Cleaning Push-button Switches

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

iangomes

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 17, 2008
Messages
199
Location
Toronto, Canada
Working on a Studer console with those winky-eye push buttons. They seem to need some cleaning, but I'm not sure how to get any Deoxit in there. Anyone have any experience here?
 
Winky-eye switches sound like Schadows.  If so, you can see an opening in the top of the switch body near the plunger.  In fact, if you press the button, you can see a little shiny steel wire moving back and forth inside then opening.  That allows you to SPARINGLY use some sort of Magic Contact Goo.

Best,

Bri

 
I've had success cleaning all the switches [Schadow] of a 269 Studer monitor module, using a syringe.
You can see a very little "linear" opening [sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right] between black and brown plastics on the top rear of the switches, its enough for inserting the needle.

 
Those Shadow switches are "self-cleaning" but only if they are used frequently.  Once they tarnish they are tough to clean.

The trick to cleaning is that you want to get the cleaner at the contacts and not the plunger channel because the lube there gets diluted and cleaned also. 

I use the syringe, I get SC needles for diabetics at the drugstore, shoot a cleaner only in small amounts towards the back, and excersise the switch listening for improvement.  Repeat until improvement, then apply a small amount of ProGold with a different syringe as a conditioner/lube.  A little on the plunger as well.  Have to be careful if the needle!!  I don't really like the tech needles.  IM needles are larger and longer if you know anyone who gives themselves vitamin shots.

This works for a few cycles, and then the switches need to be replaced.  Most commercial situations that require total operation go for replacements.  I deal directly with arpamax.com in Spain.  Quite easy to deal with in quantity.  I stopped using the UK distributor because when they weren't closed for a bank holiday they were out to lunch or gone after 3.  Totally not interested in selling switches in my experience!

Mike
 

Latest posts

Back
Top