Cleaning pots on old lap steel

[Mike B]

Hi , I recently started learning lap steel and got myself a Harmony H6. The seller told me it hadn't been played in a very long time and thinks the strings were from the 1950s!The volume pot is a bit crackly and the tone pot isn't working ( hopefully re soldering the loose wire will fix that). Other than that it sounds really nice and the P13 pickup seems in good condition. After a bit of research I've got confused on how to clean the pots as I'm not sure what type they are and worried the rapide electrical contact cleaner that i already have will be too harsh.  If anyone could give me any advice on how to do this or direct me to any sites with the right info , I would really appreciate it thanks

[mitchfit]

looks like the wires have braided cloth insulation on them. electric contact cleaner will not hurt that. would select a brand with lubricant included, and remove pot from mount plate to avoid any chances of a chemical reaction with same.

mitchfit

[Mike B]

Hi Mitchfit , thanks for your input. I'm going to read up on deoxit d5 and f5 again. I kept finding conflicting advice on these 2 and also they are quite pricey. I don't want to do any damage so if I have to spend more I will do. I'm completely new to this , I've always played accoustic guitars , thanks again from Mike

[mitchfit]

<zero familiarity with the brand names you mentioned. doubt you would find what i use here at a store near you either.

glad to have helped,
mitchfit

[Mike B]

Hi , just to conclude this , I took the pots off and cleaned them with Kontakt chemie super 10. I was worried about using a modern cleaner and lubricant on very old pots but they have cleaned up and are both working as they should. I re soldered the old capacitor back on and surprisingly this is also working. Maybe in the future I'll think about new pots and capacitor but for now I just want to enjoy learning and playing it. Thanks
Mike