Hi Tony Great video on servicing hi-end pots thank you. I think you are incorrect though in stating that D5 attacks carbon. Actually, pretty much nothing (solvent wise) attacks carbon and D5 certainly does not. I've just made a video on this. I've serviced (conservatively) 10,000 pots with D5 without a single problem. Same story for every amp tech I know. Millions of pots serviced. Also Caig have explicitely written to me and stated that D5 is safe for use on carbon track pots. You would have to believe they were flat-out lying to maintain that it attacks carbon. Yes of course any solvent will probably wash away the grease on your high-end pots. But it's the myth that D5 attacks carbon that I would love to put to bed once and for all! Soak a carbon track from a pot in D5 for a month then loom at it uder a microscope. There won't be the slightest damage. I believe the myth arose because some people believe minueral spirits dissolve carbon. They do not. People using it to clean carbon off engine are merely removing loose carbon particles which then go into suspension in the mineral spirit. Hope you don't mind me saying all this. Great work and a great channel.
I think that 'D5 attacks carbon thingy' has nothing to do with carbon at all. The stuff really kill 'OLD' pots carbon track is cold temperature the can produces while you are using it. The cold temperature it produces breaks down carbon track inside OLD pot. OLD pot only. New one ? it doesn't matter. OOOOOOLD one does... like 20+ years old.
He stated D5 is the “enemy of potentiometers” but not just any pot, “but carbon potentiometers” 2:35 but then went on to claim that D5 dissolves the “friction grease” 14:05 “which allows corrosion or crud to get in there” - I doubt friction grease is only applied to carbon pots. So where is the evidence of the claim of specifically carbon pots? There is none.
My understanding or conclusion has been that the “D” version is indeed recommended for metal contacts protection. It should leave a very thin protective layer on metal. Protective in the sense of limiting atmospheric contaminants, including oxygen, but most importantly the sulphur compounds (from your sweat and breathing) which tarnishes especially silver contacts. If, on the other hand you apply it to carbon, you leave atomic layer of insulator on top of the carbon. We are talking about carbon track and carbon wiper, both normally quite soft and lubricating as contact. So, you have coated the carbon with some invisible - even on a microscope - contamination layer. On metal contacts, there is no harm, as metal penetrates the D5-layer, being hard enough. That is in contrast to the carbon to carbon contact that cannot penetrate the thin, harder layer. Additionally, I speculate that the fresh layer of D5 may look like working fine even on carbon potentiometers, but do the damage in several months.
It is amazing how clear and slowly this guy explains every topic in his videos!!! Thanks a lot from the non native english speaking followers comunity!!!!!
I really appreciate this info Tony. Glad to learn about the Red DeOxit problem with pots. Also, I totally agree about the newer cans with that goofy fire hose straw. Have a great week.
Tony.... I knew this day would arrive. Revisited this particular video. Once my Sansui developed this self inflected wound. I genuinely appreciate you and your channel. John
45 minutes well spent. I learned so much from your tutorial and glad I did because I was going to spray the pots on an old receiver with the Red DeOxit!!!! Glad I caught your video and now I'll purchase the correct products.
Wow excellent informative video and you saved my bacon. I’m a retired electronics engineer and presently performing some overdue maintenance on my Marantz, SAE and Harmon Kardon audio equipment from the 1970’s. It has many dirty switches and noisy pots in them. All of my cleaners are gone and I searched the internet for replacements. I came across a dude explaining how a pot works and how great this DeoxIT Red is for cleaning pots. Then I watched your video of how bad this stuff is for pots and what should be used instead and how to clean the switches. Boy I almost destroyed some high dollar classic audio gear. I hope this video goes viral and informs many others. Thanks again.
Great Video Tony!!!! and thank you so much for addressing that Deoxit spray nozzle that sucks so bad. Wont be buying anymore of that stuff until they change back.
Wow!! I've been using D5 for carbon pots for years now. It's use for pots is legendary on the net. Thanks, Tony for the heads up in distinguishing it's specific use for switches and NOT carbon pots.
The redesign is because the original worked to well and they needed to sell more product. Very informative video and you have convinced me to change how I clean potentiometers.
