Cleaning switches and sliders

Got my Sharp GF-9191 delivered, so how do I clean up the switches and sliders?

I read here about Deoxit, but is that all there really is to it? Anything I should avoid doing?

Ed.

Deoxit F5 has a higher oil content than the regular stuff. Using any switch cleaner will tend to remove the grease inside the slider rendering it stiff. As the solvent dries overnight, the slider action will improve. However, I always carefully apply some grease to slider (avoiding the electrical tracks).

Spraying sliders is bad. Taking them apart to clean and re-grease is probably the best choice, but I've never done it LOL.

jimmyjimmy19702010 said:

Deoxit F5 has a higher oil content than the regular stuff. Using any switch cleaner will tend to remove the grease inside the slider rendering it stiff. As the solvent dries overnight, the slider action will improve. However, I always carefully apply some grease to slider (avoiding the electrical tracks).

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Just had a look at Deoxit F5 on YouTube, since they use it on mixing faders it'll be worth a shot for the price.

Just an added $.02... it might be best to allow enough time for the solvent to dissolve before powering up the boombox. I think I remember reading somewhere here where someone shorted out a boombox because of the excess liquid. It might not happen, but maybe better safe than sorry.

Disassembly, cleaning and proper treatment, conditioning and lubrication before reassembly is the best and longest lasting repair. However, these are reserved for the most extreme cases only because one can only disassemble a control a small number of times before the metal tabbed fasteners fatigue and break off. Therefore, even with all the drawbacks of liquid solvent (i.e. deoxit and the like) cleaners, they should still be the first line of defense and treatment used since they are fairly effective, even if the effects of the procedure is not as durable as the aforementioned process. Used carefully and selectively, solvent use is non-invasive and generally fairly safe to use however thorough cleanup afterwards and protection from overspray during application is advised.

Thanks for the tips, looks like for the switches (not sliders or pots) the Servisol Super 10 is suitable at half the price. After playing around with the 9191 all evening and reading up on the mono/stereo/wide switch issue, it is a little dodgy on mine. I'll give it a squirt and see how it goes, hopefully it isn't a board problem.

Since the sliders aren't broken I'll not fix them, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

More experimenting (i.e wiggling switches and the turning dial) confirmed that one or more of the switches on the board where the Mixing/RecMode/CrO2/Stereo Mode switches are, needed attention, or worse the board was duff.

Intermittently the audio output from the left channel went much lower than the right and the left VU meter also confirmed it, I had to increase the left volume to compensate. Bizarrely what also worked was switching the Mixing switch to the on position with the Fader Control dial all the way to Source. The left audio output then actually went slightly higher than right.

I opened up the 9191 and gave all the switches and Fader Control pot a squirt with Servisol Super 10. Result, the left channel is equally as powerful as the right now no matter what switches I wiggle, I now have reliable stereo with VU meters matching and the Mode switch works Mono/Stereo/Wide as it should.