[sdiy] Slider Pots: To Lube, or Not to Lube?

[Bob Weigel]

I don't know if it 'attracts' it :-).  But I think most greases will 
'capture' dust. So it's always good to keep a plastic slit slider cover 
over like Mackie uses...though people still seem to dump gravel down 
them by some technique I haven't mastered :)

I use a GC product and you can get it from most tech sources I think or 
even NAPA auto parts probably. It's used to keep atmosphere away from 
contact surfaces and dissipate/disperse any potential arc if a contact 
does become dirty.    (Over distances around 10 microns or thereabouts 
at typical slider voltages since air's breakdown voltage is around 1KV / 
mm isn't it?.) Dielectric grease not only provides a lube to allow the 
slider to move freely, it keeps the commutator from wearing into the 
resistive track so fast, keeps atmoshere away from the surfaces to 
inhibit oxidization and or course should any micro-bounce occur, 
smoothes out the ride so to speak in that area.  -Bob

HL-SDK Synths wrote:

> Mmmm Dielectric grase. Where do you find that stuff and does it 
> attract dirt/dust?
>
> On 1/22/07, *Bob Weigel* <sounddoctorin at imt.net 
> <mailto:sounddoctorin at imt.net>> wrote:
>
>     When I have to, I carefully extract and pull them apart, clean up
>     totally with solvents, then apply dielectric grease and
>     reassemble. -bob
>
>     DSL FODA01 wrote:
>
>     >I was wondering what the consensus was on how to handle older
>     slide pots as
>     >found in 70's synths.  I have a CTS slider volume pot from a Pro
>     Soloist
>     >that was all gunked up from years of spray "cleaning".  I
>     managaed to
>     >disassemble it and clean it and it tests ok from one end of the
>     resistance
>     >strip to the other.  Before I put it back together I want to know
>     if I
>     >should add some sort of light coating of something to help it
>     slide or will
>     >this just gunk it back up again - any thoughts?
>     >
>     >Dave
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>
>