Great video Tony & I appreciate the steps shown on performing needed 'surgery' on a pot.. I believe that it might be better to say that D5 can break up build on an already damaged or inferior carbon striping on a pot instead of saying that D5 destroys the carbon on a pot. And your video fairly shows that very well. Bringing up and showing how to handle the possibility of aged & hardened lubricant is also a key factor in the proper performance of a pot as well. Good job!! 👍😊
Thanks for this video, I’m restoring a RCA Victor am/fm radio I got at an Estate sale for 5 bucks. The volume potentiometer was super scratchy and I was looking for my Deoxit to spray the heck out of it like I have done in the past. Well I had used my Deoxit on a friends car and forgot I left it in my truck and ran across this video before I found it. So I took the potentiometer apart and cleaned like you showed and now it works great and is so smooth. BTW this pot was a 1 Meg ohm with 2 taps in the rear at 250 and 500 ohms so it would have been a hard one to replace. Thanks again I’ll be using this info in the future.
Just purchased a can of D5 spray and it looks like they revised the label as it now explicitly states potentiometers under the “uses” section. I also note another channel video discusses this issue and the host reached out to the manufacturer, Caig, and the company stated that D5 does not dissolve carbon or damage plastic, and is safe to use on potentiometers. Their F5 product contains additional lubricants for moving faders and the like, which is what differentiates it from the D5 product. I also noticed you mentioned that D5 “dissolves carbon”, but then go on to explain that “cleaning off the D5” can possibly restore a potentiometer that was damaged by D5…. But if the carbon has been dissolved, obviously no amount of cleaning will restore it back. My impression is that what is occurring in many cases is that the potentiometer was damaged to begin with, likely having scraped carbon traces from the wiper, and it continues to function to some degree because the scraped carbon powder is still laying in the trace even though it is no longer physically attached. After being cleaned with D5, that loose carbon powder is removed and the result is what appears to be worse functionality attributed to the D5, when really the potentiometer was worn to begin with. It’s possible that the lubricants in the F5 product allow that damaged carbon powder to stick a bit more, so you don’t notice the damage as much. Just some observations.
To clear some things up, carbon will most likely be the only element left at the end of the universe, according to some physicists, so I doubt that red deoxit will "eat" it. That said, some potentiometers are made from compressed carbon powder mixed with a binding agent to make it solid. When you "embalm" a potentiometer with huge quantities of deoxit (or any oily substance, for that matter) it will cause the binding agent in some carbon pots to break down. This will eventually cause the carbon track of the pot to wear down and get thin, changing the resistance until it eventually cracks and fails completely. This only happens with certain pots, as different binding agents can be more or less resistant to this. I have seen it many times. People will empty the can of deoxit into the pot and it will work for a while, only to have it stop working again, because of all the dirt and grime mixed with the oily residue causing it to not work again. The person will then spray more deoxit (or WD40 oil, or whatever) into the pot, repeating the cycle. The best way to deal with a noisy pot is to use a quick drying non-residue contact cleaner, such as CRC QD cleaner. This will clean out the dust and grime from the pot. Then follow up with a tiny amount of treatment, such as the deoxit or nu-trol (or many other similar chemicals). Less is better. If that doesn't work, I suggest disassembling the pot and servicing it properly as I showed in the video. Additionaly, I've found that the old selector switches that use bakelite or that brown fiberboard material will soften and crack when you embalm them as well. If you watch the video series I did on the Hallicrafters SX-42, you will see an example of this. Again, this is just my opinion and my limited experience. There are others that have claimed to be "doing this for XX years, and I've never had any problems". I don't doubt this, as people with many years experience are probably using the product correctly and are not soaking the control in the stuff. Hope this helps.
I believe that’s a fair and accurate statement and I agree that over-saturating pots with any type of Deoxit is likely to cause more problems than it solves. I also agree that many older fiber board type materials are sensitive to oily compounds. A reasonably small amount of Deoxit probably won’t cause the problems you identify, but perhaps not using any oily type product would be safest. Thanks for the follow up. Good job on the videos!
Thank you for sharing a good process for cleaning and re-lubricating old pots! One comment I would like to make, is at 18:16 , when you were going to clean the center contact ring, you showed us a fiberglass scratch brush with what looks like a used and dirty surface. If you have a pair of scissors made for cutting kevlar and carbon fiber (easily available from common "delivery and auction" sources) , you can use that to trim the dirty end of the fiberglass brush surface back to get a clean brush that hopefully won't deposit any contaminants on what you are trying to clean.
Thanks for this video. I had been using F5 on pots & faders since 2012 and always kept buying it just for that purpose. I always read online that everyone was using D5 for their pots. I almost thought to try D5 on the pots but F5 worked great so I never did. Now I feel like I just got lucky all these years using the right stuff for the job.
