cleaning alps carbon faders (from a soundcraft 400b)

anyone have tips on how to clean this style of alps faders? some of mine are a little scratchy and don't feel quite as smooth as they should. any tips or trick would be greatly appreciated.

i use deoxit on almost anything.
I usually take pots and faders apart and then spray just a touch of deoxit on the part(i wrap a cloth/paper towel around it so i dont get it everywhere).
I let it sit for a minute and spray a little on a q-tip and then just clean it with that.
Works well in everything i have dealt with so far.

Sometimes i flush hard to reach parts with a little rubbing alcohol then do the deoxit treatment.

I read the same method in a MIX magazine article as well for boards/equipt ect.

I cleaned the faders on my 200B and learned a valuable lesson:

DO NOT USE ALCOHOL!!

Alcohol seems to react with the carbon element and "dry out" the faders, making they sound scratchy. Using DeOxit works pretty well though. Caig (the company behind DeOxit) has another product called FaderLube, or something like that. It cleans and lubricates the faders. I've used it before and it seems to work really well. Just one tip - the bottoms of those faders aren't sealed and neither is the base of the console, so if you spray the FaderLube into your faders, you'll end up with a drippy console....

Good luck and let me know if you discover anything else.

I had an old Soundcraft Series 2 and in the manual, it said to use water with a bit of mild soap to clean the faders (P&G), then let them dry of course. I never tried it though. Compressed air usually did the trick.

Be careful with the deoxit! It is for metal contacts and can get capacitive, or corrosive at worst.
Any kind of cleaning has to be followed with a re-lube.
I have seen everything used: WD-40, 3 in 1, P&G fader lube, Deoxit(red or gold), Tuner-renu, TF with lube- and they all degraded the faders over time.

I would not use any of these products! Especially on carbon faders.

The alcohol cleaning is good if used sparingly, but you have to follow-up with the Caig Fader lube or lube supplied by the manufacturer, applied with a tech qtip(no fuzz) not sprayed. Best to separate the wiper and clean it gently with alcohol. Spraying a product into a fader and calling it clean is wrong. Even if it sounds clean it will gunk-out and crackle soon.

This only applies to carbon faders. Plastic is very different. I only use the P&G oil for cleaning and lubing, and alcohol for the wiper assby and guides.

Cleaning only or application of other lubes will work for a while, but will deteriorate the element over time.
Mike

The faders may become scratchy from leaky electrolytics in front of them. The DC across the carbon creates that noise. Change you couplingcaps and check if the faders are still scratchy.

as usual, you guys deliver the goods! all great advice, thank you!