Jump to content

Issues with volume pot.


crohny

Recommended Posts

  • Members

weird this happened to me just last night. Volume and tone stopped working. I checked all the wiring and its all pretty solid, I cut a few ends off and made sure nothing was touching/shorting out and its all better now.

 

I think because its a Tele and Im using a 4way switch and everything is crammed in the cavity stuff was touching or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Word. I know it's not the joint for the lead from the pickup and the cap. Put a new cap in last night and redid the joints. Still did nothing. Have to check the grounds. Seems like the issue. Tone pot still works though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

i never understood how a pot dies. Ive taken them apart and its literally a strip of carbon and a metal wiper. how does that get "fried"?

 

 

I think it has to do with turning them more so than using them. That is the only logical thing unless you do when I did the first tiem I tried to put pots in a guitar and keep the soldering iron on the pot too long. That will ruin a pot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

i never understood how a pot dies. Ive taken them apart and its literally a strip of carbon and a metal wiper. how does that get "fried"?

 

 

The metal contact gets dirty, the carbon wears out, the fiberglass that the carbon is bonded to cracks (Most common reason for failure I have run across).

I have seen all of those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The metal contact gets dirty, the carbon wears out, the fiberglass that the carbon is bonded to cracks (Most common reason for failure I have run across).

I have seen all of those.

 

 

Yup - good post, and all true. Pots are a physical / mechanical control, and anything mechanical can wear and eventually fail. Another very common cause of potentiometer failure (or crackling / noise / intermittent operation) is fouling by foreign objects - mainly dirt and dust. With non-sealed pots, stuff eventually works their way into them and causes problems... and in most cases, a quick squirt of Caig DeOxit or similar contact cleaner can flush that out, improve conductivity, and make your pot work silently again. It's not going to fix a worn-out pot, but it will clean out and fix a dirty one.

 

Sometimes worn-out pots can be "rebuilt" too, but that's more often done with vintage pots so the guitar can stay as "original" as possible while remaining functional. It's generally much easier to just replace one if it's bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

a good trick if you dont wanna buy a new pot and its got tons of solder on it is take it apart, and then you can hit it with a solder gun and debraid wire as much as you want-or better yet just sand/wire brush off the old solder.

 

 

Sounds more complicated than putting new pots in. Ha. Also, my bass player brought this up about dipping pots in some sort of wax or epoxy or some {censored}. can anyone shed some light on this? Was told it's suppose to reduce noise in the pots. Any information or links on DIY pot dipping {censored} would be rad for the next time I put some pots in one of my guitars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Sounds more complicated than putting new pots in. Ha. Also, my bass player brought this up about dipping pots in some sort of wax or epoxy or some {censored}. can anyone shed some light on this? Was told it's suppose to reduce noise in the pots. Any information or links on DIY pot dipping {censored} would be rad for the next time I put some pots in one of my guitars.

 

If you're going to dip it in melted wax you might as well not put it in there since it won't turn :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

If you're going to dip it in melted wax you might as well not put it in there since it won't turn
:lol:

 

Dude, I don't know what he was talking about. Hence why I asked. Also common sense would say if this was a viable option with a beneficial outcome you wouldn't dip more than the body of the pot to a point to avoid getting wax or whatever the {censored} you'd use to dip them in in the pot itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Dude, I don't know what he was talking about. Hence why I asked. Also common sense would say if this was a viable option with a beneficial outcome you wouldn't dip more than the body of the pot to a point to avoid getting wax or whatever the {censored} you'd use to dip them in in the pot itself.

 

 

TO BE FAIR

 

There are holes in some pot bodies for cleaning them out with. If you blocked those holes in a reversible manner that might help. (dust always gets in somehow though)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...