"Un-potting" pickups

oh thats a good one........

not that I know of --- but I too am now curious................
 
From another forum...

"Well - this is gonna sound weird, but I did it once in very gently boiling water. Took the worst off with a hair dryer and the pup resting on some paper towels, taking great care not to get the hot air TOO hot or TOO close. Kept worrying the hot air would damage something if I got it too close or whatever. Then I thought wait a cotton-pickin' minute here..... check the melting points, and waddya know:-

Paraffin or container wax 55C
Mould wax 60-62C
Beeswax 62C
Dipping wax 65C
Microcrystaline waxes 165C to 240C

So unless we are unfortunate enough to have the special microcrystalline stuff (not very likely) they all melt below water's boiling point. And boiling water in an open pan will not go above 100C at atmospheric pressure (you can boil water over a flame in a paper bag - it will NOT get hot enough to set the paper alight.....)

Got a saucepan, filled with water AND PUT A PLATE ABOUT THE SAME SIZE AS THE PAN IN THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN (so the pup's metal did NOT contact the pan's metal and get too hot by direct conduction from the cooker).

Lowered the pup in and bought gently to the boil safe in the knowledge that it can never exceed 100C in an open pan. And before it got near boiling - the wax floated out to the surface. I spooned it off with a cold spoon (solidifies pretty quick if you keep the spoon cold under the tap in-between.

Give the pup a little jiggle and turn it over to get the last out and there you have it - a soaking wet, painfully hot pup. Lift it out onto some paper towel and leave to dry - maybe with some very gentle help from a hair dryer or fan heater.

Only did it once - why? Well, couldn't hear enough difference to make it worthwhile....."
 
...and this.

"Potting goes deep into coil forming higher capacitance beetween rows and you cannot do anything about it once the coil is potted. Majority of factory pickups are vacuum potted, bobbin is forced to squeeze out the the air between rows of wire which, now, is filled with wax. All you can do to remove the wax is to break the coil, clean the former and rewind it with new wire."
 
Make it a photothread, Gahr - and don't forget the selfie pics at every stage because I suspect this sounds straightforward whereas in reality it could be extremely frustrating... :D

(&, 1st time on a cheap pickup.)
 
Mr Grumpy said:
Make it a photothread, Gahr - and don't forget the selfie pics at every stage because I suspect this sounds straightforward whereas in reality it could be extremely frustrating... :D

(&, 1st time on a cheap pickup.)
Click to expand...
Oh, I have no plans on actually doing it. At the moment I don’t even have any potted pickups.
 
Well, how about a "wax potting your pickup" photothread followed by this dewaxing photothread? I could send you a candle if that helps; what colour would you prefer... :D
 
I've just been doing some kitchen science (literally). I find that wax dissolves nicely in ordinary paint thinner - the kind you use to clean your brushes. We call it white spirit. So get what you can out with heat, then dump the whole pickup in a jar of solvent and leave it for an hour or so - shake it a bit occasionally. Nothing will get damaged.
 
DonP said:
I've just been doing some kitchen science (literally). I find that wax dissolves nicely in ordinary paint thinner - the kind you use to clean your brushes. We call it white spirit. So get what you can out with heat, then dump the whole pickup in a jar of solvent and leave it for an hour or so - shake it a bit occasionally. Nothing will get damaged.
Click to expand...
I've got plenty of leftover white spirit after painting my house, if I were to try it out on something. But how would you get rid of the smell afterwards? The pup would reek of paint thinner...
 
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