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spamtrap1888
Guest
Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:43 pm
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
~BD~
Guest
Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:43 pm
spamtrap1888 wrote:
Quote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
Have you tried 'working' it - turning it rapidly clockwise then
counter-clockwise (or rapidly up and down if a slider mechanism) - for
20 seconds or so?
That should clear any dust which may be affecting its operation.
HTH
Ian Field
Guest
Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:43 pm
"~BD~" <~BD~@nomail.afraid.org> wrote in message
news:jcans6$fgv$2_at_dont-email.me...
Quote:
spamtrap1888 wrote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
Have you tried 'working' it - turning it rapidly clockwise then
counter-clockwise (or rapidly up and down if a slider mechanism) - for 20
seconds or so?
That should clear any dust which may be affecting its operation.
Another old trick of the trade is to rub the carbon track with the point of
a HB graphite pencil.
Apply lightly first & check the result - it can alter the audio curve if
over applied.
William Sommerwerck
Guest
Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:43 pm
The usual fix is to flush the pot with something designed for cleaning pots
or contacts.
You might also try one of Caig's products.
Ian Field
Guest
Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:50 pm
"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jcapsf$urc$1_at_dont-email.me...
Quote:
The usual fix is to flush the pot with something designed for cleaning
pots
or contacts.
I'm wary of anything involving any kind of solvent - I've seen ABS pot body
molding literally disintegrate before my eyes!
Jeff Liebermann
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:43 am
On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:43:27 -0800 (PST), spamtrap1888
<spamtrap1888_at_gmail.com> wrote:
Quote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Spray contact cleaner. Alcohol, kerosene, or WD-40. Just about
anything works. I keep running into the same problem with various
"Mod-Pot" clones, where the pot is inside a square enclosure. Scratchy
pots are typical. I have to drill a hole in the side, and use a
syringe to inject whatever cleaner falls off the shelf first.
Unfortunately, my batting average is not perfect. If the pot lube has
turned to tar, solvent cleaning usually works. However, if the wiper
has gouged a groove into the carbon resistive material, it will
continue to be noisy. I've also used Aquadag to fill the groove on
larger pots, but have never tried it on small pots. As I vaguely
recall, the older cheapo imported radios had pots with an unplated
copper wiper. When corroded, it causes erratic connections. Cleaning
with any oxide remover (i.e. 409 cleaner) should fix that.
Quote:
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
Maybe sell it to a radio collector and let them deal with the noisy
pot? Good luck.
--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
#
http://802.11junk.com jeffl_at_cruzio.com
#
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
gregz
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:51 am
spamtrap1888 <spamtrap1888_at_gmail.com> wrote:
Quote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
You can try a spray. Try either caig deoxit or crc 2-36.
Greg
Lund-Nielsen, Jorgen
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:22 am
Am 14.12.2011 18:43, schrieb spamtrap1888:
Quote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
If there are loud "scratching noises" from the speaker during moving the
pot, then, aditional to the cleaning tips from the others, look for bad
elytics that may have leaking currents causing DC at the pot.
Jorgen
Mark Zacharias
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:00 pm
"~BD~" <~BD~@nomail.afraid.org> wrote in message
news:jcans6$fgv$2_at_dont-email.me...
Quote:
spamtrap1888 wrote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
Have you tried 'working' it - turning it rapidly clockwise then
counter-clockwise (or rapidly up and down if a slider mechanism) - for 20
seconds or so?
That should clear any dust which may be affecting its operation.
HTH
That should work - for about 20 seconds or so.
Mark Z.
William Sommerwerck
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:12 pm
I still go with flushing it.
Someone said they'd seen ABS [sic] components of a pot destroyed. ABS is a
fairly stable plastic, so I doubt it was that. And this was the first I'd
ever heard of compounds specifically designed to clean pots damaging the
pot. It's not impossible -- just very unlikely.
Ian Field
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:04 pm
"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jccroa$m9u$1_at_dont-email.me...
Quote:
I still go with flushing it.
Someone said they'd seen ABS [sic] components of a pot destroyed. ABS is a
fairly stable plastic, so I doubt it was that. And this was the first I'd
ever heard of compounds specifically designed to clean pots damaging the
pot. It's not impossible -- just very unlikely.
