Ultrasonic cleaning of pots and switches??

[nabeelsayegh]

Has any one tried and/or recommend using an ultrasonic cleaning to deep clean pots and or switches? The problem i have with using traditional cleaning sprays such as DeOxit, Electrical Contact cleaners, alcohol, etc is that they tend to work or but do not really get all the gunk out and lots of oxidation is left in there. In some cases, pot's get scratchy again...not nearly as bad, but enough to where i find myself having to blast them again. I was considering trying to clean a pot and rotary switch in my ultrasonic cleaner with distilled water and maybe something like alcohol or some other solvent.

First and foremost, has anyone done this before? Is ultrasonic cleaning to hard on these devices? IOW will i damage them. lastly, what would be a good recommended cleaning 'solution' to use in the ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Shrugg]

I'd try experimenting on some generic parts with distilled water only first. Don't want to accidentally destroy any valuable potentiometer or unobtanium switch. What I'd be worried about is stripping any lubricant, especially from potentiometers making them not operate correctly.

 

[nabeelsayegh]

I would definitely try it on something i don't care about first...Your right, no reason to destroy anything of value. I was thinking of rinsing it with contact cleaner and then flushing it with DeOxit fader lube to restore a basic lubrication to the wiper/tracks. for the shaft...i would use some very light weight grease/oil if needed. In fact, fader lube could work there too.

 

[dondoucette]

Hmmmm... I have an ultrasonic tank.
Think I’ll try some experiments next week and see what happens.
After cleaning, assuming they survive, a little heat to dry, maybe wd-40 first...
Then maybe fader lube after the cleaning...
Hmmm definitely worth some experimentation to see what happens

 

[restorer-john]

Yes, we've done it before and with some excellent results.

see here, scroll down to my post with pics of the before and after... :

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...-japanese-ca-2010.790716/page-4#post-11274406

I would not be doing carbon or plastic film pots. You will eat the track clean off the wafer and destroy the 'damped' feeling of the silicone oil.

 

[code46]

Yes, we've done it before and with some excellent results.

see here, scroll down to my post with pics of the before and after... :

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...-japanese-ca-2010.790716/page-4#post-11274406

I would not be doing carbon or plastic film pots. You will eat the track clean off the wafer and destroy the 'damped' feeling of the silicone oil.

Hi restorer-John, would you happen to knpw if the L-pads on the JBL L112 are okay for an ultrasonic bath? I have some Simple Green Aircraft and Precision Parts cleaner. How long do you run the bath?

 

[Jimbo40]

I've done it with 70% alcohol with sliders.
Its works well but nothing like opening it up and manually cleaning it.
90 % of the time deoxit works great.
Even just running it back and forth like a mad man works too.

 

[code46]

Thanks Jimbo40 for chiming in. I'll skip the ultrasonic and do some old fashioned manual cleaning.

Removal of the foilcal was not that bad. I used a heat gun and sharp putty knife.

Now some more dismantling and then cleaning.

 

[code46]

I've started cleaning with the Extreme Simple Green without opening first.

Question, the arc that the shaft/wiper moves through, should they be the same?

I think I may need to force open the high frequency pot, it rotates throuch a much smaller arc than the mid's pot.

When I rotate it counterclockwise fully, the middle tab pops up (black colored wire).
It needs much more force to rotate than the mid's pot as well, which is fairly smooth in comparsion.

I have a rudimentary understanding of the a potentiometer (some youtube viewings). Perhaps the tweeter pot's arc of rotation is meant to be shorter than the mid's pot.

Some pics from a thread in the Lansing Legacy forum thread: