Restoring DETENT feel to potentiometer? Can it be done?

[vindibona1]

My pickup blend knob in my BTB1825 is designed to have a detent, indicating that it both pickups are sending signal, presumably equally. I can no longer feel the detent, though the general function of the blend knob works fine.
IS THERE A WAY TO RESTORE THE FEEL OF A/THE DETENT without replacing the entire potentiometer? FWIW, I do have a can of Deoxit on hand if that helps.

 

[onda'bass]

I am sure that’s a mechanical thing not a dirty pot thing.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Nope just replace it.
Deoxit will make it worse.
Yep a physical notch in the wiper that is now smooth most likely.

 

[vindibona1]

Nope just replace it.
Deoxit will make it worse.
Yep a physical notch in the wiper that is now smooth most likely.

I see.
Replacing it isen't worth it. If I rotate it like a safecracker I can still slightly feel the detent. The dot on the knob is just a hair past 12 o'clock, so I can get close visually. Interersetingly, all the pots on this bass (BTB 1825) are a bit "molasses-y" in feel, unlike my other basses where the rotation of the pots have little or no resistance.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Wow $15 and little soldering isn't worth it?

Well that slight detent will only get worse over time, you've basically smoothed out the detent by use.
Or perhaps the wiper is bent away from the detent point.
Perhaps you could go in and notch in the blade with a file to put the slot back in.
That said this is only speculation, I've never done that, I would just replace it rather than try and fix it.

Dot on the knob only shows how the knob was placed on the shaft, pull the knob off and replace it where
you want it.

All pots are different, molasses feel could possibly use some lube like deoxit to loosen things up.
Personally I like some resistance when I turn a pot. I have heard of folks lubing too much and then
the pot will spin like crazy with no fight back.

 

[walterw]

Replacing it isen't worth it. If I rotate it like a safecracker I can still slightly feel the detent.

it's possible the back "can" has just been pushed off the base of the pot

if you carefully remove it from the bass you might find you can bend the little tabs that hold it together to tighten the two parts again

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Yes, it is possible to open up a pot and do some limited repairs to it. I do it frequently to make a special mod to the ones I use.

On most pots, the back cover, the "can", is held onto the main assembly by several little tabs that are bent over onto the front face. So you need to remove the pot from the control plate to get to them. But you don't have to unsolder the wires. With a small screwdriver, bend the tabs up, and you can pull the can off.

It's been a while since I've opened up a detent-style pot, but I believe there's a small "arm" off the side of the laser-cut rear follower disc. A bump on the end of the arm rides on the inside wall of the can, and pops into a dent in the wall where the detent position is. That's how it works.

So, if you are just barely feeling the detent, the bump on the arm may have worn off, or the arm may have bent in with age. You might be able to rebend the arm to give it more tension.

Or, as Walter said, the can itself may be loose and shifted slightly. Get it fully seated and tighten the tabs.

As everyone has said, it's less work to just replace the pot.

 

[Turnaround]

As everyone has said, it's less work to just replace the pot.

And replacing pot is highly recommended.

 

[walterw]

My pickup blend knob in my BTB1825 is designed to have a detent, indicating that it both pickups are sending signal

didn't pick up on this before, you're talking about a dual-wafer blend/balance pot

it won't have a metal can surrounding the whole thing; you might be able to re-crimp the little tabs holding everything together and restore a little bit of that center detent action, but most likely it's time to replace it

(assuming passive pickups) if it's a straightforward B-B pot with wires attaching it to the rest of the circuit, i suggest a bourns 250k M/N run "ungrounded" for a smoother sweep and no loading loss

if it's a special ibanez part with a circuitcard built onto it you might rather just order an exact replacement from ibanez, which you should be able to do on their website

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yep, monkey see/monkey do, just de-solder the old pot one wire at a time and wire in the new one… one wire at a time. Easy Peasy, and no need to even know what the wires actually do. If you haven’t done any soldering, time you learned. 1k plus tutorials on YT. Pots are cheap, life is short!

 

[Dirk Diggler]

This is the solution ^.