[Boatanchors] Cleaning a bandswitch

[parinc1]

MY bottle  lasts a long time, so I have not seen  recent pricing. But I will say that Caig (or Craig)  Labs that makes DeOxid is VERY proud of  their  products.
Stiil, it is a great product.

Dale W4OP
________________________________
From: Dave Sublette <k4to.dave at gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2025 7:32 AM
To: Ed - K9EW <k9ew57 at gmail.com>
Cc: parinc1 <parinc1 at frontier.com>; Boatanchors Reflector <Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>; k4to at arrl.net <k4to at arrl.net>
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Cleaning a bandswitch

Best Deal I can find is a 5 oz bottle, needle applicator for $32.99 from Apollo AV in Michigan.  Anyone got a better deal?

Dave, K4TO

On Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 10:20 AM Dave Sublette <k4to.dave at gmail.com<mailto:k4to.dave at gmail.com>> wrote:
Thanks!  I will get on with it.

Dave, K4TO

On Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 9:42 AM Ed - K9EW <k9ew57 at gmail.com<mailto:k9ew57 at gmail.com>> wrote:
I second Dale's suggestion about cleaning the crystal pins and sockets.

If some bands work and some don't, it may be a crystal problem.  The crystals may have aged (oxidized) and won't oscillate due to high resistance.  The solution then would be to find replacement crystals.  The crystals could be resurrected, you may want to ask a crystal manufacturer to do that for you.

-ed, k9ew

On Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 8:29 AM parinc1 <parinc1 at frontier.com<mailto:parinc1 at frontier.com>> wrote:
The  standard cleaner sems to be DeOxid. They make it in a spray can but that is wasteful (and maybe  dangerous), so for years now I have ben buying it in a small plastic bottle with a needle applicator.  On a rotary switch, a Q tip + DeOxid  is  ideal as long as you  don't leave cotton threads. But  first, I would remove the heterodyne oscillator crystals and clean the pins and then insert/pull reinsert and se if that does  not solve your problem.

Dale W4OP
________________________________
From: boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net<mailto:boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net> <boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net<mailto:boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net>> on behalf of Dave Sublette <k4to.dave at gmail.com<mailto:k4to.dave at gmail.com>>
Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2025 6:08 AM
To: Boatanchors Reflector <Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net<mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>>
Subject: [Boatanchors] Cleaning a bandswitch

My beloved Drake 2B has quit operating on a couple of bands.  I suspect
that a few positions on one or more of the bandswitch wafers need cleaning.
Q-tips, isopropyl alcohol and spray contact cleaner come to mind,  But is
seems to me that a very thin bladed burnishing tool for relay contacts
might also be called for.  I know caution is in order so as not to file
away the surface area of the delicat blades and fingers.  What other
techniques might you know of?  I am not anywhere near to being a
competent restoration tech.  I know there is a valued source of info here.
What say ye?

Thanks and 73,

Dave, K4TO
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