scratchy pot syndrome?!

[Wandering Kid]

yo. i noticed yesterday when i was cleaning my virus b desktop (i clean it alot : grin : ) that some of the pots are beginning to feel ever so slightly scratchy. ive noticed the buttons have a tendancy to become sticky but this the the first time ive noticed the pots themselves feel sort of different. now that ive experimented with this ive noticed - some of the pots feel different to others. some have more resistance and turning them is...not harder but you get what i mean? just more resistant. others glide around easier. some feel a little bit scratchy when they glide around.

how many other virus users find their pots have varying kind of feel?

my filter cutoff pot is quite sensitive i assume cuz i use it alot. the sustain time pots on the envelope are much more resistant again i assume owing to the fact i use them very little. my key follow pot is fairly sensitive but is also slightly scratchy. which worries me.

i initially thought constantly using the pot mechanism would wear it out but i clearly use the cutoff pot more than the key follow pot. i dont even need to think about it. how do scratchy pots come about?

also, a strange question - do any of you people smoke? do your virus have scratchy pot syndrome too? i ask because one of my friends used to smoke over his djm-500 mixer. he got scratchy channel faders eventually. possibly a result of dropping spliff ash into the fader mechansim. i do smoke but i never smoke over the virus itself and have never physically dropped ash on it.

i only mention this because of an observation i noticed on my friend's djm and the fact that almost everybody on ebay advertises their instrument as 'lightly used in a smoke free studio environment.'

and finally the dreaded question - how does one get rid of scratchy pot syndrome?

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

Its because you clean it alot (and hence specs of dirt/debris/dust) is slowing making its way into the potentionmeter. Really Id advice you clean synths as little as possible.....only when u need to sell them.

Varying resistences in dif knobs is not a problem.....it hapens through use/lack of use.....but the grittyness you eplain is due to debris getting into the Pot. Dont clean you virus for a while and keep twisting the knobs....over time it'll probably smooth out again. Dont worry......theres nothing esp wrong....hell ALL vintage analogs have this.....and no-one butts an eyelid.

DS

[Wandering Kid]

thats depressing. my attempt to look after my synth is actually in some way damaging it. although i guess i can see how it works now.

do you people use dust covers? instead of dusting it off all the time i might jsut invest in a dust cover and do as you say - not clean it so much. now that i think about it the rotaries have about a 1 mm clearance above the case where dust and dirt can be swept underneath them. i never really noticed that before. the clearance on some of the pots is more than on others.

edit: oh yea. out of morbid sick curiosity - whats the story behind that crazy, smacked up looking guy playing a pro-one like an accordian? the one in your sig?

[Timo]

That was the first thing I thought of asking, ie. if you smoked.

Smoke gets everywhere. It penetrates through cracks and grimes up all the internal electronics.

That's why people state "Non smoking studio use only" as a plus when they're selling gear.

And it's doing your lungs no favours either.

I tend to clean/dust all my gear with a dyson hoover with the soft-brush attachment. Or a funky little retractable anti-static brush thingy.

I have an Indigo (v1), and all the pots feel fairly uniform in their resistance when tweaking them. For example, the "Cutoff" knob feels as stiff as the rest. The main Program (parameter) knob is a tad dodgy in that it wobbles a touch, but I'm replacing that soon for that reason.

[EnjoyRC]

Originally Posted by Wandering Kid

Scratchy pot syndrome?!

I think my cat has that problem too!!! :P

[Hollowcell]

Originally Posted by Wandering Kid

i do smoke but i never smoke over the virus itself and have never physically dropped ash on it.

Just smoking in the same room fucks gear I'm affraid. That's one of the questions I always ask before buying gear actually.

Maybe time to quit then hey?!

[Wandering Kid]

why does smoking in the same room as synths fuck em up? my hifi has probably soaked up as much smoke as i have in all the years of my torrid dirty little habit. they work just fine. all the buttons work. all the rotaries.

wouldnt mind some facts about smoking and synthesizers though. COLD. HARD. FACTS. like what do smoke particles do certain mechanisms in the synth. surely dust particles in the air would have just as much, if not worse effect? since dust/dirt particles are larger than smoke particles. the only thing i can think of is that it makes your gear smell smokey.

+ how the hell can you people bop out without cigarettes?! thats not very rock roll! oh yea. my guitar/amp/effects pedals have also seen mucho smoke. they still work like champs!

[Timo]

Fag smoke is airborne tar, carbon 'n other shit, innit? I've been in home-studios where they've been with heavy smokers, and all the gear has got a film of grease all over it as a result. I'm not talking just about where the knobs have been handled, but all over the fascia and everywhere. It doesn't take much imagination to think what it does when it seeps through into the internals, and especially a computer.

Maybe, get an air-purifier or ioniser to sit in the room or something, to suck in all the dodgy particles.

[Hollowcell]

Originally Posted by Wandering Kid

+ how the hell can you people bop out without cigarettes?! thats not very rock roll! oh yea. my guitar/amp/effects pedals have also seen mucho smoke. they still work like champs!

Hehehe, yep I spose it's not rockNroll, but it's far less harmfull.

About your pedals, maybe compare them to exactly the same models not used in a smokie place and I'm sure you will se a difference.

I've seen curtains, walls and light switches convered with a yellowish coating from tobacco smoke. Imagine what the does to control surfaces or worse the inner working of gear!

Of course dust can cause damage too, but dust is much more easily cleaned off than tobacco gunge.

Lot's of people won't buy gigged gear for this reason too.