Oh, yes, that was a joke! Some time back there was a long discussion about
contact cleaning and lubrication which culminated in the Easy Off/Pam
method. I thought the fellow who came up with it was just rich.
But it is a joke. Don't put strange chemicals in your rig. Most switch
contacts are silver plated. If they are not kept lubricated (like with
Cramolin / deoxit) every few years, then the plating can wear through,
making less reliable electrical contact which further deteriorates with
corrosion over time.
WD-40 gums up over time. If you get that stuff in your rotary switch
contacts, you may wind up with troubles because you can't get in there to
clean it out. As an aside, my brother-in-law is a hunter who used WD-40 on
his rifles. On a deer hunt in very cold weather he saw a beautiful buck,
drew a bead on it and pulled the trigger. The hammer wouldn't fall, for the
mechanism was gummed up with WD-40 residue. He researched it and found that
many hunters lubricated their trigger mechanisms with automobile
anti-freeze, but don't put that into your rig, either.
Back when TV's had tuners with jillions of switch contacts, everybody sold
"TV contact cleaner." I'm not sure what was wrong with it, but everybody
including TV repairmen told me to avoid the stuff. Trouble is that you can
make an apparent improvement with your switches with just about any cleaner
and lubricant, but you just don't know the long term effects.
Other contact cleaners/lubricants probably vary in their effectiveness,
longevity and cleanliness. But why re-invent the wheel. We know what
Ten-Tec used and recommended. I bought two cans of Cramolin from them some
15 years ago for maybe $25. I'm sure I have a lifetime supply of the stuff
left.
73, Mike N4NT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carter Grabarczyk" <k8vt@ameritech.net>
To: "Mike Hyder - N4NT -" <N4NT@chartertn.net>
Cc: "NZ8J" <timcook@erinet.com>; <TenTec@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 02, 2002 8:58 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Dirty Band Switch??
>
>
> Mike Hyder - N4NT - wrote:
> >
> >
> > One fellow suggested 'Easy Off' oven cleaner to clean them and 'Pam' to
> > lubricate them.
>
> Mike,
> Whoever told you that had to be pulling your leg, right? I don't know
> about Easy Off specifically, but in general, oven cleaners are EXTREMELY
> strong and used to contain lye (nasty stuff). Think about it-ovens get
> thick, nasty baked on grunge that needs a powerful cleaner; band
> switches don't get anywhere near that dirty and using an oven cleaner on
> them would be major overkill and probably do major damage to the radio.
> Leave the kitchen stuff in the kitchen.
>
> 73/Carter/K8VT
>
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