Not unlikely at all! - most motorcycle helmets are ABS and carry dire
warnings not to paint, apply stickers or clean with *ANY* solvent.
Once I gave a VCR mode switch a blast of switch cleaner - in the time it
took to put the can back on the shelf, the cam wheel had literally turned
into a pile of granules in the bottom of the chassis.
After such an expensive mishap you soon learn to respect the danger.
Jim Yanik
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:06 pm
"Ian Field" <gangprobing.alien_at_ntlworld.com> wrote in
news:zL5Gq.181355$WC5.102548_at_newsfe09.ams2:
Quote:
"~BD~" <~BD~@nomail.afraid.org> wrote in message
news:jcans6$fgv$2_at_dont-email.me...
spamtrap1888 wrote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
Have you tried 'working' it - turning it rapidly clockwise then
counter-clockwise (or rapidly up and down if a slider mechanism) -
for 20 seconds or so?
That should clear any dust which may be affecting its operation.
Another old trick of the trade is to rub the carbon track with the
point of a HB graphite pencil.
Apply lightly first & check the result - it can alter the audio curve
if over applied.
One trick I used to use was wrapping a single turn of insulated
stranded,flexible wire around the knob or shaft,and using the wire to see-
saw the pot back and forth,it's easier and faster than doing it with your
fingers.
kinda like the bow and stick method of fire-starting,if you know what I
mean.
tuner cleaner-lube spray usually works if you can get it into the pot.
On the Bourns mod-pots,I used to drill a small access hole for a syringe
needle I had fixed to the spray can's tube.
--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com
hrhofmann@att.net
Guest
Thu Dec 15, 2011 11:47 pm
On Dec 15, 10:06 am, Jim Yanik <jya...@abuse.gov> wrote:
Quote:
"Ian Field" <gangprobing.al...@ntlworld.com> wrote innews:zL5Gq.181355$WC5.102548_at_newsfe09.ams2:
"~BD~" <~...@nomail.afraid.org> wrote in message
news:jcans6$fgv$2_at_dont-email.me...
spamtrap1888 wrote:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
Have you tried 'working' it - turning it rapidly clockwise then
counter-clockwise (or rapidly up and down if a slider mechanism) -
for 20 seconds or so?
That should clear any dust which may be affecting its operation.
Another old trick of the trade is to rub the carbon track with the
point of a HB graphite pencil.
Apply lightly first & check the result - it can alter the audio curve
if over applied.
One trick I used to use was wrapping a single turn of insulated
stranded,flexible wire around the knob or shaft,and using the wire to see-
saw the pot back and forth,it's easier and faster than doing it with your
fingers.
kinda like the bow and stick method of fire-starting,if you know what I
mean.
tuner cleaner-lube spray usually works if you can get it into the pot.
On the Bourns mod-pots,I used to drill a small access hole for a syringe
needle I had fixed to the spray can's tube.
--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
I just liberally dose the pot with after-shave lotion applied with an
eyedropper. May have to apply it where the 3 terminals come out the
side, or maybe down the actual shaft itelf. Works every time for
me. The alcohol apparently dissolves some of the dirt and grime and
things are fine for at least a year or two.
Ian Field
Guest
Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:54 pm
"Lund-Nielsen, Jorgen" <jorgen.lund-nielsen_at_xyz123desy.de> wrote in message
news:jccaob$8r9$1_at_it-news01.desy.de...
Quote:
Am 14.12.2011 18:43, schrieb spamtrap1888:
The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?
Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.
If there are loud "scratching noises" from the speaker during moving the
pot, then, aditional to the cleaning tips from the others, look for bad
elytics that may have leaking currents causing DC at the pot.
Jorgen
Lucky someone remembered - that's the next place to look if cleaning doesn't
help.
Ian Field
Guest
Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:09 pm
"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer_at_comcast.net> wrote in message
news:jcapsf$urc$1_at_dont-email.me...
Quote:
The usual fix is to flush the pot with something designed for cleaning
pots
or contacts.
You might also try one of Caig's products.
A few months ago one of the UK hobby magazines published an email for a
company giving free samples of pot lube.
Nye synthetic lubricants.
Distributed by:
www.newgatesimms.co.uk
The sample was; Fluorocarbon gel 813-1
The sample was tiny, so it hasn't been possible to try it on a variety of
pots to see if any of the plastic parts suffer damage.
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