[Chuck Schwark]

Well....none of these potmeters were supposed to be ever opened. It is formally not consider "repairable" part; it is a resistor and it is replaced when going bad.
Some of them had some ways of being cleaned, some did not, but other than spraying "blue shower" in a hole that was it.

But people with some dexterity, of course, can open them up and fix them, if at all possible.

I would say, first, when ready, power it up and see if it works at all. A volume control is not something that is going to kill anything.
Then you will see if you have problems with volume adjusting.

For instance, my potmeter in my 80 Jr. is beyond repair - there is a bald spot, right where the minimum volume should be. No amount of Deoxit will fix that.

I've never heard "potmeter" used as a slang or contraction for "potentiometer" before. Is it regional? Just curious...

Chuck

I have no idea, Chuck. I picked it up while working here in the US and acquiring the local terminology (did not know it before - in my language it is a "poh-ten-tsi-oh-meh-tr", potentsiometr, if you transliterate) from speaking to sales folks or some engineers I worked with. Wouldn't remember where and when - but I've heard it more than once since, along with "pot". When I use it, it never creates any misunderstanding, so I assumed it is known well enough. "Potentiometer" for me is a bit of a tongue-breaker, and "pot"...suggests something different than a variable resistor

I, too, usually just use "pot" to describe a panel mount variable resistor.

Chuck