On Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:43:27 -0800 (PST), spamtrap1888
wrote:

The volume control of the cheapie Sony "transistor" AM FM radio I
bought about a year ago does not operate smoothly at low volumes.
Could I try spraying it with something, and if so, what do people
recommend?

Spray contact cleaner. Alcohol, kerosene, or WD-40. Just about
anything works. I keep running into the same problem with various
"Mod-Pot" clones, where the pot is inside a square enclosure. Scratchy
pots are typical. I have to drill a hole in the side, and use a
syringe to inject whatever cleaner falls off the shelf first.
Unfortunately, my batting average is not perfect. If the pot lube has
turned to tar, solvent cleaning usually works. However, if the wiper
has gouged a groove into the carbon resistive material, it will
continue to be noisy. I've also used Aquadag to fill the groove on
larger pots, but have never tried it on small pots. As I vaguely
recall, the older cheapo imported radios had pots with an unplated
copper wiper. When corroded, it causes erratic connections. Cleaning
with any oxide remover (i.e. 409 cleaner) should fix that.

Even if not cost-effective, I hate to throw things away. Further, it
has the best FM performance of any small radio I have ever had.

Maybe sell it to a radio collector and let them deal with the noisy
pot? Good luck.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS