Volume Pot Problem - volume going up again from 1 to 0?

[Fidde]

Hi there folks!

I'm building a Wenge VIP (hollow body all wenge, with wenge neck and ebony fb) and I've wired the electronics and everything works fine except for the volume pot, which is acting all weird. It works fine down to about 1, where it cuts all signal, but when I keep turning down to 0 the volume increases almost up to full again. Also the pot crackles a little just before the volume goes back on.
I thought that my grounding on the volume pot might have sucked since it looked kind of funny, so I redid it without results. Then I hooked up another ground wire from the volume pot's ground joint. This didn't cure it either, so now I don't really know any other solution for it. :sad1:
As I said, everything else works just fine and the volume pot works almost fine, it's just very irritating that it acts so weird. :icon_scratch:
Has anyone had the same or similar problem before?
Is the pot damaged or maybe just dirty inside that makes the connection go come back again when I turn it further?

Quick help is very appreciated, since I kind of need the guitar to be up and ready on the 26th of March!

Cheers!

 

[Firebird211]

It does sound like you damaged the pot via too much heat applied to it.  Some people make the 10 side of the pot a no load by removing the little bit of carbon film towards the end, or putting nail polish over it.  No load means no resistance to bog the sound of the guitar down at all (balls to the wall).  The scratching goes away eventually as the pot breaks in, but the heat probably shriveled up the carbon on the 0 side, so it's not contacting.  If you have an ohm meter, put the leads on the outside terminals, if it reads open, then the pot is shot.

 

[Fidde]

It does sound like you damaged the pot via too much heat applied to it.  Some people make the 10 side of the pot a no load by removing the little bit of carbon film towards the end, or putting nail polish over it.  No load means no resistance to bog the sound of the guitar down at all (balls to the wall).  The scratching goes away eventually as the pot breaks in, but the heat probably shriveled up the carbon on the 0 side, so it's not contacting.  If you have an ohm meter, put the leads on the outside terminals, if it reads open, then the pot is shot.

Thanks man for your quick answer! I'll try to remove some carbon film or use the nail polish. (Whichever seems easiest) The thing is that I didn't even heat up the volume pot that much, so it'd be strange if the volume is busted. I was more concerned about the tone pot, that one I was heating for a long time after failing a few attempts on soldering the cap to the same spot as the grounds. But the tone is fine and the cap also..

Thanks again! I'll be sure to upload some pictures and maybe some clips when it's done

 

[Firebird211]

AAAAhhhhh, don't do that.  That was only an example of what people do on purpose to the other side of the pot, which causes the same problem that you have.  It's just yours seems to be on the opposite side, so when you turn it down, you get one last bump of volume.  It would almost be safe to say the pot is bad or defective in some way.  If you can get your hands on the multimeter, do that before you tear the pot apart.  When the volume is turned all the way up, this feature acts like a bypass, by breaking the connection to the pot at the highest volume setting. Yours seems to break or even add extra resistance at the lowest volume setting.  Do what you gotta do, we are here to help, I didn't want to lead you astray.

 

[Fidde]

AAAAhhhhh, don't do that.  That was only an example of what people do on purpose to the other side of the pot, which causes the same problem that you have.  It's just yours seems to be on the opposite side, so when you turn it down, you get one last bump of volume.  It would almost be safe to say the pot is bad or defective in some way.  If you can get your hands on the multimeter, do that before you tear the pot apart.  When the volume is turned all the way up, this feature acts like a bypass, by breaking the connection to the pot at the highest volume setting. Yours seems to break or even add extra resistance at the lowest volume setting.  Do what you gotta do, we are here to help, I didn't want to lead you astray.

Hehe dude, I wasn't going to put it on the 10 side, ofc not!
But you know what? It worked with the nail polish!! :headbang: Now it only bumps the volume for a tiny bit of the evolution, but when it's at 0 it's quiet! I still get some minor hum when on 0, about as much as if it would be on 6-7 something, but I can definitely live with that! I'll probably replace the pot in the near future, but this will do for now! I didn't have to tear the pot apart, I only had to trim the nail polish brush a little (Sorry mom), to make it get inside without touching anything else  :icon_biggrin:

Thank you so much man! I've had a pain building this guitar, was much harder than building the one before, even though that was the first I ever built. Wenge can be a bitch sometimes, hope she pays off in the end!
Cheers!

 

[Firebird211]

Phew, I'm glad that worked out for you then. :rock-on: