[sdiy] Slide pot cleaning

[Ben Stuyts]

Hi Richie,

I’ve had the foam of destruction in my Moog Rogue. It also got extremely sticky on everything it fell onto. Is yours similar? I got rid of it with isopropyl alcohol and a brush. And then I replaced it with Nothing™, as it always sits under a dust cover.

Some people just take out the board and rinse it off in a bath tub, then brush it with IPA and dry it. I’ve never dared to do that, and usually try the following:

For resurrecting the faders without taking them apart, you could try Deoxit F5 and F100 faderlube spray cans. It is safe for carbon sliders. Start with F5 as is cleaner + lubricant. F100 has no solvent, so you can finish with that as a form of preservation. If the feel isn’t right after all this, you could experiment with something like Electrolube CG60 contact grease.

If you do want to take the faders apart, the cleaning is basically the same, you just get better access.

You mention silicone grease. Make sure it is acid-free before you get it near any electronics. Otherwise the fumes alone are enough to destroy certain components. (Ask me how I know.)

Ben


> On 28 Apr 2026, at 13:53, rburnett at richieburnett.co.uk wrote:
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good process for cleaning dust our of slide potentiometers on an old Roland SH-09?
> 
> The synth was stored underneath a bed in the spare room when we moved house about ten years ago, and I *thought* it had a dust cover over it!  It turns out it didn't (>.<)  and the slide pots are in quite bad shape now.
> 
> The synth is functional but the sliders feel scratchy and there is obviously intermittent electrical contact because cutoff, LFO rate, etc jump around a lot when the sliders are adjusted.  The slide switches are okay, and the keys aren't too bad after a bit of use.
> 
> I've removed the front panel and also found that there is some sort of black felt/foam sheet that was obviously originally meant to be a dust shield for the slide pots.  The problem is that this material has become brittle and literally crumbles upon touching.  Can anyone recommend a good material to replace this with?
> 
> If I can fix the pots with a squirt of some magic spray that would be fantastic, but I'm also prepared to de-solder then and carefully open them up for cleaning if that is what is required.  I would rather take time to do the job properly, but not sure what is the best way to proceed?  I have access to a dry compressed-air line, dish soap, cotton buds, Isopropyl alcohol, acetone, silicone grease, soldering/de-soldering tools, etc, but don't want to risk making the problem worse without asking for advice first.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any advice,
> 
> -Richie,
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