Dirty potentiometers....what's best to clean them?

Have had a perfectly functioning wheel (Saitek R4 FFB) for months waiting for GPL 1.2 to arrive...now it's here and working well and my ***y pedal pots are starting to act up. What's the best cleaner to use? Marc. -- **************************************************************************** Marc Collins Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and blame them on other computers. ****************************************************************************

Put in some olive oil. **************************************************************************** > Marc Collins > Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and > blame them on other computers. ****************************************************************************

Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products like 'Tuner Control Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a small spray can. Lutrell

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>Put in some olive oil. >> Have had a perfectly functioning wheel (Saitek R4 FFB) for months waiting >> for GPL 1.2 to arrive...now it's here and working well and my ***y pedal >> pots are starting to act up. What's the best cleaner to use? >> Marc. >> -- >**************************************************************************** >> Marc Collins >> Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and >> blame them on other computers. >****************************************************************************

I used Vaseline, and it's been about 2 months with no problems. Also, I've heard Radio Shack has something specifically for pots. Haven't tried it yet myself. When you clean 'em you can just leave the metal covers off, which makes them easier to clean next time.

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>Have had a perfectly functioning wheel (Saitek R4 FFB) for months waiting >for GPL 1.2 to arrive...now it's here and working well and my ***y pedal >pots are starting to act up. What's the best cleaner to use? >Marc. >-- >***************************************************************************

* >Marc Collins >Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and >blame them on other computers. >*************************************************************************** *

I have a question while were on the subject. Anyone with a TM Sprint wheel know how on earth to get to the pedal pots? Ive tried but cant seem to get to them. TIA Chris

Try some WD-40, works like a charm and its alot cheaper than that radio shack stuff. Brian

I have already used WD-40 and it seemed to make it worse. That's why I was looking for another sugestion. Perhaps my pots are just deteriorating into the toilet?? Marc.

Put screw-driver between pot and plastic gear, and turn it for 90 degrees. This should slide gear from pot.

On Sat, 20 Nov 1999 12:56:37 -0800, "Lutrell" >Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products like 'Tuner Control >Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a small spray can. >Lutrell My 2 cents- Radio Shack's Tuner Cleaner works great for me, plus it's great for the knobs on my guitar amp. from my understanding, WD40 acts as a dust magnet because it doesn't evaporate completely and leaves a sticky residue behind. If that's the case, it might be good for a short-term fix but the performance would deteriorate at an accelerated pace after applying it. Cheers, Chris

I could not believe it myself when I first heard this suggestion, but two drivers from my GP2 team reported great results with it and they were not joking!. Luckily I have not been in the situation where I needed to apply this trick myself as ECCI pots cannot be cleaned because of their closed housing (says ECCI) and the MSFF uses optical technology. Bart Westra Lusa Racing http://lusa.sim-racing.net/ http://www.lfrs.com/ > Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products like 'Tuner Control > Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a small spray can.

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> Lutrell > >Put in some olive oil. > >> Have had a perfectly functioning wheel (Saitek R4 FFB) for months

waiting > >> for GPL 1.2 to arrive...now it's here and working well and my ***y pedal

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> >> pots are starting to act up. What's the best cleaner to use? > >> Marc. > >> -- >***************************************************************************

*

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> >> Marc Collins > >> Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and > >> blame them on other computers. >***************************************************************************

*

Well, here's my method. It has worked well for me. I use 3 things... 1 a can of RadioShack's "Tuner Control Cleaner & Lubricant" 2 a can of compressed air. ya know those little cans you can get at any geek store. 3 paper towels. Place the paper towel around the pot to catch the "splash", shoot a squirt of Tuner Control into the pot, work it back and forth, shoot another shot of Tuner Control, then blow the whole mess out with the canned air, and watch what kind of mud you get out of there! eliminates jitters, sudden spikes, pulls to one side, etc. -- Kenny L. card carrying geek #14 Generic Chevy PRC Member Wall Scrapers Racing Team

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> I could not believe it myself when I first heard this suggestion, but two > drivers from my GP2 team reported great results with it and they were not > joking!. Luckily I have not been in the situation where I needed to apply > this trick myself as ECCI pots cannot be cleaned because of their closed > housing (says ECCI) and the MSFF uses optical technology. > Bart Westra > Lusa Racing > http://lusa.sim-racing.net/ > http://www.lfrs.com/ > > Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products like > 'Tuner Control > > Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a small > spray can. > > Lutrell

I use an electrical cleaner from a local NAPA store. This spray cleaner worked great but would start to scew up the pot after just less then a couple hours of racing. I always ended up re-cleaning the pot the very next day. By mistake I used a spray penetrating oil. Not only did it clean the pots but it would be at least three days before I'd have to reclean them again. I wunder what the *oil* does to the pots to clean them and what it does to make them last longer? I will definatly try the olive oil trick since I've been using an oil based product anyhow. -- ========================================= Mike Barlow of Barlow Racing? ========================================= http://members.xoom.com/BarlowRacing/ Racing online with the help of...... Race Communications Association Holodyne Engineering Mystic Music (have Your !!Name/Address!! placed here)

That is certainly what happened to me!! Marc. > On Sat, 20 Nov 1999 12:56:37 -0800, "Lutrell" > >Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products like 'Tuner Control > >Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a small spray can.

