JRC NRD-525 Tuning Encoder nearly seized

[barchetta]

New to me NRD-525.. I was using it last night and the tuning knob slowly got harder and harder to turn. At first I thought it was some sort of heat issue but it was not.
I got the front panel disconnected but now I need to get all the knobs off to remove the board from the front panel and they do not want to come off. Only the NB knob came off so far.. and boy was it fun figuring out which allen wrench to use on the tuning knob but I finally got that off.

Do I just pull the knobs as hard as needed to get them off?
Is there a way to lubricate the tuning pot? Worst case I drill a small hole and attempt to salvage? Is there a bearing? I presume it might be a sealed bearing which means no way to lube.

Thank you.

 

[RufusDawes]

Had same issue with my KW R5000, turns out the shaft cold welded to the bearing... i gently dropped some anti seizing compound on the bearing/shaft location and started to turn is slowly, and work it free... probably took about 30 minutes and several applications of the anti seizing compound (liquid wrench) but it works great now, spins freely... At first I had to use some expandable pliars around the shaft it was so stiff, but eventually all turned out well.

 

[barchetta]

Had same issue with my KW R5000, turns out the shaft cold welded to the bearing... i gently dropped some anti seizing compound on the bearing/shaft location and started to turn is slowly, and work it free... probably took about 30 minutes and several applications of the anti seizing compound (liquid wrench) but it works great now, spins freely... At first I had to use some expandable pliars around the shaft it was so stiff, but eventually all turned out well.

I was thinking some gun oil but maybe some LW first. I guess I can lay it down so the oil goes slides down the shaft but I hate to have anything over-run inside.. The knobs just dont want to come out..

 

[barchetta]

Used some gun oil. I feel like I used too much.. I turned it upside down so now the oil can flow back out.. It freed up quickly. Almost too quickly.

 

[RufusDawes]

You don't need much, I used a tooth pick to drop it around the shaft.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Yeah years ago my ICR-9000 shaft encoder seized up. I thought some WD40 would fix it NOPE. It was a $90 part back then. I replaced it and saved the original. Some day i am going to try to figure out why it seized. It cannot be hard to fix, but at the time it was boggling not worth my time.

 

[barchetta]

I used WAY too much.. if those knobs werent so hard to get off Id tear it down and clean up any access.. but I dont want to risk breaking something. It works fine now, I put it all back together and all seems to be well at the moment. Was hoping by laying it upside down Id find some come back out but not so much.

The reason I chose gun oil over a simple penetrant is that stuff doesnt tend to hang around long term in my experience and gun oil is thicker.. spins great now.. was worried I damaged it trying to make it move when it didnt want to.. it was practically seized. Wonder if there is a real bearing in there.

Thanks for the help.. ebay people really want a lot for their 40 yr old parts.. I guess if mine broke I could double my money by parting it out. Hell, I could get half of it back by selling the VHF/UHF converter which I dont know that I'll ever use.. maybe if I buy a house where I can put some antennas up.
They sure dont make them like this anymore.. I was looking at the machine work on the tuning knob.. wow.. In todays money with a chassis and all, this is a $4k radio.. but then today, its a single chip. I sure wish they made a NRD-525 exactly as is but SDR.. a nice tuning knob with some knobs to adjust filters and so on.. Dont understand why no one is doing that.. everything is menu driven.. I rather dislike menu driven stuff. Ok enough.. thanks.