How can I clean a volume slide switch on a Casio PT-50 from 1983?
June 17, 2023 8:20 AM Subscribe
Do you have advice for “cleaning” the volume slider on our 1983 Casio PT-50 keyboard? Hopefully without taking apart the keyboard. I’ve seen spray cleaner for potentiometers etc - safe to use without taking keyboard apart? It basically now has “loud” and “off” but my son would like to use it at various volumes. Seems like it’s dirty or corroded. pic
You need some Deoxit
https://caig.com/product/deoxit-fader-f100l-l2c/
posted by bug138 at 8:37 AM on June 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
https://caig.com/product/deoxit-fader-f100l-l2c/
posted by bug138 at 8:37 AM on June 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Best answer: If that were my keyboard, and I were going to try to unfuck its slide potentiometers, I would start by taking it apart in order to get inside them by bending aside the little metal tabs that retain the board that the resistive track is printed on.
What I'd expect to find once I'd done that is a furry plug of dust and dirt and crap wedged between the resistive track and the little plastic plate that holds the sliding contacts. I know of no way to clean that stuff out properly that doesn't involve opening the pots.
You might be able to turn some of the filth plug temporarily into a somewhat more biddable mud smear by blasting contact cleaner spray in through the slot (use the extension tube that comes with the spray can), but I would not expect the result to be particularly good or to last long. If I were going to go that way, I'd use a switch cleaner/lubricant rather than a pure solvent cleaner.
It may also turn out to be the case that the resistive track itself has already been chewed all to shit, in which case replacing the entire pot becomes the best option. Make sure the replacement has the same physical dimensions and maximum resistance value and taper (most volume pots have a log taper).
posted by flabdablet at 8:39 AM on June 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
What I'd expect to find once I'd done that is a furry plug of dust and dirt and crap wedged between the resistive track and the little plastic plate that holds the sliding contacts. I know of no way to clean that stuff out properly that doesn't involve opening the pots.
You might be able to turn some of the filth plug temporarily into a somewhat more biddable mud smear by blasting contact cleaner spray in through the slot (use the extension tube that comes with the spray can), but I would not expect the result to be particularly good or to last long. If I were going to go that way, I'd use a switch cleaner/lubricant rather than a pure solvent cleaner.
It may also turn out to be the case that the resistive track itself has already been chewed all to shit, in which case replacing the entire pot becomes the best option. Make sure the replacement has the same physical dimensions and maximum resistance value and taper (most volume pots have a log taper).
posted by flabdablet at 8:39 AM on June 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
Ideally the pot should be replaced, but Deoxit will work.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:50 PM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:50 PM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
I would also use a toothpick wrapped in a cleaning hand wipe to get the grime off of the outside surface around the sliders. That way the keyboard will know you care about it :)
posted by amtho at 4:01 PM on June 17, 2023
posted by amtho at 4:01 PM on June 17, 2023
I prefer Nu-trol to the various Cramolin/deoxit products.
If contact cleaner doesn't fix it (if it's this bad it may not) and the keyboard has a headphone or audio out jack,and you don't feel up to disassembling the keyboard and replacing the pot- why not just leave the keyboard's volume maxed out, plug the audio output into an external amplified speaker and control the volume using the volume knob on the speaker? It will probably sound better than the built in speakers to boot.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:55 PM on June 17, 2023
If contact cleaner doesn't fix it (if it's this bad it may not) and the keyboard has a headphone or audio out jack,and you don't feel up to disassembling the keyboard and replacing the pot- why not just leave the keyboard's volume maxed out, plug the audio output into an external amplified speaker and control the volume using the volume knob on the speaker? It will probably sound better than the built in speakers to boot.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 6:55 PM on June 17, 2023
+3 on Deoxit but at that age, unless you really like the unit enough to pay a rather expensive fee to replace it, I would suggest leaving it at "loud" and put something inline after it that lets your son adjust the volume after it leaves the keyboard (like a cheap Behringer or Yamaha mixer) if that doesn't take care of it.
posted by Candleman at 7:56 PM on June 17, 2023
posted by Candleman at 7:56 PM on June 17, 2023
I’ve seen spray cleaner for potentiometers etc - safe to use without taking keyboard apart?
Yup - I do this all the time. As flabdablet says, that's what the little plastic tube is for, to get down into (or at least closer to) the actual working parts of the slider.
I would actually do a few gentle puffs with compressed air (aka computer air duster) in & around the slider, and use Q-tips lightly moistened with a gentle cleaner like diluted Simple Green to get rid of some of the grunge around it before hitting it with contact cleaner. You might dislodge any crud hanging out in the fader and you'll prevent any new crud from migrating into the slider while you spray it.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:50 AM on June 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yup - I do this all the time. As flabdablet says, that's what the little plastic tube is for, to get down into (or at least closer to) the actual working parts of the slider.
I would actually do a few gentle puffs with compressed air (aka computer air duster) in & around the slider, and use Q-tips lightly moistened with a gentle cleaner like diluted Simple Green to get rid of some of the grunge around it before hitting it with contact cleaner. You might dislodge any crud hanging out in the fader and you'll prevent any new crud from migrating into the slider while you spray it.
posted by soundguy99 at 4:50 AM on June 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks to all - in the end i decided to open it up and clean out the crud, and also carefully used some CRC QD Contact Cleaner. There was surprisingly little grime, and this restored this plinkety plonk keyboard to good-as-new condition!
posted by chr1sb0y at 3:06 AM on June 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by chr1sb0y at 3:06 AM on June 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
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