Is this an atypical volume pot? Is it safe to clean with Deoxit?

From a Sansui A-M9 integrated circa 1982. Alps 100kBX2. Also printed on the body is "2N2S - 46170201".

My question is what is the black material, as seen in the first two pics, that runs from the outermost pin up around the outside of the wafer? I do not believe it is metal because I tested it for resistance - with my meter probes about 1/4" apart the best reading I could get (reading was unstable) was approximately 20 ohms.

Is this some type of carbon or graphite?

It appears to be the same material inside the pot where the wipers make contact. I would like to deox this pot but am afraid of damaging a likely unobtanium piece. It appears that needle of the Deoxit D100L needle-dispensed product could get right where it needs to go without disassembling the pot.

Anyone know what this material is and whether it is safe to use Deoxit?

Carbon trace? This may be a job for Faderlube instead of high strength Deoxit.

roger2 said:

From a Sansui A-M9 integrated circa 1982. Alps 100kBX2. Also printed on the body is "2N2S - 46170201".

My question is what is the black material, as seen in the first two pics, that runs from the outermost pin up around the outside of the wafer? I do not believe it is metal because I tested it for resistance - with my meter probes about 1/4" apart the best reading I could get (reading was unstable) was approximately 20 ohms.

Is this some type of carbon or graphite?

It appears to be the same material inside the pot where the wipers make contact. I would like to deox this pot but am afraid of damaging a likely unobtanium piece. It appears that needle of the Deoxit D100L needle-dispensed product could get right where it needs to go without disassembling the pot.

Anyone know what this material is and whether it is safe to use Deoxit?

Click to expand...

Very nice pics. Thanks for providing them. I would not hesitate to use Deoxit. That hole begs for it. As was mentioned you could try Faderlube first. If you want to be careful blow the Deoxit out of and off of it after you twiddle the knob 50 times. Probably be good to flush it out. That stripe has to be a printed circuit trace. Be careful not to poke it too much. It is probably covered with the black to protect it. Anybody else have a better idea? If all else fails (and only if all else fails) It looks like you could take it apart. That is risky and possibly final but in the end??? Please let us know how it goes. My money is on the Deoxit but perhaps the second try.
Rob

Thanks guys for your posts.

@ westend - I think, yes it probably is carbon, thank you. Prior to this my ignorance of pot construction was complete, assuming that there was some type of metal windings inside like a variable speaker L-Pad. So I did some searching and found pics of disassembled pots, some of which have resistive elements that look similar to what I have.

I also found a couple references to, at least the possibility of, damage to carbon traces by using D5. And this link to a Caig Tech Q/A regarding carbon pots and Caig products.

@ Kahoona - There is even better access than the hole in the side of the pot from my first pictures. The first pic below shows the bottom of the pot. The wiper is just barely visible in the pic, just left of the number "2". This is the position of the wipers when the pot is fully counter clockwise. Second pic more clearly shows the wipers from the top, with the knob turned a bit less than half way around.

With such open access, and having read the Caig recommendation, I think I am going attempt a stealth application of straight D100L from the needle dispenser. This way I hope to avoid disturbing internal lubricants, which I can see on the shaft of the pot. Don't have the product yet. Will post with results later.