Volume pedal pot life.

[Clyde Mattocks]

I purchased my Fender volume pedal with my first steel about 1954. It is still going strong with the original no name pot, no scratches, one string replacement. The pedals I use with my pedal steels, Bradley, Clarostat. Boss pots have seen dozens of replacements. They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

[Donny Hinson]

Used to be that they would lube the pots when they were made. But some of them sat on the shelf for decades, and the (older) lubes would dry out. As a result, manufacturers stopped adding lube when they were manufactured, which prolonged shelf life, but reduced their service life. A new pot will last far longer if you just lube them with a good silicone-based lube before you use them, and I’ve repeatedly recommended that players who replace (serviceable) pots do that. But most players would rather just “plug and play”.

[Dave Grafe]

I remember Tapco injecting lube into new pots for their mixers before assembly in the 1970's. Good note Donny.

[David Weisenthal]

Interesting topic guys. What if its already squeaking, any chance of getting it back in service adding some grease? May have to try.

[Greg Cutshaw]

Depends on the condition of the pot. On my old AB pot the carbon on the wiper was worn down to the metal:

[Scott Swartz]

Great idea Donny, I just ordered some Deoxit DFG-213 Potentiometer Grease to try this.

readily available at Fullcompass

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375137621324

It makes a lot of sense, but I do not remember this coming up previously on SGF.

Its easy to get the AB covers off and I have cleaned ABs in the to get more life but never thought of the grease.

[David Weisenthal]

Great info guys. Can I just use a very sharp nail to put a hole in the case and squeeze some in? Probably not the most professional way of doing it but I've heard of that somewhere....that pot saw some use Greg!

[Greg Cutshaw]

Our tool room buys carbon and makes custom brushes for our old motors. You can actually replace the worn out carbon in the contact above and the pot will be good as new provided the carbon track is not shot.

[Bill A. Moore]

David, that used to be a temporary fix for noisey automotive heater motors. Drill the smallest hole possible near the rear bearing,add oil while running the motor on low. Clean the area around the hole, and put a drop of silicone over the hole.

[Jerry Overstreet]

You can buy a set of alternator brushes for just a few bucks and craft a new wiper part if you're handy with tools. Yes, this will work provided the track has anything left but it's tedious work and the carbon holder tab is fragile. Credit our forum friend Willie Sims for that tip.

Spraying with Deoxit or lubed contact cleaner has not been successful for me, but If you're determined to try and clean it, I would suggest you take off the back and clean out the carbon residue. Just spraying through a drilled hole won't get rid of the debris.

Be sure and note/mark the dimple in the case back. That's the stop for the rotation. Be sure and install it in the same orientation as removed.

I have a drawer full of them I tried to revive, but very little success at that. At today's prices, I completely understand trying to do so however.

[Bruce Derr]

If the carbon track is too worn, it's sometimes possible to use needle-nose pliers to bend the wiper slightly so that it contacts the wiper in a different arc along the track. I resorted to this technique with a scratchy AB pot that had a hard-to-find bushing size (difficult to find a replacement). Cleaning didn't help. The wiper "brush" looked ok. Slightly bending the wiper fixed the pot.