Using Contact Cleaner

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Author Message   Sweep Username: Sweep Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 2:15 am:    All the techs out there, I have seen discussions mentioning contact cleaner as being good for cleaning out scratchy and intermittent pots. I have an old 80's Roland Cube 60 which is suffering some of these problems so I got myself a can.I have a basic knowledge of electronics but have not used this stuff before. So, exactly how do you use it? The pots on the amp are soldered directly to the pcb and there doesn't seem to be many places on the body of the pot where I could spray it in. Is it fairly invasive? In other words if I spray it where the spindle enters the body of the pot will that do? Any help appreciated. Cheers Sweep   Dave_g Username: Dave_g Registered: 1-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 7:26 am:    Sweep, there should be a little "window" in the side of the pot right above the terminals. Just give it a squirt in there and twist the pot a couple of times back and forth....be careful however...this stuff is basically ether and is EXTREMELY flammable !   Sweep Username: Sweep Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Tuesday, August 07, 2007 - 7:33 pm:    Ah, thanks Dave, Yes I see that now, the way the pots are mounted put the 'window' against the pcb. The little extension tube that came with the can should be able to get in there though. Thanks for the advice, Jason   Jazzzbo Username: Jazzzbo Registered: 9-2005 Posted on Monday, August 13, 2007 - 1:10 am:    HOW about cleaning the input jacks, that are sounding kinda scratchy like, tanks, jazzz   Talmanut Username: Talmanut Registered: 9-2007 Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 10:50 am:    Getting the contact cleaner to spray into the pot can be hard when the pot is soldered to the board. My contact cleaner spray can came with a short length of hollow tube to use as a nozzle extension. I bent the tip of this tube (carefully, so as not to crimp it shut), to about a 60-degree angle. This allows it to be angled up into the slot before spraying. CAUTION: some electronic parts cleaners are NOT for controls and may cause the pot shaft to seize up in the case. This happened to me, and I had to replace the pot. Be sure your contact cleaner also contains a lubricant, or specifically mentions pots or tuners.   Talmanut Username: Talmanut Registered: 9-2007 Posted on Saturday, October 13, 2007 - 8:54 am:    As a P.S. to the above, I should mention that the mineral oil used as a lubricant in the contact cleaner will attract dust (not good), so the circuit board should be covered where possible when spraying. And, yes, it also could attract dust particles that get inside the pot, but I've never had any problem on that score. When I was in California last week visiting my son, he showed me the "broken" solid state Marshall stereo chorus amp a neighbor had given him before moving away. A $12 can of Radio Shack tuner spray had it up and running in 30 minutes (including drying time).

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