lti wrote on 2024-09-08, 22:27:
I need to do the same thing to the old Harman/Kardon HK-206 speakers that are plugged into the TV in this house.
I finally cleaned the volume pot in those speakers. In the tradition of being a complete moron, I missed one screw on the back, forced it apart, and broke that post off. There is some glue on the corners of the front panel, and I thought I just needed to pry them apart to separate the glue. I'm getting so weak and shaky that I didn't think I would have the strength to break plastic that thick. Then I turned power on (to make sure the pot wasn't scratchy anymore) with a bunch of screws under the board, but it didn't cause any damage. After that, I wasted half an hour trying to get them reassembled before noticing that there was a wire caught between the two enclosure pieces. How did I get so far in life? As I get older, I make more stupid mistakes, but more people think I'm a genius at the same time.
Anyway, they're working for now. I might have made it worse, considering that the pot feels rough and loose now. I've never used the "fader" Deoxit, so I didn't know that it would also wash the damping grease out (grease that specifically provides some resistance when turning the shaft) like regular Deoxit. I guess you're supposed to completely disassemble them and apply cleaner directly on the wiper and carbon track. I will probably do that with the other set of computer speakers I have, but that volume pot is probably worn beyond saving (and an oddball part that I haven't found a replacement for). I probably should have also replaced that blue Fujicon cap while I was in there, but I didn't feel like soldering today. I don't know why I left it when I did the recap in 2010, but it still has enough capacitance left to let the power LED fade out when I unplug the power at the barrel jack.
After I was done, I tested them with some Van Halen. These speakers have good bass for their size. I would take them over the usual modern computer speakers (40mm "full-range" drivers with no grille and a 4" "subwoofer" that are all in untuned enclosures, regardless of price - higher price just adds fake tweeters or DSP tricks to give the illusion of more bass for a brief moment).