I have found that "Nu-Trol" by MG chemicals works quite well.
It leaves a lubricating residue so you don't want
to be using it on RF circuits like Oscilloscope front ends.

You may have to remove the thumbwheel dial on the control
to get at the pot wiper. On sealed pots I have drilled a tiny
hole in the side wall near the mount bushing and used a hypodermic
needle to inject the cleaner, with good success (retired electronics
so it wasn't for 'professional' repair).

Robert

Robert Ussery wrote:
>
> Howdy, all!
> I have some old headphones with a potentiometer volume control. Every time I
> adjust the volume, I get these loud pops and scratching noises. I assume
> this is due to bad wiper contact in the pot, probably due to dirt.
> Unfortunately, I don't have any pots that will fit, and I don't really want
> to buy any. Any ideas for cleaning/repairing the pot? It's one of these
> little flat ones with a toothed wheel mounted on top.
> TIA!
>
> - Robert

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