[Heath] [Heathkit] [Heathkit:Yahoo] Pot shaft stuck 'rock solid'

[Chris Kepus]

I'll second, third, and fourth the following statements: 
1: Buy/make one of the following penetrants (all will work) - Liquid Wrench,
Kroil, PB Blaster, 50% Acetone/50% ATF (automatic transmission fluid)
2: Apply as recommended (shaft pointing up. 
3: Add GREAT amount of patience - resist touching for a minimum of 12 hours.
Add a bit of additional penetrant about every 4 hours - doesn't take much.
4: Use Trask's and several other's techniques of applying moderate torque
and twisting it back and forth. Attach a spare knob and tighten set screw
(use a kno with two set screws if you have such a critter).  If it doesn't
move. Don't force it. Try again in 8 hours.
5: If after a couple of days it still isn't moving, you can try John's
method of applying heat and repeat steps 3 - 4.  Use heat again. 
6: If it still hasn't loosened up after 3-4 days of work...you can continue
the soaking treatment; or you can try to "break" the bond of whatever crud,
crap, or corrosion and risk permanently damaging the control...which at this
point you are prepared to trash, anyway. Of the suggestions presented, the
one likely to work is to use a pair of vise grips / channel locks or combo:
One tool to grab the body of the pot, the other on the shaft. You can figure
out the rest.

73 es Good luck,
Chris
W7JPG


-----Original Message-----
From: Heathkit [mailto:heathkit-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Chris
Trask
Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2014 7:36 AM
To: heathkit at yahoogroups.com; heathkit at yahoogroups.com;
heath at puck.nether.net; heathkit at mailman.qth.net
Cc: Robert Myers
Subject: Re: [Heathkit] [Heathkit:Yahoo] Pot shaft stuck 'rock solid'

>
>I have a pot whose shaft got stuck 'rock solid' somehow after a few 
>years of non use - but at one time it worked smoothly (it's the ON/OFF 
>switch + pot on my SB-610).
>
>Are there any standard solutions for this?
>

     I had this situation years ago with a Heathkit high voltage power
supply.  I applied Liquid Wrench to the shaft at the front panel, a little
bit at a time for more than a week, carefully trying to move the shaft
before each application.  It gradually came loose and has been working fine
ever since then.

     It takes time, patience, and Liquid Wrench to loosen things like this.


Chris Trask
N7ZWY / WDX3HLB
Senior Member IEEE
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~christrask/
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