![]() Oxidation is the Enemy Badly oxidized game cartridge connectors. With that in mind, I thought I’d look at contact cleaners that are in use today, what’s really going on when you clean contacts, and why contacts even need cleaning in the first place. All I know is that I’ve never found its equal for cleaning electronics gear. ![]() I never knew for sure if that stuff was Freon, but it was the mid-80s, shortly before CFCs were banned, so it might have been. He gave me some for my shop in a little jar. He had a 5-gallon pail of cleaning solution under his bench that he told me was Freon, which he swore by for head cleaning and general contact cleaning. I was working for a video production studio at the time, so there was a fair amount in common about our jobs. One of the regular chores we faced was cleaning the heads on tape machines. I visited him at work once, and despite the fact that he wouldn’t let me climb the 1,200′ antenna tower, I had a great time. I hardly think you could blame the failure of that small percentage on Deoxit.I had a friend who was an engineer for a small TV station. In every case the pots that have failed were in gear that obviously had extreme use or very poor storage condition over the years. have pots every failed after the fact.less then I can count on one hand. I also work on tons of gear full time and have rebuilt thousands of vintage tube audio pieces over the last 12+ years.every single one of them I have used Deoxit and Fader lube without issue. I'd be a bit Leary to use a product described to break down carbon buildup on a carbon pot.with that stated I serious doubt the stuff really would do any damage, BUT IMHO opinion the same can be said for Deoxit. Safe on paint, fabric, and most plastics.Product description from the LPS website. LPS-1 has proven to be the best option for these as well. Faders are just linear pots- same principle as regular pots, but instead of a circular motion- it is linear motion. Personally- I would use WD-40 before I would use Deoxit on any pot or any fader, and am loath to use WD-40 to begin with. Today, perhaps a shot of hair spray to set it in place might help longevity. however during WW2 when pots were just not available for domestic use, pencil lead was applied to the track as a remedy. Now, there are some pots that will just be worn out and noisy that no amount of any cleaner will remedy, and there is no real simple solution there other than replacement. I have never found anything that melted or softened as far as plastics or Phenolic in the presence of LPS-1. ![]() I work on a great deal of vintage equipment and new, radios, amps, etc, and if a pot can clean up- the LPS-1 has been the "Go-to" product with zero instances of problems. The last in the list is not used soley by itself, I will let things dry a bit then apply LPS-1 as well. The better choices are LPS-1, (which I use.), Fader Lube, and Contact cleaner (Tricholoethylene based). It attacks the phenolic substrate that the carbon is applied to, and the conductive polymers still have binding agents similar to phenolic for purposes of wear resistance. The honest truth is that Deoxit is absolutely the worst thing to apply to a pot- new or old. I have no clue where I got the original rather large tube I've been using for the last 12 years. It was made or marketed by Sysco and called "Lustre multi-purpose metal polish" I've searched high a low for it and have never found it. I believe it was original produced for commercial stainless kitchen polish. The stuff I really wish I could find is a polish that I am just about out of for face plates. This stuff works better then anything on earth! I also use Caig Degreaser along with a few other chemicals for cleaning up grime from chassis. I use both and have for about 12 years now. Controls on vintage gear are the hardest thing to source so protecting them is ultra important in my book. Most contact cleaners leave little or no protection and actually make controls more susceptible to oxidization and wear. Fader lube is the lubricate and protect the control from oxidization and drying out (which is extremely important). Pretty simple Deoxit is for cleaning and removing oxidization.
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