Lubing your Equipment

i've found alot of the knobs/sliders on my equipment are pretty frigid and would like to make them looser.

aside from tweaking them non-stop for hours on end, would using something like WD40 or even Vaseline be an option?

  Idrn said:

i've found alot of the knobs/sliders on my equipment are pretty frigid and would like to make them looser.

aside from tweaking them non-stop for hours on end, would using something like WD40 or even Vaseline be an option?

i don't recall anyone ever telling me that it's good for your equipment to use lubricants of any kind. Especially on analog equipment ! With newer synths, i think it's just a matter of pulling the knob off carefully and un-dust it, put the knob back on, and there you go.

But, alas, i wouldn't know... Better ask a professional before you ruin beautiful beautiful equipment

yeah, that's what i thought, maybe someone would know more about the types of potentiometer that are used could advise? i only have a few midi controllers and a couple of cheap late 80s/ early 90s digital synths, but i want them to be expressive as possible (like being able to quickly 'flick' sliders up to 128/ chop more like a crossfader seems appealing).

out of guesswork i'de say old school analogue wouldn't be a good idea as they would be more likely to use older/cruder techniques for the potentiometers (ie. as with the dust factor, the whole portion of groove/metal it slides across makes the variable current complete and so lubricant could interfere too). that said, i got a whole bunch of cheap old potentiometers for circuit bending and they are all greased to fuck.

to lube or not to lube, that is the question.

You could try electical contact cleaner: http://www.polywater.com/typefd.html

Try getting one of those faderfox controllers, they seem pretty live oriented.

The title of this thread is too epic to handle.

smear vasoline all over your gear for me :angry:

DO NOT use WD40 for lubing/cleaning electromechanical parts, like faders and knobs. wd40 will dissolve their original lubricant and they'll be anything but smooth. also, wd40 is very sticky, it will attract junk of all kinds (mainly dust) and weaken electrical contact.

there are sprays out there, for cleaning and greasing pots. i've learnt it the hard way.

  acid1 said:

The title of this thread is too epic to handle.

HAHAHA i didn't even read it that way

I recently used a small interdental brush and Caig Faderlube to clean all of the sliders on a Roland System 100M with good results. There is a lot of controversy about the safety of products like Faderlube on certain types of faders, but I figured that if used extremely sparingly there shouldn't be too much risk. I though I had overdone it right after cleaning since the sliders felt rather dry and scratchy, but after a day or two they regained that beautifully smooth and greasy feel that I had been hoping to restore.

switch equipment off.

use small amount of switch cleaner.

leave to dry thoroughly.

switch back on.

i've cleaned off fader guts w/ qtip and ethanol before only to find i partially cleaned off grease, made it worse!! so that's not always a good idea, look before you leap. it's a special kind of grease they use i wager, i wouldn't just squirt WD40 or astroglide in there (yes, epic thread title...)

astroglide is supposed to work pretty well. /attempt at humor

take your synths into the bath with you.

there is specail £5 a drop fluid that cleans al sliders i used it on my 707 and its great

They say synths are just like anal sex. When in doubt, use lube.

where can i get some of this special lube then? do i have to order it from germany or something?

from iceland, actually.

just pee in it's butt and make nice.