Wigo Speakers help (potentiometer issues)

[superbob]

Hi all, I'm in need of a bit of advice with my Wigo Speakers.

All of the pots are really scratchy and cut in and out, even after a liberal dose of contact cleaner. They also seem to be fully sealed with no real way to open them without extreme force (i.e. power tools).

The pots are all stamped at 8ohm, so I set my multimeter to 200ohms (the lowest it will go).

If I understand it right, if I connect the multimeter to each 'end' it should should show me the maximum ohm of the potentiometer and shouldn't vary when the pot is turned. When the multimeter is connected to one 'end' and the 'wiper', it should show the adjustment of the potentiometer?

Tests as follows:
R1:
Shows 00.5 when both ends are tested, doesn't fluctuate as potentioneter is turned

Shows 00.6 at hard minimum, quickly goes up to 1.2 after a tiny turn, gradually up to 2.2 at half way, down to 1.2 at 3/4 and back to about 00.4 at full.

R2:
Quite similar, but slightly higher values

R3:
Fluctuates between 2.3 and 2.9 as the pot is turned when ends are tested.
Minimum about 00.4, maximum goes from anywhere between 3-6 (the results changed over a few winds of the pot)

Now I'm basically assuming all the pots are stuffed? I've given them all a pretty good run with contact cleaner, the finally alternative would be to desloder them all and soak them in something overnight? I'd be grateful for any ideas of what to soak them in (diesel?)

Apologies for the long winded post that probably doesn't make much sense to anyone but me!

Basically I'm looking to know:
Am I reading the pots right with the multimeter?
What should a healthy 8ohm pot read?
What's a good way to clean them?

Cheers, Bob

 

[woodj]

I'm curious; if the pots are sealed, how are you getting the contact cleaner into them?

 

[superbob]

Maybe sealed wasn't the right word. Closed Back? I'm not real sure on the terminology with these, basically where the connections come out there's room to spray it in.

 

[Zonker92]

Not sure about testing, but if they're working well I would expect them to be roughly the same on each speaker. (I think? I just skimmed your post, I admit.)

I have found that you can pry the backs off pots like that easily (if they're like ones I've seen); just use a small screwdriver to lift some of the tabs that hold them on, then clean inside.

 

[superbob]

Alright so I did manage to pry the backs off 3 of them and two are totally stuffed. The wire is wound around what looks like balsa wood, which on one is snapped in several places and another the wire has pulled right into the wood.

For some replacements, what should I be going for? I'm powering them with a Sansui AU-555, which puts out a continuous supply of 20W at 8ohm. Would the pots specifically have to be 8ohm/20W versions?

The only ones in the low range I can source locally are these 5-ohm 15 watts, or from somewhere else, a 50-ohm 3-watt.

*Edit* I've also found an 8ohm - 100W online, is it ok to go higher on watts? Also, would a reasonable option be to replace them with an Attenuator such as this?