Taking off knobs - damages the potentiometer?

[monoaural]

i was wondering, after changing caps, taking them off and putting them on again, have you ever experienced that some potentiometers feel different afterwards, in terms of more easy going/ smoother / less resistance?

I just finished assembling my shruthi-1 and had to remove the caps 3 times. Afterwards, or maybe i just haven´t noticed it before, one knob just feels more easy going, smoother in terms of less resistance. I worried if damaged it.
I was thinking to give it a go with nice DJTT caps, but worried to risk more damage..

[Jester]

I doubt it, unless you have somehow bent the potentiometer. No problems here

[mdcdesign]

i was wondering, after changing caps, taking them off and putting them on again, have you ever experienced that some potentiometers feel different afterwards, in terms of more easy going/ smoother / less resistance?

I just finished assembling my shruthi-1 and had to remove the caps 3 times. Afterwards, or maybe i just haven´t noticed it before, one knob just feels more easy going, smoother in terms of less resistance. I worried if damaged it.
I was thinking to give it a go with nice DJTT caps, but worried to risk more damage..

It's POSSIBLE, but not likely. I've had it happen once or twice, but only with poor quality pots. The good news is, replacing a pot is not - in itself - a particularly difficult task

[monoaural]

@jester
i´m pretty sure the shaft is not bent. it´s a plastic shaft. i think i would break before bent.

@mcdesign
i think these are ALPS potis. well, the good news, aren´t do good. as i soldered the potis i could barely push the little feets through the PCB holes. they stuck pretty strong on the PCB, i think desolder and removing them would be a very hard task.

what exactly happened once or twice?


In the end i could resist. I grew up with "the Program with the Mouse". Some of you probably know. I opened a spare poti to have a look inside. Now its much more clearer for me. I´m pretty sure i havent damaged anything. See that white grease. I think thats the reason why all potis just all feel a bit different compared with each other. I my opinion i depends how much grease is involved. Now i understand, why potis just gets smoother when using them and "warming up" the grease just gets more fluent. This experiment cost me 68 cents. Definitely worth for spent.-)




IMG_5845.jpg

[Patch]

Agreed! Money well spent.

[mdcdesign]

@mcdesign
i think these are ALPS potis. well, the good news, aren´t do good. as i soldered the potis i could barely push the little feets through the PCB holes. they stuck pretty strong on the PCB, i think desolder and removing them would be a very hard task.

what exactly happened once or twice?

On mine, the pot actually became significantly stiffer, to the point where you could actually feel it binding at certain points in its rotation.