Great picture! Wonderful information. I've been using DeOxit for years and never realized that it didn't like carbon pots. Luckily, I don't believe that I have actually used it for volume controls. Thanks for the video!
Great video. I’ve also found that spraying pots can leech up the pot shaft and ruin the nice smooth dampened feel. Really, these pots need the TINIEST drop of the fader lube on the wiper. No need to spray the crap out of them.
Boy I am so glad that somebody made a comment on You Tube Video on this subject. I felt lost at the amount of people or techs using it on Pots and Sliders and I suspect its because of advertising. I quickly became distrustful of DeOxit D5 when I first used it to rejuvenate a turn signal relay on my car as it came highly recomended by a clerk that worked as an electrician at Home Depot. On seperate occasions it repeatedly developed carbon on the contacts of the relay and quit working. The best peformance I got was about five weeks. I was being cheap and should have bought the more expensive TV Tuner Cleaner. Yep thats what the sprays name was called. Quite a long time ago I used it on pots relays, record switches and relay contacts and never had a problems with them failing. I had also used it on five old car relays and never had a problem after words. As I wrote this comment, I have been diligently looking for a replacement to the actual and original TV Tuner cleaner and hoping to find what the contents of that product was. Ironically I never ever used it on a tv tuner, I felt that that product was undermarketed and could have been given a better, descriptive name. Reading the comments on the internet, it seems that one can of TV Tuner Cleaner can replace 2 to 3 cans that require doing the same job from reading peoples comments. Unfortunately I've heard that TV Tuner Cleaner has been discontinued. Getting back to DeOxit D5 I found it useful for getting rid of corrosion from the spring like Triple AAA battery contacts and other metal contact surfaces but that was all. After words cleaned them up with a q-tip and then applied a light other and more trusted oil. In the case of the relay, metal likes oil. I would cut out a small rectangular piece of card stock a little wider than width of the relay contact and spray it with a small amount TV Tuner Cleaner and then slide it between the cleaned contacts and they where as good as new. You can clean the surface or even file them clean, but if you don't put a thin layer of oil, the relay will fail down the road. If anyone or somebody knows what the contents of TV Tuner Cleaner had or their experience please comment. I sure would be greatful and suspect others would be too. Experience is the best school.
Great rant and bang on. Deoxit D5 is excellent for cleaning metal contacts only, not carbon comp potentiometers. My choice - MG Chemicals 404B with silicones for electronics, safe for plastics, leaves a dry silicone lube, as good or better than Deoxit Fader F5 at a fraction of the cost.
Lol reminds of my younger days of hunting on the back roads and trash bin outside people were tossing old radios 📻 out from many brands i was 13 or 15 most of them had burnt outputs and i go in and fix them alcohol was my freind lol now what happened too the recivers i fix idk i had about 5 or 4 then later at around 18 or 19 i found a bunch of sanyo and integrated amps that need the stk chip and i used my allowance too spring for parts or from others old radios i had i do think when left all my stuff got junk after my mom moved and i was out of town. Bummer now i still work on electronics i love the audio side of electronics repair & modified thanks for great and awesome video lots of info
This is valuable information. I'll be backing-off the DeoxIT D5 and use Fader F5 from now on! I'll unfortunately have to tare apart everything I have restored, and hit them with Fader F5! err
Yay! Good to see somebody else who "gets" it. De-Oxit is frequently misused and overused. The active ingredients are organic *acids* ---- more acidic than organic! ---- and you shouldn't leave all that gunk inside the pot. By the way, glass-bristle scratch brushes are an extremely useful tool, but the bristles vary greatly in stiffness and hardness from one make/supplier to another, and some will leave a rough surface on the metal commutator rings or even remove the silver plating. I find that a pencil eraser works well on both the carbon track and the metal ring. As for the scratch brushes, buy some replacement brushes from two or three different suppliers and you might get some really soft ones suitable for cleaning the metal without scratching. The stiffer ones are particulatly good for cleaning NOS terminal strips and tube socket contacts, or an amp chassis,, prior to soldering.
Good info on pots and the use of DeOxit. I was guilty of using the D5 for everything until a few months ago after learning the harmful effects it had on pots. 😬 A noiseless pot is a happy pot! 😊Love the Alaskan Pipeline comment 😅You can remove that bulky cap but it takes a bit of force then outfitting the exposed stem with a different nozzle should work 🤔
I just used Deoxit applied to the 22 Faders on my 1978 Soundcraftmen's PE2217 Pre-amplifier/Equalizer. Good stuff. I then applied a silicon lubricant to those 22 Faders. Worked out wonderfully But there were several scratches on the top of the wooden case. So I sanded them down, and then applied a matching magic marker color to those areas. But in the long run, those areas looked more shiny than the rest of the undamaged areas. Just for a laugh, I applied the Deoxit to the whole wooden area. WOW, it now looks as good as new with no areas being different from the rest. When I say WOW, I mean super WOW !
