Cleaning Input Jacks And/or Pots With Rubbing Alcohol?
Maybe your like
Search
Everywhere Threads This forum This thread Search titles only- New posts
- Search forums
- Thread starter RedBarchetta
- Start date Apr 3, 2010 This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
RedBarchetta
Tele-Meister
Joined Mar 7, 2010 Posts 482 Location Texas I know everyone will immediately say to get that Oxi-whatever stuff, but my question is can it be done with alcohol on a cue-tip? I know it wouldn't work as well, but would it do any damage?
neocaster
Poster Extraordinaire
Joined Jan 26, 2006 Posts 5,714 Location Chester County, PA May be okay with the jacks, but you would probably junk the pots up more with cotton residue and end up worse off. Jacks are easy, but pots are one big coiled tape. Use (link removed) and just work the pots through their full range, no external tools needed. Radio Shack won't ship it but you can buy it in store:
Worn
Tele-Holic
Joined Mar 6, 2008 Posts 763 Age 74 Location Toronto Works fine for jacks, just did one myself, wouldn't try it on pots though. RedBarchetta
Tele-Meister
Joined Mar 7, 2010 Posts 482 Location Texas That's what I was thinking. I don't want to mess with the pots just yet--aside from working the knobs back and forth through full range. I'm starting with the jacks on the guitar and amp, using isopropyl alcohol on cue tips. I tell you what, though, ever since I worked the dials back and forth a few days back I haven't had any volume fluctuations. (Knock on wood.) Sszechuanking
Tele-Holic
Joined Mar 11, 2010 Posts 516 Location new jersey i clean all sorts of electronics with alcohol and have never had an issue. RedBarchetta
Tele-Meister
Joined Mar 7, 2010 Posts 482 Location Texasszechuanking said: i clean all sorts of electronics with alcohol and have never had an issue. Click to expand...What do you use, cue-tips or what? S
szechuanking
Tele-Holic
Joined Mar 11, 2010 Posts 516 Location new jersey theyre small alcohol pads. are you looking to flush out the pots or just clean up your soldering connections? RedBarchetta
Tele-Meister
Joined Mar 7, 2010 Posts 482 Location Texas I'm looking to get rid of some occasional volume fluctions, whether that is caused by dirty jacks or pots, I don't know. I'm starting with the easiest fix and moving to more detailed.
BootRoots
Tele-Holic
Joined Jan 26, 2004 Posts 708 Location Cincinnati cotton on the Q-tip sounds like it would be more trouble than its worth. that contact cleaner stuff from radio shack has a little straw liek WD40 does and makes it really easy to clean pots and jacks. Sszechuanking
Tele-Holic
Joined Mar 11, 2010 Posts 516 Location new jersey agreed. i wouldnt go shoving a q tip into a pot if thats even possible but you could soak the in alcohol giving a swish here and there i suppose. the straw attachment is a nice feature on the previously mentioned product, this way you get some pressure to blast any kind of dirt particles out or whatever.
johnporter
Tele-Meister
Joined Nov 12, 2007 Posts 312 Location Granite Falls,NC I use denatured alchohol, will clean almost anything.It & a toothbrush removes solder rosin/flux from connections,makes circuit boards look like new. Kkimert
TDPRI Member
Joined Jul 4, 2010 Posts 3 Age 69 Location osage, ia WD-40 or Alcohol? I just got through researching this question for about 3 hours. Seems there were 2 schools of thought for those of us who had to do it right now. The folks who were vehemently opposed to WD-40 - were working on circuit boards or somewhere inside that thing that looks like a little city in there. I was all for getting a jug of Everclear and making the best of a bad situation until my wife made me see that WD40 would be a better choice even if it didn't work... The other folks who were against alcohol were generally cleaning pots - someone even mentioned that pots need to be lubricated - or they will seriously dry out like Brian Wilson in Death Valley. Anyway - here's what I did to clean the pots on my little 4 channel powered PA head. First I took the little nut off the main volume knob and sprayed some WD in beside the knob - too much, actually. I twisted the knob back and forth until it eventually got a little stiff before it loosened up turned easily. I then realized that taking the little nut off about 30 little knobs on this 100 watt pa would be much more than I wanted to do tonight. So I went with getting a q-tip soaked in WD and wiping it on the side of the shaft till it got in there real good and everything loosened up. I did this to all the pots and just to top it all off - I used a paper towel soaked in alcohol to dry off the greasy spots on the faceplate. Time will tell - but for now it sounds 100% better than when I brought it home from the Goodwill. kimert
LeDocteur
Tele-Meister
Joined Oct 20, 2009 Posts 391 Location PA For pots, tv tuner cleaner. For contacts, cramolin. Otherwise known as... http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f I bought the bottle of 100% for $39.95. It will last me forever.
