![]() I've used it in electronics gear applications, because it's made for use on a variety of plastics and metals, at wide temperature ranges and, at least as I understand it, tends to stay where it's put. I have some vacuum pumps that use PDPE, so I have it around my shop. May I pick your brain on PDPE and lubes a little? Sounds like you work with some awesome technologies and situations. TLDR version: I would use nothing or an extremely small drop of perfluoropolyether thank you. We don't need perfectly sweeping pots on our guitars, anyway. Over time, thermal expansion and contraction of the plastics, carbon, and metal, will mean that parts of the pot could have cracked, or swelled, or whatever, and it isn't functioning as designed anymore. Eventually it's also OK to just replace a potentiometer this is a place where I laugh at people spending money on "new old stock" electronics. Really though, pots shouldn't need lubricating, just cleaning every few years. One very, VERY small drop, and then turn the wiper a lot. Perfluoropolyether oil (also called PFPE) is sold in many hardware stores from a variety of different companies by a variety of different names, and is probably what I would use if I had to use something. One issue with lubricants is that their viscosity changes a lot over different temperature ranges, so in my field (aerospace mostly), we use lubricants that can work in extreme temperature conditions. ![]() Deoxit F5 might actually work well for this, but I've never tried it. Just cleaning them off with alcohol is typically sufficient, but a very thin oily film might help if the pot doesn't respond to simple cleaning. ![]() Also, any metal-to-metal contact will develop surface contamination from particles in the air (water, aerosols, sulphides.). What causes the issues are when a mix of fine carbon particles from the track and grease from the shaft bearing accumulate on the track and wipers, rendering the contacts non conductive. You really shouldn't lubricate a potentiometer with grease, though there is grease in the shaft bearing.įor the most part, scratchy pots are not a result of dust like most people think. Any track lubricant has to be thin enough to be conductive and prevent hydroplaning, which results in intermittencies as you turn the pot. ![]() The vast majority of potentiometers that I'm aware of don't have any lubricant on the carbon track applied at the time of manufacture, as that would interfere with conductivity. Google "circuit board alcohol bath," alcohol is used to completely submerge circuit boards in because it's such a safe and effective cleaner. Isopropyl alcohol is the industry standard, Deoxit is trying to sell you something. Just do a bunch of Googling if you don't believe me, "electrical contact cleaner alcohol" for instance. In more sensitive engineering applications we use 99% isopropyl alcohol, but for household electronics and guitar amps 70% is absolutely fine, and that's what's used for larger electrical contacts. I'm not saying that it's a terrible product that will ruin your amp or anything, but I am saying that alcohol is all you need and all anyone uses in my professional experience. Deoxit is just a waste of money, in my opinion. In all of those industries, alcohol is used to clean electrical contacts and traces. I'm an electrical engineer and former avionics technician for the USAF, have worked in aerospace, have worked in renewables and thin film manufacturing/test, have worked for the Keck Observatory doing control system work, and now teach electrical engineering and physics. Obviously Deoxit has a marketing department and wants to sell you things. The great advantage of using alcohol to clean electronics is that it is EXTREMELY volatile, it will evaporate away completely very quickly, which means that it doesn't matter how conductive it is anyway because it will be completely gone in a few minutes. Alcohol is a polar covalent compound, but it's not very polar and is not very conductive. ![]() I clicked the above link called "Caig on alcohol," and it's misleading, in my opinion. I will just repeat that this stuff is not used in any electrical engineering company or electrical manufacturing floor that I'm aware of. ![]()
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