Q. I wonder if you can give my a bit of help or advise with the following problem?  I have a

Ferrograph 632 which I've owned since about 1970 and its always been a superb machine to use.

A few years back the playback volume pots started playing up with all the usual crackling and

stuff and I thought I would give them a squirt of electrical degreaser which worked at the time for
quite a while. However I noticed that the metal dust cover was missing, which was no doubt the cause

of the problem! I am now using the machine to digitalize a lot of my tapes and the problem is back, so I

need to sort this out.

Is it possible to replace these completely these days ,or fix them in some other way.

It seems a bit difficult getting spares unless you buy a complete machine (for breaking) and as I live in France

this is not exactly practical! The record pots incidentally are perfect and I have replaced most of the valves .
Any advise welcome, best regards, Tony Dellaway, France

A.

With regard to the noisy output controls, you seem to have done the right thing with the switch cleaner.
Usually, there is usually a small hole in the pot to allow this, and the best way of doing it is do it with

the machine disconnected from the mains, then using a good quality switch cleaner squirt some more
into the pot, both halves and turn the output knobs back and forward for a few minutes, then repeat the

process. Allow a little time for the cleaner fluid to evaporate away and turn the controls firmly
forward and back for about 2 mins. Now, try the machine.

If the problem is still there, the pot will require replacement, the value and type should be listed in the

632 manual and can be obtained from most electrical component stores, if they don't have these in
France, perhaps you could browse the web for Maplin electronics in the UK they should be able to

supply what you need, but access is not always that easy.
The problem often arises on vol pots that aren't used much, e.g. left at one setting all the time. Record

pots are moved more often when setting levels, and are not affected the same way. With pots in one
spot most of the time, a dirty spot is formed on the resistance track, this causes the noise you hear it

when you move the pot. So try the cleaning again before embarking on replacing parts as they are not the
easiest to get to without a fair amount of dismantling.

Comment: Hallo again, thought I'd let you know that a few more squirts of
electrical cleaner did the trick, it seems to be working about right
now, many thanks for your help!
Best regards, Tony Dellaway