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Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

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  • Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

    Hello all.

    I understand this thread might not be the correct place to post this, but I'm still a newbie, so feel free to move it as needed (admins)

    Anyway, a have a bunch of pots(alot of assorted CTS, some Alpha, some generic).

    I thought I'd desolder them, clean them up a bit, and have them available for spares, as needed.

    I don't know how well they were cared for while soldering, so I don't know if they were damaged at all. Some appear to have been soldered properly, with care, and some just look a mess. Who knows.

    Is there a good way to check them, short of installing them and use them, to see if they are still viable and usable? Do I just check them on a meter, or is there even a way to check to see if they have been overheated and/or damaged if the damage is not visibly obvious?

    Call me cheap, but, I just don't necessarily want to chuck them if the might be reasonably usable still.

    Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

  • #2
    Re: Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

    Yeah they should be fine. Don’t overheat the solder lugs.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    • #3
      Re: Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

      You need to ask yourself if your time is worth anything. Pots are relatively cheap. The only good way to test them is to run a signal through them and "hear" if they're scratchy. IMHO, it isn't worth the time. The one exception is if you're repairing a vintage instrument. I sometimes will gently bend back the tabs on the cover, and put it back onto a new pot. That way, the date codes fit the instrument and it appears original.

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      • #4
        Re: Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

        Checking pots for operation out of the circuit is easy. Use a multimeter.
        That is not dead which can eternal lie,
        And with strange aeons even death may die.

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        • #5
          Re: Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

          Just remove all the old wire and solder. Use a high-power soldering iron (at LEAST 40 watts, but I prefer over 50 watts) to melt the solder quickly with less chance of overheating the pot's interior and solder wick. Then spray each with an electrical contact cleaner and lube and rotate several times. You can test each one with a meter to make sure they are working properly (within the tolerances...usually about 10%).
          Originally Posted by IanBallard
          Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

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          • #6
            Re: Desoldering fairly new pots for reuse?

            However, as Artie said, pots are relatively cheap and if a pot is going to need a lot of work to get it as new, I personally don't bother and just add to the landfill, especially if it was a cheap pot to begin with.

            Ever notice that Alpha pots used to be just about the cheapest pots you could buy but now they are as (and sometimes even more) expensive as CTS pots? But I find that Alpha pots are pretty darn good quality now. (Sorry for the little side trip there).
            Originally Posted by IanBallard
            Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

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