I must admit, I've been a bit 'silly' with the red deoxit, and I do think it's a case of 'monkey see, monkey do'. Thanks for bringing the awareness to the products we use and how to use them more appropriately. Your knowledge and the sharing of it is much appreciated.
Required viewing for ANYBODY IN THE HOBBY (work or pleasure:). Would have loved to have watched this 40 years ago. Better late than never. Thanks so much. You "are" the electron-whisperer.
Thanks for that "heads up", Tony. You making a face unfortunately did not make the video popping up for me, obviously, but I also learned that information way back when I was trainee... I did learn there that it *always* is a good idea to 1st clean up the pot *and* switches with stuff much alike your "deoxit red" 2nd rinse out *all* of the contact cleaner with something like alcohol (either use things like isopropanol alcohol from a spray can or get some drops of it inside the pots 3rd after all give all some kind of oil spray, maybe use things like gun-oil (Ballistol) or even the much beloved "WD40" spray which is kind of both: Lubrication for the contacts and sealing it against new corrision. And it is not only water-detergent but also gets out the cleaning chemicals out of the carbon tracks etc. from where these chemicals may also kill the paper or plastic carrier plate of the carbon track, as you said. This 3 steps did work very well most of the time for me, even without dismounting
Well done video on the ins & outs of cleaning pots! I now have a better idea and more confidence in even trying to clean the pots of my vintage stereo equipment! But I would have just sprayed them Red Deoxit! Thanks for the heads up! Just Subscribed to your channel Go Coogs!
Yes, for carbon pots and faders: green stuff, green stuff, GREEN STUFF!!!!! Works an absolute treat. “Conductive plastic” means “carbon-track”, as I believe (but do check me on this) that the carbon tracks in most potentiometers are made of carbon-impregnated *plastic*. They’re trying to be clear, but it’s created much confusion. I recently restored two old (and very valuable) drum machines, and I had to order a new can of F5, as I certainly didn’t wanna screw those pots up. ALL the pots were completely restored by flushing them with DeOxit GREEN F5 “Fader Lube”.
Excellent video!!! Contact cleaners specifically target carbon since that's generally the result of arcing. So spraying it into a carbon pot is a recipe for disaster, that said... I'm as guilty as everyone else. Back in the mid 70's I worked in the radio room at a local TV shop and we used plain 'ol WD40 for pots since it flushed away dust and left a bit of lubricant after evaporation.
Mallory new old stock, you taking apart of the Fisher stereo pod reminded me of how you could buy different Value pots, shafts, switches and gang them together, gone are the good old days.
Unfortunately, those "pick a shaft" controls weren't the best quality wise ---- okay for fixing a TV's brightness or contrast control, or a table radio volume control, but not so good if you needed a stereo volume or balance pot.
I have been using Deoxit for years and it’s the best contact conditioner but it’s a two part-system red and blue the red is a cleaner it needs to be rinsed out and then treated with the bile it will not affect the rivets used. So it is good stuff if you use it right! !
Absolutely correct. I dont understand why its so hard for people to spread the right info. Clean cautiously with the right deoxidizer like deoxit F, relube with a Rheo lube or if your pot feels loose due to washing/cleaning away the damping grease then add some more damping grease. But i guess i do get why people dont say that since that all just opens another can of worms. Which Rheo lube? What Deoxit/ contact cleaner? What Damping Grease? Of those products there are hundreds of variations with different purposes. But once you figure out the correct products and procedures you'll rarely come across a pot you cant revive. So bottom line, dont just spray contact cleaner and expect it to improve your potentiometer cause at best it will "work" for a few days then go right back to being scratchy (oxidized) and feeling loose.
It's funny, I used to watch a lot of tony's videos, and they always came up in my suggestions. Didn't notice but maybe four or five months ago it stopped... Until today I get the "silly face" thumbnail in my suggestions here at work. So I guess the face worked??? Anyway, lesson learned, I'll hit the subscribe button now.
Thank you a lot for this video! I was lucky enough to read somewhere before that D5 must not be used on potenciometers and bought and used F5 instead. On the other of my tape deck (same model) the pots are very loose, so I guess someone did use D5/100 on those before ("profesionally serviced", said eBay ad...). BTW, I read the description on D5 and indeed it does not mention it should not be used on potenciometers.
