Potentiometer grease

[John B]

I purchased a pair of Bourns audio pots from Digikey, and to my surprise, unlike any other pot I've purchased no matter how cheap, one of them has no lubrication. The shaft turns easily and is obviously dry and slightly scratchy.

I have some Dow Corning compound 111 food grade silicone grease, and some other silicone grease designed for lubricating polyurethane bushings. Would these be safe to use?

[thm_w]

Do you have any mineral oil?

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/lubricating-potentiometers-faders-variable-resistors/
https://www.mgchemicals.com/downloads/msds/01%20English%20Can-USA%20SDS/sds-401b-a.pdf

Are you saying you bought two of the same part and one is bad?

[John B]

They're part of the same series of pots, one with a longer threaded section. One has the usual grease giving the pot a typical damped rotation, while the other one is dry. I did have a read through that thread, and it seems to be discussing more along the lines of sprayed lubricants and cleaners. The reference to damping grease sounds very much like the dow corning silicone grease, which I have also used on a camera stand. Obviously there is no need to worry about electrical characteristics in that application.

[fordem]

If you can get the grease into the bushing without getting it on the potentiometer tracks it'll be fine - the problem you face is that grease won't flow or "wick" into the space you'll need to disassemble the pot - or use a liquid and risk contamination of the tracks.

It does sound to me like one of the two pots is defective.

[BrokenYugo]

Are these supposed to come dry and scratchy? I'd be asking Bourns.

[Audiorepair]

If it's one of these types, then they tend to be pretty free running, i.e. without damping.

Some people prefer that.


Maybe the sticky one is the problem.


https://4donline.ihs.com/images/VipMasterIC/IC/BOUR/BOUR-S-A0011471835/BOUR-S-A0011471835-1.pdf?hkey=6D3A4C79FDBF58556ACFDE234799DDF0

[wizard69]

Please consider reading this: https://www.nyelubricants.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/ead42c5ca31319a99a6afd36badb7c10/files/_6__nye_lubeletter_10_1977.pdf.   The suggested lubes are FluoroGel 814 and NyoGel 781B which are products of William F Nye inc.   We use a lot of Nye products at work and I can highly recommend them in general. Low volume sales are here: http://www.tai-lubricants.com/

The publication is a bit on the old side so you may want to call them for an updated recommendation.   A more up to date page: https://www.nyelubricants.com/nyogel but a complete listing requires logging in.   Probably best to phone for advice that is current.  Oh and a final warning, this stuff isn't exactly cheap.