KevinB
Doctor of Teleocity
Joined Mar 4, 2007 Posts 14,496 Age 75 Location SC (S)lowcountry WD-40 is simply NOT a cleaning agent, and NOT a lubricant. Its purpose is to remove moisture. That "WD" stands for Water Displacement. Get a can of Caig's DeoIT (available at your local Radio Shack) and you'll have something specifically developed for cleaning electronic contacts. Kkrispynoodlez
Tele-Meister
Joined Jun 3, 2010 Posts 328 Location Dallas The LAST thing you'd ever wanna use on your guitar is WD 40 imo.. I've tried the Radio Shack contact cleaner to clean my amp pots & sockets but it's very oily, leaves behind a greasy residue you'll wanna clean off (you'll also wanna be careful not to get too much on there in the first place, and wait about an hour before turning anything on to make sure nothing shorts out). I've heard DeOxit is far better, but haven't had a chance to try it yet personally.. also I wouldn't just spray it in there, but dampen a very thin cloth, place it over a guitar cable jack then insert it into your jack socket a few times, maybe twisting around and such to get all the little gunk out (be sure not to use any type of cloth that will lose its fibers on the inside, this also makes a qtip a bad idea imo although it may not be too bad)
Ringo
Poster Extraordinaire
Joined Mar 16, 2003 Posts 9,401 Location Memphis TN re RS cleaner The stuff I've used for years from Radio Shack is a cleaner / lube. No need to clean out anything, just spray it in the pots , work them around and you're done. It also works well to loosen up new or stiff pots. You can also use cleaner / lube to clean input jacks, I just spray it on a 1/4" plug and work it in /out and around the 1/4" jacks. Alcohol won't hurt anything but I wouldn't use it to clean the inside of pots.Attachments
-
contact cleaner.jpg 20.8 KB · Views: 4,667
Similar threads
Not bonding: to sell, or to re-work... - DHart
- Mar 3, 2026
- Just Pickups
NAD: Vintage Sound Amps Tweed 15 (5e3) - Tim S
- Feb 10, 2026
- Amp Central Station
P AA/AB763 Bandmaster Channel Bleed Issue - plastic
- Mar 10, 2026
- Amp Tech Center
New Posts
Random Daily Photos, March 2026 - Latest: SparkleFart
- A moment ago
I forgot to be Irish today - Latest: Uncle Daddy
- 1 minute ago
Simple Repetitious Backer in D - Latest: guitarsophist
- 4 minutes ago
Compressor into solid state amp - I don't get it - Latest: mexicanyella
- 5 minutes ago
Just groomed dog caught rolling on dead snake - Latest: Televisions
- 6 minutes ago
- Forums
- Main Telecaster Forum
- Telecaster Discussion Forum
Tag » How To Clean Guitar Jack
-
How-To: Clean Your Input Jack - YouTube
-
How To Clean Your Guitar Output - YouTube
-
Guitar And Amplifier Input Jack Maintenance - YouTube
-
How To Clean Output Jacks, Pots And Switches
-
Cleaning An Input Jack : R/Guitar - Reddit
-
How To Clean Input Jacks? | The Gear Page
-
Input Jacks – How To Keep Them Clean –
-
How To Clean Guitar Amps - Grill, Input Jack, Pots & Other Parts
-
Setup Like A Pro: How To Clean Guitar Electronics
-
What's Your Favorite Method For Cleaning 1/4" Jacks In Guitars, Pedals ...
-
Output Jack: Noisy Due To Buildup Inside...how To Clean?
-
Cleaning Out Amp Inputs?
-
Output Jack Cleaning | My Les Paul Forum
-
Cleaning A Guitar's Electronics: Guitar Setup And Maintenance (Video)