Crackly pots fixes

[sprocketflup]

So, I've picked up an old, little used bass to find the pots have gone all crackly whenever their respective knobs are turned. I've whipped the control cover off and drowned everything in contact cleaner, but to no avail.

What other fixes are there for crackling? Other than roast spuds and apple sauce

 

**should add, its the volume and two separate tone knobs that offend. The pickup selector knob is unaffected**

Edited March 14, 2023 by sprocketflup

[yorks5stringer]

Sometime the tracks are so damaged the only solution is to replace the pots, which is not difficult if you are careful and methodical. ( You'll need a soldering iron too)!

[Burns-bass]

They’re a consumable part so I’d replace them (unless it’s a vintage Fender, when of course breaking the original solder joint somehow releases the mojo out there by a poorly paid factory worker in the early 60s).

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Once the switch cleaner is in there, and before it evaporates, you could try twisting the knob from zero to full on and back repeatedly in an effort to clean the track. If they're cheapo pots like you get in a squier I woudn't bother trying to save them. In that case I'd take the opportunity to upgrade and put in a bunch of CTS or similar pots

[Dad3353]

This ^^ 👆 ^^. If giving them a wiggle (a technical term...) doesn't do the job, then change 'em (or get 'em changed...) for decent ones.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Dad3353

[DTB]

Switch cleaner is okay, WD40 I found is better, but betterer still is 3in1 oil in a spray can with a straw (like WD40). Just a little, wind the pot back and forth a few times to get rid of the corrosion and coat the contacts and should be good for 6 months. 
My 2 year old son opens my guitar cases in my music room and winds the volume and tone controls a few times once or twice a week for me to prevent this very thing as I don’t play them much anymore. He gives the strings a strum with a pick too then closes them up and puts the pick back in its pot. All with great care. Maybe you need one of them to maintain the basses you don’t play?

[naxos10]

6 hours ago, DTB said:

Switch cleaner is okay, WD40 I found is better, but betterer still is 3in1 oil in a spray can with a straw (like WD40). Just a little, wind the pot back and forth a few times to get rid of the corrosion and coat the contacts and should be good for 6 months. 
My 2 year old son opens my guitar cases in my music room and winds the volume and tone controls a few times once or twice a week for me to prevent this very thing as I don’t play them much anymore. He gives the strings a strum with a pick too then closes them up and puts the pick back in its pot. All with great care. Maybe you need one of them to maintain the basses you don’t play?

Surely that's not allowed anymore with all these tele adverts insisting you 'keep away from children', which I do rigorously🤭

[Bigguy2017]

If Deoxit doesn't fix it then replace the pots.

[miles'tone]

Deoxit works wonders. Highly recommend. 

[DTB]

2 hours ago, naxos10 said:

Surely that's not allowed anymore with all these tele adverts insisting you 'keep away from children', which I do rigorously🤭

I keep away from other peoples’ but mine is ok. It might change in a little in just over ten years when he reaches teenagehood but I may well be gone by then with my health what it is, all the more reason to get him started early on the music. 

[Dan Dare]

9 hours ago, DTB said:

WD40 I found is better, but betterer still is 3in1 oil in a spray can with a straw (like WD40).

 

WD40 is silicone based. Not good for electrical contacts.

[Machines]

10 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

WD40 is silicone based. Not good for electrical contacts.

 

Yes, and also no. I use this and it works a treat.

 

[Dad3353]

10 hours ago, DTB said:

Switch cleaner is okay, WD40 I found is better, but betterer still is 3in1 oil in a spray can with a straw (like WD40). Just a little, wind the pot back and forth a few times to get rid of the corrosion and coat the contacts and should be good for 6 months. 
My 2 year old son opens my guitar cases in my music room and winds the volume and tone controls a few times once or twice a week for me to prevent this very thing as I don’t play them much anymore. He gives the strings a strum with a pick too then closes them up and puts the pick back in its pot. All with great care. Maybe you need one of them to maintain the basses you don’t play?

 

There are dozens of WD40 and '3in1' products; the important part is to use 'Contact cleaner', not chain lubricant or oil for hinges. Contact cleaner may fix the issue; other spray products are capable of ruining the whole caboodle. Contact cleaner, not just random WD40 or the like. For over half a century I've been using KF F2 contact cleaner, both professionally and my own domestic use, Deoxit is a good one, too. I've never used the WD40 equivalents, but they are probably fine, as long as they are contact cleaner, and not any kind of lubricating oil. Accept no substitute, and know what you're using; contact cleaner. Hope this helps.  

Edited March 15, 2023 by Dad3353

[DTB]

2 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

 

WD40 is silicone based. Not good for electrical contacts.

Wd40 has never ever had silicone in it. 

[Dad3353]

42 minutes ago, DTB said:

Wd40 has never ever had silicone in it. 

 

Some of their products do...

 

Silicone Lubricant Spray ...

 

[DTB]

The original wd40 from the 1980s before they did all that specialist stuff just ordinary WD40 has never had silicone in it. 

[DTB]

In fact, it is, apart from the propellant, a very high proportion heavy naphtha, which is a posh word for paraffin. 

[Dad3353]

Worth a read..?

 

WD40; History ...

 

It was for treating stuff as a water repellent, anti-rust. 

[DTB]

After I bought my first proper guitar, an Ibanez RT650 back 1989 ish it had a scratchy volume after a couple of weeks and I went back to the guitar shop (anyone remember actually being able to go to 1 of a choice of 5 or 6 guitar shops in a decent size town?) and they said they’d put a new volume In but try WD40 first. I did and it worked perfectly. Used it since until one day all I had was 3in1 so I used that instead and it worked just as well. Anything that cleans off the oxidation and coats the contacts to stop the oxidation will work, which is actually what that Deoxit says it does. Probably better than WD40 or 3in1 and incidentally on the safety data sheet the main ingredient is listed as a trade secret. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by DTB

[Dad3353]

This is the 3in1 equivalent contact cleaner...

 

Don't use anything but contact cleaner to clean contacts. If i doesn't cure the crackling: change the pot. 

[DTB]

Yep. What he said ^

[Roger Phillips]

I'd never use WD40 on musical instruments; as mentioned above it's a Water Dispersant- I believe the formula was established at the 40th attempt (without consulting Wikipedia). It's difinitely not a rust preventer.

Currently I'm using a military spec cleaner. Most pots have an opening abeam one of the three connect points into which I squirt the cleaner, most likely a type of isopropyl alcohol and while still in liquid state rotate the knobs many times. 

Roger, S. Lakes

[Dad3353]

3 hours ago, Roger Phillips said:

I'd never use WD40 on musical instruments; as mentioned above it's a Water Dispersant...

 

To be fair, there are, now, many different products and formulae sold under the WD40 (and 3in1...) brand names, including contact cleaners. It's a bit like thinking that a Citroen must be a 2CV (no longer made by them...), when there are dozens of different models these days. Just sayin'. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Dad3353

[nilorius]

Normal pots are not big money, so it looks like those you have right now have worked their time out. Just change them. Best regards!

[basstone]

Generally if a couple of goes with contact cleaner and turning over the full range a few will sort any crackely pots. If not it's probably best to swap for high quality replacements. On occasion if I want to preserve the original pot (more often in an amp than in an instrument) it is sometimes possible to open up the pot after removal by bending back the small retaining crimps. The pot track can then be cleaned with contact cleaner or Isopropyl alcohol on a cotton bud. The metal contacts can also be cleaned up with metal polish or fine abrasive paper and the contact improved by increasing the contact pressure slightly by bending them.