My amp suddenly going silent when volume knob touchedi have a ordered

I agree with mofimadness4. Almost sounds like the Rotel doesn't have a proper ground causing static to be discharged through the electronics and not the case.

sifter,

     I seriously hope xti16 hasn't started a trend on this thread of readers voting on whether static or carbon deposits are the cause of your issue. 
    mofimadness4 could be correct about your issue being static related.  I was unaware of static possibly causing your issue and have never experienced it myself.  I am aware of carbon deposits on the volume shaft causing your issue, have experienced it myself and resolved it with a can of inexpensive tv tuner cleaner.  You should know I'm not an electrician, just a lifelong A/V enthusiast with some experience.
     I place no importance on which of us may have correctly diagnosed your issue and definitely know it won't be solved by a popularity contest.  I think it's more important that the focus remain on getting your issue properly resolved.  
    The truth is that the cause and remedy for your problem is currently uncertain.  Since both of our solutions seem to be relatively inexpensive, one option would be to try one than the other. 
     Best case, one of them works.  Worst case, neither one does but at least you've ruled out 2 possible causes and solutions.
     If it was my gear, I'd likely opt for the simpler, more direct but slightly more expensive solution of having a professional at a reliable local electronics repair shop resolve the issue.  My thought being that you may resort to this option anyway if neither suggested cause is correct.
     But it's your gear, time, money and choice. 
Best wishes, 
Tim

Tim I have never had build up in the volume pot cause the unit to shut down where you have power cycle the unit to get it to work again. But what I have had seen with build up on the volume - balance or tone controls is a static sound that will come through the speakers.

Very interesting to see what possible causes could be. I'll to try grounding myself first. If no help, than tuner cleaner would make perfect sense. Thank you.

I was in the high-end audio business for many years.  This has happened many times in my experience.  Especially this time of year when the furnaces come on.  They tend to produce more static electricity in the air then at other times.

Also, if you are wearing socks, they will pick up the static from the carpet and pass it through you.  I have solved this by wearing rubber soled slippers or spraying the carpet with an anti-shock spray or grounding myself, (touching a metal post on my rack) before I touch the unit.  Any unit that uses some type of a logic chip can get zapped whether it's for volume or switching or DSP functions.

We had a thread on here several years ago about this same thing, but I can't find it at the moment.

I've also never heard of using tuner/contact cleaner to solve this?  If you had a scratchy or noisy control, yes, but not this particular problem.