[Hallicrafters] YOUR SX-101

[W4AWM at aol.com]

Hi,

I have to admit that I heard it happened a lot with Drake gear so I figured 
it was something to do with the material in their band switches.  Based on that 
assumption, I sprayed an S-38 band switch with De-Oxit. I tried to do it 
sparingly but you know how spray cans are.  The result was that a receiver that 
only worked on two bands suddenly started working perfectly on all 4.  I was 
delighted. I played with the receiver for a couple of days and it started to 
become very hard of hearing on all bands.  I rotated the bandswitch back and forth 
and it gave every indication of being dirty, although the contacts were 
bright and shiney.  Closer inspection with a magnifying glass revealed that the 
some of the contacts were actually not making contact with the rotor. Applying 
pressure on them with a wooden dowel would bring the receiver back to life. It 
was impossible to tell if the wafer had warped by looking, but there is no 
other answer since pressure on the contacts made it work.

I have cleaned many band switches since, both Drake and Hallicrafters, but I 
do it carefully with a Q-Tip or tape head cleaning tool with only a drop of 
De-Oxit applied to it.  I have nad nothing but success since and no further 
problems.

De-Oxit is an extremely fine product, It just doesn't get along with some 
wafers. This is a case of less is better. 

I had never sprayed anything but TV tuners before this happened, but back in 
those days, the cleaners were not as potent, or maybe we were just lucky.

73,

John,  W4AWM