How to fix your jittery Atari 2600 Paddles

My paddles jitter, how can I fix them?

First, and I can't stress this one enough, DO NOT SPRAY THEM WITH WD-40! This might work, for about an hour... and I will hate you forever if I end up cleaning them.

This process is pretty long, but it's how we clean them at AtariGuide, and they will last a long time.

A potentiometer (pot), has a ring of material with a fixed resistance. Contact is completed across a circuit, which involves going across a changing amount of the resistor based on the position of the shaft.
The pot is filled with some electrical contact goop. It has collected dust and now is not conducting properly. I have not experienced any problems without the goop. Basically, you remove the goop and your paddles are good as new. Quite a few paddles are full of wd-40 or similar which makes cleaning much messier.

You will need:

A phillips screw driver.
A small flat head screw driver.
A pair of slide nose pliers, a 3/8" deep socket, or monkey wrench.
Rubbing alcohol, the higher % alcohol the better, try to find 99%.
A small mostly lint free cloth or paper towel.
One small plastic container or bowl.
An old toothbrush.
A pair of jittery Atari 2600 second generation paddles (the most common ones).

Remove the large black knob from the top. Pull it straight up without wiggling. TIP: You might want to start with the Player One paddle. WARNING: It may take a bit of force to get it off, but don't try to use a screwdriver to pry it up, or you'll break the shaft on the potentiometer.

Remove (counter-clockwise, right-to-left on the top) the nut from around the shaft of the pot, using a monkey wrench to start it is easiest.

Open the paddles by removing the two screws in the rear. Use a regular screwdriver, not an electric or gas powered one.

Carefully open the paddle and observe the orientation of the orange button.

Observe how the switch for the button is nestled with the connectors down, with a small plastic pin between the two connectors.

Observe the orientation of the circuit board protruding from the pot. It should be between two plastic pins on the bottom. Observe the routing of the wires inside the paddle. You will need to know how these are to put it back together. Fortunately they come in pairs, so if you should forget you can look at the other one.

Remove the orange button and small washer if present and place in small tray for safe keeping. Remove the pot and the switch from the casing.

Now the tricky part.

Using the small screwdriver for an inappropriate task, undo the four (sometimes two or six) metal tabs holding the pot together. The easiest way to do this is to use the metal shaft of the pot to leverage against the tab. Warning: Please be careful not to injure yourself. You should bend all four tabs to be about straight. Warning: Don't bend them around too much or they'll break off and you're toast.

Remember the order and orientation of the parts as you remove them, look at how the circuit board sits on a certain side of the upper metal piece of the pot housing.

Remove the metal flange from the white or black pot shaft. Sometimes there will be a small black spacer attached to the shaft which will need to be removed first, be careful it doesn't fly away (usually this stays in the knob when you take it off). Remove the circuit board, leaving the wires attached. Remove the shaft.

There's probably a lot of goop around at this point.

Dump the parts out of the small tray and fill it half way with rubbing alcohol. Place the potentiometer in it and swirl it around a bit to soak the oil

Using your trusty toothbrush and ample amounts of rubbing alcohol, gently clean the goop off of the potentiometer. Be careful not to bend or damage the springy contacts. Clean it all, even if it looks like it should be there. Be careful around the six metal tips which protrude from the base of potentiometer shaft, you don't want to get these out of alignment. They should be about 3/16-1/4" above the base of the shaft, bend them up a bit if they need it (this will give them a better contact). Don't use a paper towel or it will get caught in the delicate parts

Clean the contact base for the potentiometer as well. You can use a paper towel damp with rubbing alcohol as well. If there's a lot of goop on any of the metal parts be sure to get that too. Pat everything dry, it doesn't have to be bone dry but it shouldn't be soaking we either. Warning:Dispose of paper towel carefully, rubbing alcohol is extremely flamable.

Place plastic shaft thru the ciruit board, then the bottom piece onto the shaft, then the metal retainer onto the top.

Make sure the metal tabs on the back of the potentiometer are oriented as indicated (tab towards the top), so that the contacts on the other side are not caught in the "dead zone" where there is no black contact strip on the potentiometer base.

Adjust the monkey wrench so it's only slightly smaller then the potentiometer diameter.

Use it to partially fold the tabs back over, using two squeezes on the opposite corner tabs.

Test that the shaft turns smoothly.

Adjust the monkey wrench to a smaller size and tighten the tabs nice and securely

At this point you can test the potentiometer to insure it's smooth on the screen. It may be a bit difficult to turn but that's ok. If it's not smooth, try opening and cleaning some more. Remember you can't do this too often because eventually the tabs will give in to metal fatigue and break off.

Place the pot back into the top half of the paddle, remembering to orient the circuit board towards the bottom of the paddle, between the retaining pins.

Flip it over and attach the nut to the pot, being careful not to overtighten which may strip the nut or break the plastic.

Install the washer (if present) and firebutton, being sure to align the longer end of the firebutton downwards. Route the cable so it doesn't interfere with operation and install in the cover with the flat piece of the cable restraint up to form a flat surface

Place the bottom cover on, being careful not to pinch any wires. Insert and gently tighten the two plastic screws on the bottom. Warning: Do not overtighten screws. It is very easy to break the mount.

Reattach the black spacer to the shaft if you removed it; check that it is in the knob otherwise. Reattach the knob.

Repeat once and get ready for some new high scores!