Voluime knob issue

My volume knob is starting to have the problem many of you have had, with the volume going down sometimes when I turn it up, and visa versa. It also doesn't respond sometimes to slow increments.

I know this has been talked about quite a bit, but what is the best solution - clean it, purchase a new volume knob, or is it software related?

If I need to purchase a new one, how can I go about doing that?

Thanks guys!

I replaced mine, but the procedure is tricky. Details here.

Please note that doing so will not fix all volume knob problems.

If I just want to clean the knob itself, is that a simple task, or does it require desoldering and other stuff as well?

I don't remember whether the casing of the encoder was such that it could be disassembled from above without desoldering it. My recollection is that no, you'd have to desolder it to get it off of the board at all to even get to the point where you might be able to even attempt disassembly.

Then there's the issue of... by disassembling it you might ruin it beyond repair...

And as Rob said, and I painfully discovered... getting the encoder off without destroying it and the PCB is nearly impossible. You're much safer just clipping the thing off and putting a new one on.