and charged you more money. Sean > how to clean a noisy pot |
Sometimes a noisy pot can be cured just by rotating it back and forth quickly ten times or so. Often the pots that become noisy do so because they are the least used ... I suspect that's your problem. Every week or so on my preamp I turn the selector switch and the pots back and forth a couple of times ... on the advise of a technician at a well known manufacturer. I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but so far I have had no problems with noise or other failures. So you might not even need to use cleaner, but of my suggestion doesn't work then the other Sean (above) is right on the money. |
A friend of mine ran into a similar problem years ago and ended up ordering some spray from reichelt.de which evidently cleaned up the contacts. It worked so well he now swears by cheapo pots. Unfortunately, I can't remember offhand what the product was, but surely a local supplier will have something similar? In any case, it sounds like a reasonable route to first try. |
Rotating the control to get rid of the scratchy / gritty sound is a temporary fix at best. The problem will return as all you've done is loosened the dirt / corrosion that was between the wiper and the resistive path of the potentiometer. The "grit" is still inside the pot and will find its' way back between the point of contact on the wiper and the resistive path. The only long term solution is to thoroughly flush out the control good enough to remove the grit from inside the pot or to replace the pot with a new one. As a side note, it is always a good idea to rotate controls, flip switches, etc... on a regular basis, especially if you don't normally use them. This helps to minimize the potential for corrosion to set in and bind up / seize the control or switch. If the control has multiple detents, it is best to click into each position and let it rest, then move to the next position. Doing this several times in each direction will help to break up any grit / oxidation that may have accumulated. Hope this helps.... Sean > |
