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DeOxit is BAD for pots???

ToTo Man

ToTo Man

NEVER ENOUGH TOTO!
I just read in another thread that using Caigs DeOxit on moving contact pots is a bad idea because is attacks the carbon tracking. Instead Caigs Faderlube is recommended. :wtf: I thought that DeOxit was the god-send for all moving parts. I use DeOxit it on all of my switches and pots. Hearing this latest news has me a bit concerned now about using DeOxit. Should I be? If so, then what is the purpose of DeOxit? :scratch2:
 
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Some carbon pots don't care for DeOxit. I've been using it on them for some time, but I've also heard from a few techs that I know and trust that they had serious issues with the pots after using DeOxit on them.

While I personally have had no issues, the gear I'm working on generally belongs to someone else, and replacement parts such as pots have been NLA for many years. Thus, I've recently decided that it's much much safer to begin using the DeOxit Faderlube for pots rather than the DeOxit D5 that I've been using for the last couple of years.

DeOxit is still the mainstay for cleaning switches. It's just the carbon pots that now get the Faderlube.
 
EchoWars said:
Some carbon pots don't care for DeOxit. I've been using it on them for some time, but I've also heard from a few techs that I know and trust that they had serious issues with the pots after using DeOxit on them. ...
Click to expand...

Are some ... most ...all pots "carbon pots"? ... is there anyway to easily identify a "carbon pot"? ... i.e. are most Pioneer pots "carbon pots"? ...
 
Chip - HP said:
Are some ... most ...all pots "carbon pots"? ... is there anyway to easily identify a "carbon pot"? ... i.e. are most Pioneer pots "carbon pots"? ...
Click to expand...

I would think the vast majority of pots are carbon track. The only other kind are wirewound pots they tend to be lower ohmage and higher power rated, the kind you see in some speakers.

Lefty
 
ToTo
The other thread was a "straight & simple" answer and I didn't expand on it really. I think most everyone that has worked on electronics used Deoxit or another for a long time. It's more a matter that now there is/are products that work better than "just cleaning the pot" and don't have the shortcomings in this application. The lube in the products seems to if anything extend the life of the pots, perhaps by reducing any friction and its induced arcing/wear on the carbon.
 
Chip
Figure all the vintage pots you run across are gonna be carbon track type, safer that way and I (IMHO) think we should treat pots the same. Any pot you might run across with solid resistance material will respond all the same though it likely wouldn't be causing a problem in the first place.
 
Trouble is, DeOxit D5 was hard enough to find online in the UK, and Faderlube is almost impossible. I've only found 1 website but they're charging almost $30 for a 200ml can!

One question: A couple of days ago I gave the pots in my Sony STR-6800SD a good going through with DeOxit. If I do decide to get some Faderlube, can I apply the Faderlube now that the DeOxit has been applied to the pot or has the damage already been done?
 
ToTo Man said:
One question: A couple of days ago I gave the pots in my Sony STR-6800SD a good going through with DeOxit. If I do decide to get some Faderlube, can I apply the Faderlube now that the DeOxit has been applied to the pot or has the damage already been done?
Click to expand...

I'm confused now, I thought it was historically recommended to clean everything with D5 first, then after drying to following it up with Faderlube in the pots or the Gold with the metal contacts or switches....... :scratch2:
 
ToTo,
I'll claim ignorance here but does a place like Parts Express here in the states ship your direction, at least at a reasonable rate? That's where I've always gotten my Caig products anyhow. Use the product when you get it, very happy you haven't had problems so far!


Guess I kinda knew this would be a bit of a can of worms but this is pretty common knowledge (IMO) that most of the deoxit type products that really work can be hard on the carbon tracks in pots. It has been mentioned here in the threads before but seems to get lost somehow in the vapor. What's also been lost a little I guess is why we use deoxit in the first place, to remove oxide from the contact surface. Metal contacts, like in switches rotary or otherwise are metal to metal and obviously benefit from having the oxidation removed. In a pot, ie our old carbon trace pots, carbon does not oxidize. The only part that "could" is the wiper. I guess there's the rare case of say a hostile enviornment where a wiper could corrode quickly enough to cause a problem but in my experience the wiper doesn't usually corrode that badly until either the carbon track is worn out from use or the pot has been "jammed" causing the wiper to be misaligned. The lube works to quiet the pot, not really as a deoxicant. Think of a pot working on a miniature scale like the carbon brushes you see in an electric motor like a drill motor. I realize the scale and interruptions on the commutator is different so don't drag me over the coals.... comparison is for visual effect. The noise we get from old or worn pots is the wiper to carbon rubbing, a microscopic making breaking contact so to speak.

