# How Do you clean "dirty" pots?



## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

I was told My amp has dirty pots, and all I was told is I need a can of compressed air. I need to open the back and whatnot but what to aim at specifically? Sorry if this a dumb question I don't know crap about fixing amps and shit. So what exactly do I do??


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## Rook (Sep 26, 2010)

I would suggest contact cleaner, servisol or something, but if you've not done it before it's easy to make a mess.

Compressed air won't do jack, lol.


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## bostjan (Sep 26, 2010)

Aerosol electrical contact cleaner. Make sure it's residue-free.

Remove the knobs, spray the cleaner on the post, turn the post a couple times and voila, you have a clean pot.


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## MrRedRaider (Sep 26, 2010)

Never done this before either, but just a word of warning, you better be careful if you decide to open up your amp. Touch the wrong thing and you are in for a crazy trip.. and not in a good way! Do some searching in the forum before you try it. GL


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## Mordacain (Sep 26, 2010)

bostjan said:


> Aerosol electrical contact cleaner. Make sure it's residue-free.
> 
> Remove the knobs, spray the cleaner on the post, turn the post a couple times and voila, you have a clean pot.



This is the simplest method. If you gain access to the rear of the pots, there is usually a port on the back to inject contact cleaner as well. Only a very small amount is needed (quarter second press will do).


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

MrRedRaider said:


> Never done this before either, but just a word of warning, you better be careful if you decide to open up your amp. Touch the wrong thing and you are in for a crazy trip.. and not in a good way! Do some searching in the forum before you try it. GL


 I opened it up earlier...what to you mean by "crazy trip"? (I had it un-plugged)


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## Mordacain (Sep 26, 2010)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> I opened it up earlier...what to you mean by "crazy trip"? (I had it un-plugged)



The capacitors continue to hold potentially lethal charges and if you accidentally discharge them into yourself you can stop your heart. I'll see if I can't find a good explanation online for you to peruse.


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## Mordacain (Sep 26, 2010)

Here's a good overview:

http://tubenexus.com/?p=36

That being said, don't poke at things with metal and only use one hand (leave the other one in a pocket). The problem with using both hands is that if you discharge a lethal voltage it can travel through your arms, hitting your heart in the process.


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

Mordacain said:


> The capacitors continue to hold potentially lethal charges and if you accidentally discharge them into yourself you can stop your heart. I'll see if I can't find a good explanation online for you to peruse.



oh shit!!!!!!!!. Those look like????. I also got the compressed air idea from this video cause it's mainly my volume.
 ( oh wait that's contact cleaner lol)


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

what do the capacitors look like? I tried googling "Capacitors in guitar amp" and just got a bunch of stuff.


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## 7slinger (Sep 26, 2010)

if you don't know just don't touch shit inside the amp...you'll be okay just cleaning the pots. 
if you look and they don't have the little port to spray directly into them, then close the amp back up, 
take the knob off the outside of the pot, spray some contact cleaner (small amount) at the base of the part 
that turns and turn it full range a bunch of times. that should clean it. be sure you have a rag handy to clean 
up overspray, dripping and such


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

7slinger said:


> if you don't know just don't touch shit inside the amp...you'll be okay just cleaning the pots.
> if you look and they don't have the little port to spray directly into them, then close the amp back up,
> take the knob off the outside of the pot, spray some contact cleaner (small amount) at the base of the part
> that turns and turn it full range a bunch of times. that should clean it. be sure you have a rag handy to clean
> up overspray, dripping and such



Good Idea.


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## 7slinger (Sep 26, 2010)

BTW just give it a few minutes to dry (the stuff evaporates pretty quick) and you're fine to
turn the amp on and see if it worked/helped.

if it helped but didn't fix the problem completely, repeat the process


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

Thanks!. What kind of contact cleaner do you recommend? ( I already know it has to be electrical)


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## Mordacain (Sep 26, 2010)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> what do the capacitors look like? I tried googling "Capacitors in guitar amp" and just got a bunch of stuff.



Well the caps are the largish cylinders to the left of the tubes in this picture:







You also have to beware the output transformers which is the large cube behind the caps in the left rear of the pic.

Please don't be offended by what I'm about to say, but the fact you have to ask what the caps look like is a good indicator that you shouldn't be poking around inside an amp at the present. Do some reading and research if you'd like to learn how to work on amplifiers yourself, maybe take a course on electronics. There are ways of working on this safely, but its better to have someone show you rather than try to learn online. This stuff is seriously lethal so, be seriously wary of it.


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## Mordacain (Sep 26, 2010)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> Thanks!. What kind of contact cleaner do you recommend? ( I already know it has to be electrical)



Servisol is good and usually pretty easy to find:

SERVISOL AERO KLENE 50 - FADER CLEANER- EACH


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

Mordacain said:


> Well the caps are the largish cylinders to the left of the tubes in this picture:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Not offended. I wouldn't want to be "poking around" mainly for breaking something. My amp had no tubes like that tho (solid state)


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

Mordacain said:


> Servisol is good and usually pretty easy to find:
> 
> SERVISOL AERO KLENE 50 - FADER CLEANER- EACH



Sweet, what else is good? ( just in case a place doesn't have that) http://www.buy.com/prod/deoxit-cont...ly/q/sellerid/28804353/loc/111/211131179.html that looks good.


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## Mordacain (Sep 26, 2010)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> Sweet, what else is good? ( just in case a place doesn't have that) Buy.com - Deoxit Contact Cleaner Mini Spray, UPS Ground Only that looks good.



Deoxit should work fine for this purpose I'd think.


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## 7slinger (Sep 26, 2010)

Mordacain said:


> Deoxit should work fine for this purpose I'd think.



sold at Radio Shack, if you want to go pick some up today...you may need to bring your ID to prove you're over 18yrs old


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

Mordacain said:


> Deoxit should work fine for this purpose I'd think.



sweet. It was used in the video I posted above. It has a design that is like some compressed air cans so my fingers and hands can be further away from the board.


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

7slinger said:


> sold at Radio Shack, if you want to go pick some up today...you may need to bring your ID to prove you're over 18yrs old



why would I need an ID for contact cleaner?


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## 7slinger (Sep 26, 2010)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> why would I need an ID for contact cleaner?



not kidding, they carded me a few years ago when I bought some at Rshack...kids huff it

I'm 34, but dressed up in minnesota winter clothes perhaps I looked younger


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

7slinger said:


> not kidding, they carded me a few years ago when I bought some at Rshack...kids huff it
> 
> I'm 34, but dressed up in minnesota winter clothes perhaps I looked younger



A lot of people say I look 18, but I am almost 17. Maybe it's because I'm going scruffy?


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## 7slinger (Sep 26, 2010)

GuitaristOfHell said:


> A lot of people say I look 18, but I am almost 17. Maybe it's because I'm going scruffy?



serious about the ID thing though, I wouldn't want you trekin out to the store and then gettin shut down cause you're not 18, scruffy or not


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## GuitaristOfHell (Sep 26, 2010)

Ok okay, thanks for the warning.


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