Effective, safe and lasting method against scratchy pots

vintagecharlie · Post by **vintagecharlie** » 20 Oct 2019, 23:20

Hi all,

i have a vintage Colorosund overdriver pedal, which is great and in perfect condition. But it has scratchy pots all over the place. I was about to order some DeOxit D5 (being in Europe this is not that simple as it turns out, especially due to the shipping constraints). But then, after my order was canceled due to inability to ship it par avion, i read more into it. I found numerous reports stating that there are types of DeOxit that are not a good fit for potentiometers (D5, which seems to be the most popular one, was mentioned as one causing potential issues).

What type of DeOxit or other product is effective and safe for the open type pots typically found in Colorsound pedals of the 60's and 70's, like these:
(

)

what will not damage any of the plastic / carbon, etc. components in it and not cause additional accumulation of gung / dust over time?

I'd appreciate input on this seemingly trivial topic very much!

Thanks and kind regards,

VintageCharlie

phatt · Post by **phatt** » 21 Oct 2019, 00:03

You will find it more economical to just replace the pots.
The can of spray may end up more expensive and will only work for a short time.
no medals for guessing why I know this.

Phil.

vintagecharlie · Post by **vintagecharlie** » 21 Oct 2019, 09:58

Not a very attractive solution, considering how much the value of a vintage pedal is lost due to changed components. I get your point and it would be fine with a modern pedal. For the old one i would at least do my best to prolong good function of the old pots and am therefore wondering about the best cleaner for this type of pot.

Intripped · Post by **Intripped** » 21 Oct 2019, 10:24

I use contact cleanes from "Dueci", an Italian brand.
Specifically for potentiometers, there are the R10 and R11 types.
These are slightly oiled liquids, which is good for moving parts such as potentiometers, switches, etc.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think that you can find their products all over Europe.

The best way to proceed, is to desolder and disassemble the old pots, so that you can accurately clean all the contacts and the graphite path that you can find inside.
Use some soft paper, the contact cleaner and also an eraser (the white, soft one for pencil) for gently scratching away the oxide from the metal contacts (and make them shine!).
Just pay attention not to bend and damage the thin metal parts.

mozz · Post by **mozz** » 21 Oct 2019, 12:24

Deoxit fader or slider lube is what you want for pots. I use a CRC brand contact cleaner which works well.

phatt · Post by **phatt** » 21 Oct 2019, 13:07

The pot/s may well be working fine but old Caps maybe leaking DC which would induce the scratchy effect.
Phil.

jalmonsalmon · Post by **jalmonsalmon** » 23 Oct 2019, 02:07

vintagecharlie wrote:Not a very attractive solution, considering how much the value of a vintage pedal is lost due to changed components. I get your point and it would be fine with a modern pedal. For the old one i would at least do my best to prolong good function of the old pots and am therefore wondering about the best cleaner for this type of pot.

IMHO
build a clone and your vintage pedal, sit on it. If your so worried about value loss make a clone.
IF you are planning on keeping that pedal forever and ever... replace the pots!

Hell if I had one of those originals it would be in a sealed plastic case and I would be rockin a CLONE

alexradium · Post by **alexradium** » 23 Oct 2019, 08:42

Take care it's not due to electrolytic coupling caps,if they leak some DC the pots will scratch no matter how well you clean them

deltafred · Post by **deltafred** » 23 Oct 2019, 17:25

As alexradium says check that it is not a leaky capacitor first. I've just had a 40 year old piece of equipment giving me grief that turned out to be a leaky electrolytic capacitor. (If the one I replaced it with lasts as long I'll be long gone by then.)

Or take out the scratchy pot, bag and label, store in a safe place, replace with a new one.

If you ever sell the pedal swap them back or give the new owner the old pot.

I prefer the solution offered by jalmonsalmon, build clone and use that.

Electric Warrior · Post by **Electric Warrior** » 23 Oct 2019, 20:45

jalmonsalmon wrote:
vintagecharlie wrote:Not a very attractive solution, considering how much the value of a vintage pedal is lost due to changed components. I get your point and it would be fine with a modern pedal. For the old one i would at least do my best to prolong good function of the old pots and am therefore wondering about the best cleaner for this type of pot.
IMHO
build a clone and your vintage pedal, sit on it. If your so worried about value loss make a clone.
IF you are planning on keeping that pedal forever and ever... replace the pots!
Hell if I had one of those originals it would be in a sealed plastic case and I would be rockin a CLONE

We get it. You don't care for vintage stuff.

A more conservative approch sure is a good idea here. Cleaning the pots after 40 years sounds like a perfectly reasonable first step of trouble shooting to me. I wouldn't be surprised if that fixed the problem.

If it really should turn out to be a pot problem and if they are damaged beyond repair, just replacing their innards would be the best way to restore the function and keeping the visuals intact. That style of pot is still being made, so replacement parts are available.

vintagecharlie · Post by **vintagecharlie** » 24 Oct 2019, 20:28

Thanks for all the input, guys! Yes, i certainly did not intend to get into a ideological debate of vintage vs modern or clone pedals - i use all of them. This one is intended to be sold, therefore i want to keep the originality intact, if possible.
I will order some of that faderlube DeOxit or similar stuff and see if that helps.
Thanks for the hint on the possibility of leaking DC from the electrolytics - will keep that in mind, in case there is no effect from the contact cleaner.
Also, good to know that parts and not necessarily whole pots can be changed too.

Best,

VintageCharlie

vintagecharlie · Post by **vintagecharlie** » 02 Nov 2019, 10:02

Just as a follow-up to anyone wondering the same question. Well, for two pedals with this open type of pots i simply blasted them a bit with some air from an air-pump that is meant for cleaning camera lenses from dust. It immediately either resolved the issue or made audible changes to the scratchyness of the pot, which then disappeared after turning the knobs while blasting the pot with the air pump. This was the case with all pots. The results would be even better, if you'd use a more serious device - like an air compressor with a fine nozzle on a low setting or something along those lines. So i would state that this is the first logical step before introducing any chemicals or assuming other faulty parts.

Will purchase some fader lube as recommended above for the future, in case this trick does not help or seems to give only short term results.

Dirk_Hendrik · Post by **Dirk_Hendrik** » 03 Nov 2019, 09:12

Brilliant discussion on keeping the device intact and "vintage correct". Meanwhile, no matter how stored, packaged or treated, without having heard this pedal I can already state that it sounds different from when it was new. And it will continue to sound different over the years to come, up to the point that it's claimed to be broken. So, keeping it vintage correct or not, those electrolits will have to be replaced someday. And replacing them with the correct NOS type will not work. Those NOS-es will be just as dry.

Don't get me wrong; I absolutely appreciate a pedal that is not harmed and original. But there will come a time that the choice must be made between having a brick lying around, or a working pedal.