NDX5XS/nDAC/282/XP5XS/Fluffy Toy “Hicap”/NAPSC/250DR/Chord interconnects and cables/ATCSCM19’s.
Occasionally, the system sounds a tad “off colour”.
If I press down and hold the zapper’s balance control and let it shift all the way to the right, I hear a worrying “scratchy” noise from the right-hand speaker.
Pressing down and holding the left balance control and the noise gradually decreases and dissappears.
Afterwards, performance is back to normal.
What’s going on? 
I remember as a very young child asking my dad why he was turning back and forth the volume and balance knob several times on the stereo. He said it was from noisy pots needing a clean !
A practice that I still do every now and then.
It sounds very much like a problem in the balance pot. You seem to have made that diagnosis already with your worrying noise comment.
I had the same on my Nait-2, I could fix it for a while as you have by exercising the pot, but like me, it’s probably best to go for a new pot
Not cleanable, then?
What happens if you whizz the balance fully left to fully right, say, 25 times?
It might be worth trying a clean if its possible to get contact cleaner into the pot.
But I’ve never found that to be a permanent fix
Careful with the use of contact cleaner. It will strip any lube thats in there.
If you’re going to spray anything, make sure it is suitable for pots.
i get the same with my 282. just whizz 'er around a few times 'til the crackle goes away.
The whizz is significant- with noisy pots I have found a few rapid turns from back and forth usually does the trick, but not slow turns - and that means physically using the knob, rather than using a remote motorised control.
With all this whizzing, which admittedly I started, having a whizz behind a tree after a lunchtime pint on a weekend country walk is never going to be the same again.
You’re just going to have to keep twiddling your knob. 
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