Cleaning AR level pots ??

[Guest]

I have accumulated several pairs of AR speakers.

AR-5, 3a, 2pr of 2ax. The pots in the 5 pr have been bypassed the others are corroded.

Is it possible to clean these pots without taking them apart ? Or even take them out of the cabinets ?

IE- is is possible to use a cleaning solvent squirted into the pot ?

Thanks,

Ross

[administrator]

Hi Ross!

I've had good results removing the pots from the circuit in both AR-5's and AR-3's .. even at full open, these tweeters are not as efficient as what you would have in most speakers today so they should be fine.

As to cleaning the pots without removing them .. I doubt it! The pots I have taken apart in AR3's and 3a's were heavily corroded. It would probably take thousands of repetitions of the swingarm in the pot with the cleaning fluid and even then probably wouldn't get the thing clean.

I would recommend the following options, in no particular order:

Remove the pot from the circuit entirely, or

Remove the pot from the cabinet, take apart, and clean thoroughly (see other posts in the message forums re: this), or

Replace the pot with a new model

Mark

[Guest]

A friend and I just did this last night. It is not hard to take apart the pot.Unsolder the pot and remove from cabinet.We did this on a set of 2a's so watch the wire orentation when re soldering the leads back on. There are a couple wires of the same color but different guages. It is held in place by a thick wire clip. Pop the clip out of one side then the other. Clean all metal parts. Be sure to clean the base or round area of the wiper. This is important other wise you will still have noise and dead spots. We also had to use emery cloth and light scraping with a knife to get the bad stuff off. Clean with a good electronic spray cleaner like Deoxit. Put a little more of a bend in the wiper arm also to help with making a good contact between the wiper and the coil spring. The pots worked like new!