Brudha
You asked so I'll sum up then shut up... the only time deoxit would help in a pot is if there were to be old lube interferring. The MCL or faderlube does the same thing getting the dried or old lubs outta the way and leaves a fresh coat, which is essential. All deoxit will do is get the old lube off and leave a dry pot. Why take the chance it'll also lift the track on an unobtainium part? It's the old 99 outta 100 times you'll get away with it but that one time it really matters ol Mr. Murphy.....

Ron
 
One more question Ron. What's the difference between a rotary switch and a carbon pot (in simple terms :) )? E.g. is a speaker selector a carbon pot or a rotary switch?
 
Since alot of us are technically challenged, I think it's time to interject with the dreaded:

:worthless

Perhaps picture examples of pots, switches, slides, etc. would be helpful and which Caig product to use with each.....
 
ToTo Man said:
One more question Ron. What's the difference between a rotary switch and a carbon pot (in simple terms :) )? E.g. is a speaker selector a carbon pot or a rotary switch?
Click to expand...

Not Ron, but let me try

A switch, any type, rotary, lever, pushbutton, is a simple mechanical device that allows a contact to change from one output contact to another. There can be quite a few contacts in a specific switch but it's simply a metal to metal contact.

A carbon pot is a movable contact that rides along a carbon film type track such that it's resistance changes in relationship to how far along the track it is postioned, so it's a metal contact 'rubbing' along a conductive carbon path.

Lefty
 
i'm seeing 2 types of deoxit faderlube. 5% spray and 100% spray... this is on the caig laboratories website.

which one should i buy???
 
This is getting a life of it's own....
Thanks Lefty
Toto.... rotary switch examples: function selector, speaker selector, tape function, some Pioneer and others tone selectors that used multiple rc stops....
Apps that almost always use pots or variable resistors volume controls, balance controls, input/output level controls and so on and on.....

slow_jazz.... I had to look and see what I've been using, it was the 5% spraybomb. Note though price dictates a lot of what I do or do not purchase. I finally broke down and poped for teh 100% Deoxit dropper after they changed formulas and spray nozzle types.

Ron
 
Great thread. Great info. I'll be watching closely.

The way I am reading it, is that a volume, tone controls are carbon.
Push buttons, input selectors are mechanical.
 
Why was this kept a secret by the techies for all these years? Glad I never shot of my pots with D5. Procrastination does have its benifits. :D
 
I've used D5 on a lot of pots with no trouble, but due to new info, only Faderlube from now on.

i'm seeing 2 types of deoxit faderlube. 5% spray and 100% spray... this is on the caig laboratories website.

which one should i buy???
Click to expand...
The 5% spray is what you'd normally use.
 
I'm shocked, and, as usual, confused.

Last week I acquired a KA-3500 with scratchy treble and balance pots and a loudness/hi filter toggle that didn't alter the tone at all. So I shot D5 in all three, worked them for a couple minutes, and later shot some ProGold in the two pots. All worked beautifully afterward, including the toggle which now did its job.

Would it have worked just as well to only use ProGold in the pots?

And I thought the FaderLube was primarily for sliders. If it's an all-around lubricant, what's ProGold for?

Believe it or not, I've read Caig's blurbs on these and they could stand to be a bit more succinct. It's sounds like every product does a little of everything.
 
I read them like this:

DeOxit D5 is as it says...a deoxidizer, meant for corroded (oxidized) metal contacts, such as switches.

ProGold (now DeOxit Gold) is a 'conditioning' treatment, designed to penetrate plated contact surfaces and enhance contact between switch surfaces. It is an excellent followup to a DeOxit treatment.

Faderlube is the stuff for carbon pots, either sliders or conventional.
 
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