In tmy education as electronics technician here in Europe I learnd only use specialized Cleaners for sensitive Parts like Pots, Sliders, Tuner and so on. We use only Kontakt Chemie´s TUNER 600 for cleaning. Does good work on our Studio Mixer's .
Hahaha that end rant! I think Mark at Blueglow had a similar rant, I agree totally. But...Now that I wont be spraying the stuff anymore! :-) I think I will just buy the small dispenser bottle next time myself...Thank you for this lesson. I don't do a lot of this stuff, but I won't make this mistake again.
I don't have much time or space to do electronics repairs anymore but in the 1980s when I fixed a bunch of second hand gear for my own use, I learned to really hate contact spray. I never used it myself but I got stuff from others that had gunk all over the place on potmeters and on switches. I always thought that it didn't make sense because whatever it is, you spray it on the dirt and it might make it soft or whatever, but the dirt doesn't actually go anywhere! Unless you wipe it off maybe, which no-one does of course. So you get a device with a crackling potmeter, spray it, and it works, but pretty soon the crackling comes back worse than before, because the contact spray turned into gunk. So I rather opened the potmeters and switches and scraped any oxidation off wipers (never scrape the carbon tracks of course) and switch contacts with a knife or even a screwdriver, and that worked great: I fixed many devices that way, which still work 30 odd years later. I don't know if contact spray in Europe is the same thing as DeOxit but seeing all those videos of you and other guys spraying that crap into potentiometers, I almost changed my mind and got some of this "miracle" stuff for future repairs. I'm glad you proved me right after all, and stopped me on time.
Reviewing your video again to pick up anything I might have missed. Suggest a video on how to investigate, identify, and replace defective stereo pots with new would make an excellent informational video... this perplexes me on how and where and what to buy... And modify stereo pots.
Tony, excellent video. Thanks! I knew about the Caig fader (F) products, but didn't realize that D5/100 could damage carbon pots. I wonder how many vintage systems are out there deteriorating as we speak.
Tony, Re: your rant: the new nozzle was probably designed/ordered by the _sales_ manager! ;) Thanks for the warning though about the damage the "red" can cause. I'll be careful in the future about how & where I use it!
Thanks Tony. This is a great video full of useful info. I've been using red DeOxit for years on pots. Not anymore. Seemed like it worked miracles at first, but then 6 months down the road I'd start having issues with them again. I think your explanation is correct. I didn't know pot rebuild kits were a thing. Care to share more info on those; maybe a source? I'd understand if you wanted to keep that a secret though, lol. Thanks again.
I’ve been waiting for this video for years. Always wondered how to get the nice smooth resistance back in the control after it has been flushed bare. I believe it or not had excellent luck with flushing pots with just the alcohol you mention and then the green dioxit. But yes the large can contact only cleaner spray is a great first start before the deoxit green lube. I used to use another cleaner called CG or something like this from Raido Shack and it flushed pots nicely clean down to no grease and dry. If you sprayed this fast evap stuff to long it could possibly freeze and crack brittle plastic holding the wipers. It sure did flush out the pots clean however, but the friction grease was then all gone. Probably this cleaner used sparingly “not to flush out all the friction grease” then followed by the green deoxit lube probably would also work nice? But it seems like if you flush out the all the grease you really have no choice but to take the pot all apart like you did. Obviously this method you showed with disassembly seems like the absolute best way hands down! I would be interested in seeing if I can find anhydrous isopropyl alcohol or ethanol in a spray can? For this does not seem to wash out the grease as much as some of these other contact cleaner only type washes. Maybe follow this up with some deoxit green label and one would have a clean pot with friction grease in tact. Alcohol doesn’t tend to wash grease away as well as some of these other fast evap type contact cleaners that have harsh solvents or mineral spirits . Thanks for your video sir, great job!! 😎👍
this is %100 correct. this is a corrosion inhibitor and design to dissolve and remove most metal salts and leave a residue to protect from later corrosion like copper sulfate or oxidation.
Tony seems VERY knowledgeable for a guy who this is “just a hobby” for. I can troubleshoot basic electronics and even locate a transistor that works intermittently. But beats me about knowing what chemical product to use for what. I don’t believe one can take a course on it(?) Regular technical institutions that teach electronics are more likely to make one take a history or civics course with a “woke” teacher (that may try to teach one to hate their country) than to offer a practical course on the application of chemical products for electronics. Does Deoxit or MG go to various states to offer them? My local electronics store is always having Elenco come in to teach soldering to beginners but it would be nice if they had an applications engineer come in from a chemical company. Thanks for your video Tony X.
