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Grease for the knobs


orange_hand

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Be really careful with this. Grease has a way of spreading from parts to hands to surfaces, potentially leaving permanent stains on lovely panels. Even a tiny dab of grease into a knob will probably mostly ooze out once you put it on the shaft.

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I think this should be possible. I think professional manufacturers of electronic devices apply a special grease on the knobs in order to be able to remove them some day if the device has to be serviced... I don't want to use oil :-)

If nobody has an idea, I will start with industry vaseline, as I have no grease handy at the moment :-) ....

Cheers

orange

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At work I use clear silicone grease for weatherproofing antenna connections, and that stuff is messy, so I wouldn't recommend it.

Lithium grease is a little less annoying to work with, but it leaves nasty white residue behind.

K-Y jelly might be good because it is water-based, but it may leak down the shaft into the pot or encoder, potentially breaking down its internal lubricants. And I think it dries up after a while.

Vaseline is petroleum jelly, right? You may want to test a little on an inconspicuous bit of surface to make sure it cleans up easily.

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Hi,

I think that won't work for the encoders and knobs I use. They really stick together like hell :-) I have to apply something ...

Cheers

orange

Why don't you try, what we call in Switzerland "Sewing machine oil" - It's some kind of "clean, transparent oil"? Apply a bit onto a cloth (just moisturize, not dripping) and rub the encoder/pot shaft with it. This leaves a thin, non dripping film of oil, which might just be enough but not too much loss of friction. - Looks like you have to experiment a bit :-)

Greets, Roger

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Hi Guys,

I could try this, although I am not sure where to buy this here in London…. Anyway I was more thinking about something not so liquid, that’s why I asked for some kind of grease rather than oil .. I think I will start with petroleum jelly (Vaseline), as it is not liquid. I will also consider to put a little bit of it on the surface of the knobs for a smoother feeling ïŠ I will let you know the result of my experiment.

Cheers

orange

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would use lithium grease. It's the stuff you grease Bushings on Power tools and lube the collet for an electric chipping gun with. It's white and like a paste. It wouldn't spread around as much as light machine oil, and it should (I haven't tried it though) clean right up with a little isopropyl. You could probably pick it up at any hardware store. I might try it myself :thumbsup:

A little dab'll do ya'

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I could try this, although I am not sure where to buy this here in London…

Give John Lewis a try if you've got one near you. My wife bought a sewing machine there recently, so it's a reasonable bet that they'll have sewing machine oil.

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