Tech question: '30s potentiometers

[radioactive]

What's the best way to loosen up one of the older potentiometers that you'd find on a mid '30s Ric Bakelite. This is one of the Allen Bradley pots that are about the diameter of a hallf-dollar, much larger than the contemporary ones. It's quite stiff to turn, although it doesn't look rusty or abused. I don't want to risk cracking the knob trying to force it to loosen
I can't find any slot or crevice on it to treat it with electronic cleaner. I want to get it loose enough to do volume swells.
Thanks!
Rob

[johnallg]

Rob, have you tried shooting the cleaner in around the shaft of the pot? No other little slot to try and force some cleaner in through? It's been a while since I've see the AB pots.

[Zilla]

Try a product call DEOXIT. Get the bottle that has the long stem. Soake the top of the shaft and slowly move it until it frees up. Then do the underside of the pot as well.

Zilla

[rshatz]

I learned a lot about potentiometer repair and care from this thread on the Steel Guitar Forum.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... pot+repair

[beatlefreak]

Try a product call DEOXIT.

I'll second that. Make sure you get the kind that contains a lubricant.

[jingle_jangle]

The guys on SGF seem to be down on DeOxit, because they claim it doesn't last. My own best luck with carbon-wiper pots like the ones we're discussing here, has been in taking them apart and after cleaning with denatured alcohol, lubricating with clock oil. It's made for open-backed clocks, so dust attraction is minimized.

[rshatz]

I'm going with Paul on this one.
Take it apart. Clean it and put it back together.
It just makes sense to me.

[radioactive]

Richard... Thanks for the advice, I ended up pulling it apart, and was able to get it to rotate a lot smoother. I used an aerosol electronic cleaner with lubricant, and saturated the pot, was able to spray some down the shaft collar, where it appeared to be stuck. The rest of the innards looked almost as clean as the day it was made. It's working a lot better, nice and smooth, but there is a tiny bit of friction still, so I'm going to soak it for a while, and see if it clears up.
Upon closer examination, I think this is possibly a Centrelab as it has a small diamond logo with CR.