Best way to learn is to destroy a few things..... In a controlled manor of course and keeping the expense to a minimum. I find I learn more from what does not work then when it works the way I expect it too.
Hi Tony. I have a recommendation; after applying the Deoxit D100 drop onto the metal contact ring, gently spread it with your pinkie finger, a toothpick, or the pointy end of those cosmetic Q-tips. If you don’t - and you reassemble the pot as-is - the 1st time you turn the shaft, the wiper could fling the droplet onto the carbon track, undoing all the good you’ve just done. And with it reassembled, you’ll never see it. By spreading it out, you can see if any D100 gets on the carbon track while the pot is still disassembled, and you can wipe it off. HTH! 😋
NO, don't use D5 or D100 inside any pot. If you want the rotor contact ring lubed use an electronics grade grease that will not dry out for many years. VERY expensive if you can find that. But for cheap skates like me I use Super Lube (used to be sold by Radio Shack labelled as lube Gel. Apply very little. It won't run around inside the pot and foul the carbon track if that's what you're worried about.
The history of the Red Deoxit , That's what everybody did and it worked for a year, as you have said than back scathy sound. I wish you would add to the title "How to not use Deoxit" so I can find it again later, thanks again
I had a cheat for old pots which I discovered by accident. I used to blast them with a heat gun and the few times I did this they started working properly again. I was trying to remove a pot in an industrial setting and had blasted it with heat to try to loosen up paint on the fitting. To my surprise, the pot started working properly again. I didn't really think about it too much, just assumed that the heat had dissolved all the crap. No idea if this would work on all types of pots.
damm...just come from the workshop, working on a old amp, after treating the noisy controls with red de-oxit! good video, just wish i had watched it earlier.....
Tony, you rant in a very funny way :-D, but i do agree with you. I clean pots by taking them apart, metholated spirits and cotton buds to wipe the crud off. I have a soft rubber block that has fine abrasive in it, a wipe over the contacts and they shine. "Gary blocks" different grades of abrasive (made for cutting/polishing car paintwork ). Ordinary grease for the shaft. If i need a pot working right now, wd40 drench (Dont hate me, i use what i have). Switches are dissasembled always, the result is always better.
HaHa,... Beautiful video ! //..advice taken, will make sure not to elevate myself on a pot :-) ..ThankYou again for sharing. Have nice weekend and week over there.
Very interesting video Tony. Just shows there is no silver bullet for cleaning contacts, it's horses for courses. Worth stressing the use of an analogue meter for checking pot action, using a DMM just doesn't show what is happening, especially if the autoranging kicks in as the resistance of the pot varies. The Japanese really did their research on friction grease, most of their pots have a superb Goldilocks 'feel', not too loose, not too stiff, just tactile perfection.
I'm British and I don't think we have Deoxit here in the UK. I use a product called Servisol for pot and contact cleaning. Really interesting video so subbed to your channel.
I don't understand the ridiculous face thumbnail thing that the youtube algorithm seems to like, but here's the truth: I generally won't click on videos with those stupid thumbnails because they drive me crazy. Usually it's a shit channel trying to get clicks. That said, you and Mr. Carlson can make all the silly faces you want, and I will always watch. This video is pretty timely for me, too, because I found a NOS still sealed Heathkit tube amp to that I will be building, and one of the unobtanium pots it came with is a little stiff, and will need this kind of TLC. So thank you for making this video.
Problem is, a lot of people use too much of that red Deoxit, and the chassis is dripping out with the stuff. You have to use as minimal as you can, first the red, then the green, or only the green one. Depends on how dirty the pots are. So you have to open them, anyway, to see that. And less is more. For contacts, I use WD40 Specialist, the green one, it's specially for PCB and electronics. It works fast, and don't leave residue. Also, a bit, not spraying like you would with Kontakt WL to wash the PCB. If I use Deoxit in an open pot meter, I spray a bit in a small container and use an ear stick to clean and lube. But maybe I order the same as you use, the 100 brand. Problem is, on this side of the world there are few shops who sell this. Thanks for the tip.
Someone gave me a music system to repair, the pots were quite bad, I wanted to get some stuff to clean them but I would have had to dismantle lots of stuff to gain ( pun intended ) access to them, so I just twiddled the knobs a bit, and they improved a lot - I'm glad I did that now.
