Pot Cleaning Gizmo

**Easy2grasp** · 11-30-2018, 06:42 PM

No I am not talking about a "grinder" to clean your weed, but a way to clean a pot without removing it from the guitar. My Tommy Tedesco ES-175 had a scratchy volume pot and I knew it would be difficult to take the pot out without disturbing the duct tape. This little gizmo from StewMac worked great! Make sure you put your finger over the hole and do a short burst. The hole allows you to turn the pot with a screw driver in-between bursts to more thoroughly clean the electronics. Tip: Have a rag handy for overflow.
Pot Cleaning Gizmo-pot_cleaning_cap-jpg

Pot Cleaning Cap | stewmac.com

**JaxJaxon** · 11-30-2018, 06:56 PM

Did it work, what type of electronics cleaner, and if snug on the shaft would compressed air work.

**wintermoon** · 11-30-2018, 07:02 PM

I have one, those are great especially on sealed pots

**Easy2grasp** · 11-30-2018, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by JaxJaxon

Did it work, what type of electronics cleaner, and if snug on the shaft would compressed air work.

I used the cleaner that StewMac sells, because I know it has a compatible tube. CAIG DeoxIT Pot & Switch Cleaner | stewmac.com

I don't know how well compressed air would work. It is my understanding that the evaporative nature of the parts cleaner lifts the tarnish off of the contacts.

Pot Cleaning Gizmo-fullsizeoutput_77d-jpeg

Pot Cleaning Gizmo-fullsizeoutput_77d-jpeg

I can attest that the overflow will not damage your duct tape.

**neatomic** · 11-30-2018, 09:15 PM

Originally Posted by Easy2grasp

I can attest that the overflow will not damage your duct tape.

haha..for better or worse!!!

good job

cheers

ps you can fudge that stew mac gizmo with some proper sized plastic tubing...

pss- always apply those spray cleaners gingerly..don't flood it..it gets all over the inside of your guitar..i've seen spray marks on the inside of guitars!!...and don't use wd-40!!...it's a water displacer not a lube..it gunks

**Woody Sound** · 11-30-2018, 09:20 PM

Hmmm, I wonder if it would work as well on amp pots. Don't see why not.

**KirkP** · 12-01-2018, 12:24 AM

Oh no! All that gunk in the pot is the secret to “vintage tone”

**gggguitar** · 12-02-2018, 10:51 AM

I have one of these things and it works ok. It's certainly better than blasting around the post of the pot and hoping that something gets down in there. My main issue with it is that the little hole on the side (where you insert the red plastic tube from the can of cleaner) is too big. At least it's too big for the red tube that came with my can of Deoxit. (Do they come in different diameters?)
At first it was a horrible mess and didn't work well because you need to have a seal there to allow pressure to force cleaning fluid down into the pot. Cleaner would just spray everywhere. I needed to be able to create a seal there so I wound up poking a hole through a soft foam earplug and putting the straw through it. It looks like a little blue marshmallow on a red stick. When I insert the straw into the StweMac gizmo I slide the foam earplug up the straw to make a kind of collar around the hole which I then try to hold firmly while spraying cleaner into the pot. Note that at the same time I'm also trying to hold the gizmo down firmly over the pot post so that there is a seal there as well. It's a real mess and not a pretty process to watch I'm sure.

I don't think the gizmo works quite as advertised but it works just well enough that I'll continue to use it until something better comes along.

**JazzyJim** · 12-02-2018, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Easy2grasp

I don't know how well compressed air would work. It is my understanding that the evaporative nature of the parts cleaner lifts the tarnish off.

I normally do some blasts of compressed air, followed by cleaner. Then I let everything evaporate and dry, then a few more blasts of air. Works a treat on guitar pots and amps.

**Drumbler** · 12-02-2018, 04:06 PM

Look in the dictionary for Stew Mac.

The definition is "over-priced products".

**Woody Sound** · 12-09-2018, 09:54 AM

I always thought you have to spray directly into the housing. Does it actually get down into there by spraying the exposed part of the shaft?

**gggguitar** · 12-09-2018, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by Woody Sound

I always thought you have to spray directly into the housing. Does it actually get down into there by spraying the exposed part of the shaft?

The way it works is that you put the brass barrel (which has a rubber gasket on the bottom) over the shaft of the pot and you push it down to create a seal around the the top of the pot. When you spray cleaner into the barrel through a little hole on the side, that compressed cleaner is forced down into the pot around the shaft. It actually works pretty well. It's just really messy and actually using it is awkward. It feels like a prototype to me. A better solution is waiting to be made.

In the meantime though it makes it a lot easier to clean pots especially on 335 or similar guitars with difficult to access pots.

**Spook410** · 12-09-2018, 04:07 PM

Or you could learn to solder and take an hour to replace the worn out pot.

**feet** · 12-10-2018, 11:14 AM

the problem with this thing is that while it works fine(ish), you use it once, maybe go through and give all your guitars a squirt, then you set it down and never see the stupid thing again. and when you need it again, you have to decide whether it is worth tearing up the whole place looking for it, or spending that much on something that is essentially disposable.

**Woody Sound** · 12-10-2018, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by feet

the problem with this thing is that while it works fine(ish), you use it once, maybe go through and give all your guitars a squirt, then you set it down and never see the stupid thing again. and when you need it again, you have to decide whether it is worth tearing up the whole place looking for it, or spending that much on something that is essentially disposable.

Well when that GAS hits, it's a whole new ball game. I have a small-ish plastic bin where I keep all of my guitar maintenance devices.

**Woody Sound** · 12-10-2018, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by gggguitar

The way it works is that you put the brass barrel (which has a rubber gasket on the bottom) over the shaft of the pot and you push it down to create a seal around the the top of the pot. When you spray cleaner into the barrel through a little hole on the side, that compressed cleaner is forced down into the pot around the shaft. It actually works pretty well. It's just really messy and actually using it is awkward. It feels like a prototype to me. A better solution is waiting to be made.

I'm just surprised that enough juice gets down into the housing via the shaft.

**sgosnell** · 12-10-2018, 05:18 PM

There is a gap between the shaft and the case. There has to be in order to allow the shaft to turn. It's a very small gap, but there is one. A really thin liquid, under pressure, can go through that gap. And you really don't want much to get through anyway. Overuse of cleaning fluid is not a good thing for the life of a potentiometer.