I have a couple of potentiometers that haven't been touched in quite some time. In fact, probably not in 15 years. So now they produce noisy output, presumably from oxides or some other crud that has built up on the contact surfaces.
Outright replacement might be an option, but these are quite large relative by current standards, they are in fact about the diameter of a quarter and are probably 1/4" inch thick, real 1970's technology. Might be hard to get the same form factor.
Certain retailers used to carry this stuff that came in a can like wd-40, complete with a little red tube for injecting the stuff into exactly this kind of part. You'd squirt a tiny amount into the noisy pot, wiggle the knob 2-3 times, and no more noisy output. So there's the proof of concept that it can be done, but this magic stuff seems to have vanished from the shelves.
It had to just be some kind of solvent, like xylene or something. Any ideas on what would clean the corrosion (dust? dirt? fungus?) off a potentiometer, without damaging it?
Best Answer
Just spray contact cleaner on it and wiggle it back and forth. :)
It hasn't vanished:
DeoxIT http://www.google.com/products?q=contact+cleaner