Greasing up your faders

[Mirror]

I've got a Cooper 106 that I want to clean and lube the faders on.  How would I go about doing this and what chemicals and grease do I need?

[Jim Gilchrist]

They are conductive plastic, so solvents will destroy them.

What Andy Cooper thinks:

http://www.coopersound.com/faqsframe.htm and click Short-Form Cleaning Instructions for Penny & Giles Fader.

It's his distillation of P&G's instructions.

Best regards,

Jim

[John Blankenship]

While not a Cooper, my board also uses P&G faders which I serviced a while back. It's comforting to find that I pretty much did what Andy outlined in his document.

First, and foremost, exercise extreme care when opening and handling the faders as it's extremely easy to damage the wire "whiskers" that slide against the conductive plastic.

I carefully wiped any foreign material off of the surface of the conductive plastic with dry Q-Tips. I then carefully cleaned the rods and the plastic rod guides with denatured alcohol. Following that I lubed the rods very lightly with a light grade oil. You must be extremely careful not to get any oil on the "whiskers" or the surface of the conductive plastic. You also only want a thin film on the rods with no possibility whatsoever that it could drip. One method is to moisten a cloth with a tiny bit of oil and then put a light coat on the rods via the cloth.

Again, biggest issues:

1. Extreme care not to damage the fragile "whiskers"

2. No solvents whatsoever on the conductive plastic or "whiskers" (that could transfer to the conductive plastic)

3. No oil whatsoever on the conductive plastic or "whiskers"

4. Only a really light coat of oil on the rods making sure none can possibly drip.

5. Don't do it if you're in a hurry.

Observe the above and it's a breeze.

[Marc Wielage]

If somebody wanted to grease up my faders, I'd expect at least dinner and flowers beforehand. 

[soundtrane]

LOL!!

[Mirror]

Thanks Jim and Jon for your help.  I will follow your instructions.

[mikewest]

Have serviced faders in my Sonosax for years

 

Use a dry Freon spray for the fader tracks

 

Use a silicon lube for the stainless steel slider rod

 

mike

[Glen Trew]

I've probably done a hundred of the P&G faders on Coopers and others. The two areas that make them sluggish are the round metal rail/slider assembly, and the tongue/groove area at the bottom of the fader. It is easy to forget the tongue and groove, but that's where the setiment goes, and often the cause of stiction.

The conductive plastic part (the black traces on the circuit board usually don't need much cleaning at all, and usually only at the top and bottom of the travel (full off and full up). Gentle wiping with a dry soft cloth is usually all that's needed, but a little modern "green" equiv to freon (a main ingredient in evaporating contact cleaners) might help.

The most fragile part, and very easy to damage beyond repair, is the metal brushes that contact the conductive plastic traces. It's a good idea to take photos each time a piece is removed so it's clear how they go back together.

Remember that the main reason the faders are being cleaned is so they operate smoothly, usually not because of audio noise or dead spots. The silky-smooth feel of P&G faders is mostly due to the slider on the shiny round metal rail. So clean the metal rail and the white nylon bushings in the slider, then apply a very light film of silicon grease or equivalent to the rail. Clean the debris from the bottom groove before reassembly, and the old faders should resemble the smooth action of a new ones.

[Scott Smith]

Studer used to supply some kind of light oil for their custom faders on the 169/269 series mixers. I have no idea what the composition is of it, but it was required to maintain the "feel" of the fader (similar to the P & G). I have avoided using silicone grease on these, as I was concerned about the silicone migrating to the conductive element. I have still found 1,1,1 trichloroethelane to be the best cleaning agent, but once my stash is exhausted, I guess I'll have to move on...

 

--S

[greg sextro]

A good source for Silicone Oil is Dale Manquen from "Manco"

He's in Thousand Oaks - 805.529.2496

[Wyatt Tuzo]

Ill second Dale. He is fantastic! I have a bottle of fader oil that I bought from him... I've used it to revive an 8ch AD board, a smoke damaged 10ch Sonosax, and boards of at least two regular contributors to this site. I guess what I'm saying is- It'll last you FOREVER. I think I still have about 85-95% left in the bottle

[Jan McL]

Ill second Dale. He is fantastic! I have a bottle of fader oil that I bought from him... I've used it to revive an 8ch AD board, a smoke damaged 10ch Sonosax, and boards of at least two regular contributors to this site. I guess what I'm saying is- It'll last you FOREVER. I think I still have about 85-95% left in the bottle

 

Yes. It's true.