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> >Lutrell > My 2 cents- > Radio Shack's Tuner Cleaner works great for me, plus it's great for > the knobs on my guitar amp. > from my understanding, WD40 acts as a dust magnet because it doesn't > evaporate completely and leaves a sticky residue behind. If that's the > case, it might be good for a short-term fix but the performance would > deteriorate at an accelerated pace after applying it. > Cheers, > Chris

Thanks. This seems to have worked. I was hesitating to disassemble the pot itself, but it was required to thoroughly clean it. Marc.

Do the MSFF pedals use optical sensors? My Saitek wheel has the same FFB guts as the MS one (with optical sensors), but the pedals use old-fashioned pots. Although I prefer the Saitek because of the proper shifter and I prefer its pedal shape/layout, optical pedals would be a major plus!!! I can't wait to find a wheel that actually works well AND does not require annoying and tedious ongoing maintenance. Marc.

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> I could not believe it myself when I first heard this suggestion, but two > drivers from my GP2 team reported great results with it and they were not > joking!. Luckily I have not been in the situation where I needed to apply > this trick myself as ECCI pots cannot be cleaned because of their closed > housing (says ECCI) and the MSFF uses optical technology. > Bart Westra > Lusa Racing > [link lost in import] > http://www.lfrs.com/ > > Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products like > 'Tuner Control > > Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a

small

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> spray can. > > Lutrell > > >Put in some olive oil. > > >> Have had a perfectly functioning wheel (Saitek R4 FFB) for months > waiting > > >> for GPL 1.2 to arrive...now it's here and working well and my ***y > pedal > > >> pots are starting to act up. What's the best cleaner to use? > > >> Marc. > > >> -- >*************************************************************************** > * > > >> Marc Collins > > >> Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and > > >> blame them on other computers. >*************************************************************************** > *

I don't know for sure if the MSFF pedals have optical sensors, since I never took them apart. I tried just now, but after 5 screws I stopped. Don't want to brake a thing that works ok :) But if they have pots and wear out some time, I'm going to use the olive oil trick myself! One thing I noticed is that their calibration range is different from time to time, but the two pedals always show the same range at the same time. Can one conclude something about the sensors from that? Bart Westra

> > I could not believe it myself when I first heard this suggestion, but two > > drivers from my GP2 team reported great results with it and they were not > > joking!. Luckily I have not been in the situation where I needed to apply

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> > this trick myself as ECCI pots cannot be cleaned because of their closed > > housing (says ECCI) and the MSFF uses optical technology. > > Bart Westra > > Lusa Racing > > http://lusa.sim-racing.net/ > > http://www.lfrs.com/ > > > Olive oil? have not tried that. There are contact cleaner products

like > > 'Tuner Control > > > Cleaner and Lubricant' from Radio Shack, but it cost about $8 for a small

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> > spray can. > > > Lutrell > I use an electrical cleaner from a local NAPA store. This spray > cleaner worked great but would start to scew up the pot after just less > then a couple hours of racing. I always ended up re-cleaning the pot > the very next day. By mistake I used a spray penetrating oil. Not only > did it clean the pots but it would be at least three days before I'd > have to reclean them again. > I wunder what the *oil* does to the pots to clean them and what it does > to make them last longer? I will definatly try the olive oil trick > since I've been using an oil based product anyhow.

Just guessing, maybe the oil doesn't clean at all, but just provides a better contact around/through the dirt. Could be it dissolves some dirt. And the oil will reduce the influence of wear of course. Bart Westra

I use an electrical moisture removing/lubricating spray like CRC-26, WD-40 or equivalent. You know, the stuff you spray in your car's distributor cap when it gets wet, or to loosen up rusted components. Works like a charm. Glenn

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> Have had a perfectly functioning wheel (Saitek R4 FFB) for months waiting > for GPL 1.2 to arrive...now it's here and working well and my ***y pedal > pots are starting to act up. What's the best cleaner to use? > Marc. > -- > **************************************************************************** > Marc Collins > Computers will never equal humans until they make mistakes and > blame them on other computers. > ****************************************************************************

I fixed a useless Thrusty T2 pot with auto transmission oil and its been better than new for 18 months now! > > Do the MSFF pedals use optical sensors? My Saitek wheel has the same FFB

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> > guts as the MS one (with optical sensors), but the pedals use > old-fashioned > > pots. > > Although I prefer the Saitek because of the proper shifter and I prefer > its > > pedal shape/layout, optical pedals would be a major plus!!! I can't

wait

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> to > > find a wheel that actually works well AND does not require annoying and > > tedious ongoing maintenance. > > Marc. > I don't know for sure if the MSFF pedals have optical sensors, since I

never > took them apart. I tried just now, but after 5 screws I stopped. Don't want > to brake a thing that works ok :) > But if they have pots and wear out some time, I'm going to use the olive oil > trick myself! > One thing I noticed is that their calibration range is different from time > to time, but the two pedals always show the same range at the same time. Can > one conclude something about the sensors from that? > Bart Westra