knight Posted August 16, 2003 Share Posted August 16, 2003 Hello All, I finally had enough with the static when I turned the volume knob of my 4.1's. I decided to take the control pod apart and fix it. Here are the steps. 1. Slide the control pod away from the speaker. 2. Remove the 4 screws and cover using a phillips head screwdriver. 3. Remove 2 more screws and flip over the PCB board. 4. You should see the volume knob, connected to a sliver knob. This silver part is attached to a blue box. In between the silver knob and the blue box you will see a thin gap (see attached picture). Take a can of WD40 and spray generously into the gap. Keep turning the knob back and forth to make sure it soaks in. (I did this with the speakers on to hear the static go away....DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK) 5. Put back together. Voila! Klipsch, shame on you for not posting an easy fix for this problem. Stop trying to sell your "new" CP-1! You are losing me as a customer. Great product, but I Dont feel like getting hustled because you made a design mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgde Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 Interesting. Some questions: Won't WD-40 mess up the connections since it is greasy? Isn't it conductive? Didn't it make a mess of your control pod? How would it fix crackling? Thx P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight Posted August 25, 2003 Author Share Posted August 25, 2003 ---------------- On 8/21/2003 3:24:15 PM pgde wrote: Interesting. Some questions: Won't WD-40 mess up the connections since it is greasy? Isn't it conductive? Didn't it make a mess of your control pod? How would it fix crackling? Thx P. ---------------- no, WD-40 is ok for these conections. It doesnt take long for it to evaporate anyways in open air, so its not a problem there. As far as being conductive, im not sure, but yet again, I think its ok because it will evaporate. All its doing is cleaning the connections on the volume control, I didnt "soak" the entire board if thats what you mean. I guess some expensive electronics cleaner would be a better alternative, but I was just willing to risk it and it has worked out great. The crackling that I used to get was when I would turn the volume knob back and forth. There must have been something on the contacts, so just by getting something in there to clean the contacts it cured the crackling problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD1032 Posted August 25, 2003 Share Posted August 25, 2003 ALL RIGHT! You sir, are a brave man! You have gone where no man has gone before...fixing the static problem! I salute you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilled Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Does this really work....and does it have to be WD-40, anything better or more reliable? Cause I've been having this problem for a while and finally decided to do something about it. Kinda pissed me off since I knew that Klipsch speakers were like the best speakers on the planet. I wanna fix these so that I can give it to someone while I get my new Logitech z-680 5.1 awesome bangin' system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD1032 Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Skilled, switching from the PM4.1 to the 680's isn't going to be easy. You're not going to like them as much (They will sound crappy in comparison). If you MUST have DD, though, go ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacemonkey Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Knight is right... My 4.1 had static... I followed the instructions... BAM no more static... SWEET... Thanks... Spacemonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koitsu Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Too bad this doesn't work for the ProMedia 2.1 control pods. Our pots/VRs are mounted upside-down in comparison to yours (so the slit/notch is against the PCB, i.e. impossible to get to). See attached picture. Klipsch needs to re-engineer their CPs entirely with more reliable hardware / less dust-prone pots. Possibly insulating the CP a little would help keep dust amounts low, and/or removing the rubber knob ends and replacing them with something more robust (how about coating them with something so the rubber doesn't wear down over time?). I think simply insulating the CP would suffice. We'll never see this happen though. And too bad, since their GMX series completely blows goats (love that idle hiss -- same problem the Logitech Z-680s have, which Logitech came out with a fix for (replacing the control pod!)). Such is life though. Klipsch makes such great speakers, and the PMs sound so incredible. Ahh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 DO NOT USE WD-40. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT. You must use, if anything, contact cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD1032 Posted October 4, 2003 Share Posted October 4, 2003 Why not? Instead of screaming, why not explain? After all, it seemed to work. At any rate, my PM4.1's are working perfectly and don't need maitenence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 Its been a few weeks at least, and the speakers have never sounded better. Again, im sure there is something better then WD-40 out there, but its a poor mans fix, and I have had absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. Contact cleaner might be a better solution, but for me, it was either upgrade or try and fix this set with whatever means I had. WD40 has always been my friend, (I figured duct taping it wouldnt do much) so I gave it a shot. Anyways, glad I could help out some other klipsch owners. Im suprised klipsch hasnt started selling a CP "cleaner" for 29.99 a bottle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefoobar Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 First of all to the concerns about WD-40, it's not intended to be a contact cleaner for electronics although many people seem to use it with no adverse effects, including myself over the years in a pinch. Ideally though, go to your local Radio Shack store and buy a can of general purpose contact cleaner for a few bucks. As the for pots in the Promedia 2.1, yes, it's true that the pots are mounted unside down in this control pod. Having said that though, I have had success spraying contact cleaner directly over the top of the pots and letting it drip to the bottom as well as spraying the very small area where the control shaft goes into the pot, then doing this multiple times while letting the boad stand at different angles to try to let gravity do it's thing. Also, if you don't mind a mess, the contact cleaner you can buy at RS is a VERY high pressure can. If you spray it closely to these areas and stand back (especially with your eyes covered) some of the spray can't help but get inside the control. Of course, rapid twisting of the contol as others have pointed out helps work any that gets inside onto the resistive surfaces. I've done this successfully to remove the noise when turning the volume control. It's worth noting that the noise always occurs where you mostly adjust the volume control. For most people this is at the very lowest end to about 1/4 of the lowest end. Another solution if this doesn't work for you is to adjust your software volume control so that you can leave your Klipsch volume control more toward the center, where it doesn't wear as much. Hope this helps. P.S. One last thing...you REALLY have to push hard to get the pod to slide off of the speaker bottom. I had to actually carefully "pound" on the pod with the base of my hand to get it to budge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedac167 Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I can't believe I've been living with this static for 4 years! I bought some contact cleaner at home depot for $6 and did exactly what you said you did with the WD-40. It worked perfectly. Now I can enjoy my speakers without that annoying static every time you turn the volume knob. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegasRick Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I just ordered my THIRD 2.1 volume control pod in the past 18 months. The volume pot switch is notorious for failure and nothing has been done about it which leaves just one question....WHY NOT? The difference in cost for the mfgr. of this control pod to install a TOP OF THE LINE pot switch would be at the most a couple of dollars, and I'm being generous. The 2.1 pro media system is the best selling unit Klispch has ever marketed (don't confuse that with the best sounding). I don't understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted June 6, 2018 Share Posted June 6, 2018 klipsch just sent me my third pod in a very long ownership time. wow, this pod sounds great. the controls are a hard plastic and not the soft rubbery ones as before. i state that only to describe which pod i got. i could be just the nobs have changed, (most likely). anyway's the system sounds better than ever.i'v tried all the other brands and for the price point there is no comparison. KLIPSCH ROCKS! i would like to mention that the cleaning suggestions are a good first choice for someone who is not afraid to open the pod and get the spray where it needs to go. first air and then cleaner. try that or spend the 23 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzxt Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 It's extremely sad that you had to do this. Klipsch is going downhill. My control pod is even more jacked up than yours. WD-40 won't fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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