Send/Return 1/4 inch socket by-pass switches going open circuit

I often come across corroded or dirty contacts so the amp stops functioning.
If the spriginess of the metal has failed then replace obviously, but what
about the more usual case where it is only corrosion/airborn contaminaion,
not really necessitating pulling the amp apart to replace them. Any ideas
how to deal with.
1/ solvent clean the contact/s
2/ abraid the contacts with file
3/ coat the contacts with something
3/ add compressible material , glued in place, over the spring section to
add closure force
4/ if the sockets are never used for effects etc , bridge tightly across the
contact with fine copper wire, soldered in place, "shorting" the switch - if
plugged into at some future point then the wire will break
5/ any other ideas to reduce the possibility of re-occurance

 

With what make of jack ?

It varies hugely. I've spent ages on the issue from a design angle myself.

Graham

 

I'm not going to desolder any of the present problematic ones but I would
say they are the same as Cliff UK, No 3 type.
I've seen the airborn grime problem on gold-flashed contacts though, adding
extra closure force would not a bad thing, I would have thought for this
grime/corrosion problem and more reliable active, in use, in/out contacts
via the plugs.
On that line, including on the design/manufacturing side, I was thinking.
1/ socket with no plug in so switch closed
2/ cover the switch area with a piece of plumbers PTFE tape. (if new
sockets, then wrapping the PTFE right around each of the contact areas would
keep most of the grime out, it should stretch easy enough to allow entry of
plugs, and soldering temperatures will not affect the PTFE)
3/ a section of cut down neoprene cordage, diameter the size of the slot or
slightly bigger, pushed into the "slot" in the plastic housing above.
4/ Push down the rubber with a small PTFE covered rod of some sort while
filling the top with hot-melt glue, extract the rod when cold
Unfortunately grime can still enter through the plug hole but if much
reduced air flow out of the back of the socket then perhaps less grime going
into the plug hole
5/ Another idea "flap valves" on the external holes of the sockets

 

By all means NO. Don't file, sand or otherwise remove metal from
switch contacts. That will make matters worse. If I can get in the
right spot, I'll "polish" them with a dollar bill (open the contacts,
put the bill between the contacts, close the contacts and work the
bill around or pull it out a few times.)

Caig D5 usually does the trick.

Nah. If it's worn out, replace it.

You're better off just using a short patch cord from Out to In.


-Dave

 

This thread is gettin' funny.

OK, school-time: what you need is a GC Electronics 9337 "Plastone"
contact burnishing tool. This particular one is exactly the right size
for cleaning Cliff's (and Re-An and other Cliff's-clone) jacks. The
tool is flexible, and can be bent into any necessary shape to
reach the jacks' switch contacts. You insert a plug into the jack
to open the contacts, stick the burnisher between them, and
remove the plug, allowing the contacts to close on the burnisher.
You then saw the burnisher back and forth a few times to remove
the crud. THIS WILL NOT DAMAGE THE CONTACT SURFACES,
regardless of what you might see posted here by anyone else.
Finsh the job off with a shot of Caig D-5 or D-100 between the
contacts.

This GC tool is from the heyday of the telco era, and was designed
to service the phone system when it was largely electro-mechanical.
There is a larger size - the GC 9338 - which is ideal for cleaning
Switchcraft 12A and other American-style open-frame jacks found
on older Fender amps. Best thing about these tools is that they cost
less than two bucks each, and last virtually forever. Here's a dopesheet:

http://ralphselectronics.biz/images/GC-9337.jpg

If you can't find them locally, I sell 'em - and so do a lot
of other distributors. They're an essential part of any
PRO amp tech's kit.

Lord Valve
Expert

VISIT MY WEBSITE: http://www.nebsnow.com/LordValve
I specialize in top quality HAND SELECTED NOS and
current-production vacuum tubes for guitar and
bass amps. Good prices, fast service.
Authorized dealer for QSC amps, Sovtek/Electro-Harmonix,
Behringer, Hammond-Suzuki, Leslie, Rolls, Weber VST, etc.


- Partial Client List -
* Derek Trucks (Allman Brothers Band/Derek Trucks Band/Clapton World Tour) *
* Meatloaf * Catherine Wheel * Yo La Tengo * Let's Go Bowling *
* Kofi Burbridge (DTB) * Tod Smallie (DTB) * Susan Tedeschi *
* Roy Pritts (former head, Audio Engineering Society) *
* Rob Hyckys (guitarist for Commander Cody) * Waky Amps *
* Jamie McLean (guitarist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band) *
* John Pierce (bassist for Huey Lewis and the News) *
* Rob Eaton (guitarist for Dark Star Orchestra) *
* Detroit Frank DuMont (guitarist, Frank DuMont and the Drivin' Wheels) *
* Coco Montoya * Clint Black * Bill McKay * Mojo Watson * Dick Dale *
* Fleetwood Mac * Tyrin Benoit * Eugene Fodor * Dale Bruning *
* Komet Amplification * Dr. Z * Maven Peal * Blockhead Amps *
* Jim Kelley * Balls Amplification * Roccaforte Amplifiers *
* Gerhart Amplification * Aiken Amplification * Germino Amplification *
* Lots More *

NBS Electronics, 230 South Broadway, Denver, CO 80209-1510
Phone orders/tech support after 1:30 PM Denver time at 303-778-1156

- Our 27h Year -

VISA - MASTERCARD - PAYPAL - DISCOVER

"It ain't braggin', if ya can do it." - Dizzy Dean

 

This does the sum store of ZERO for the switching contacts on either a Cliff or
Re-an jack.

I can't really see how it'll help on Switchcraft pattern jack either.

Graham

 

You are an ass and an ignoramus.

Field experience trumps your opinion, wanker. Get stuffed.

LV

 

Put a U-jumper. Normalled contacts have no place
in a high-vibration environment anyway... unless they
are doing non-critical (input shorting) work.
__
Steve
..

 

The trouble is calling them contacts is mutton dressed as lamb.
The static part of the "contact" is just the cut end of metal strip that is
touched by the moving part of the switch, likely to score any burnishing
tool.

 

Clean the ones that respond and replace the ones that don't. The worst part
about this is that you will have to test clean to know if it works. This is not
nearly so big a deal as you make of it.

Burnishing works. I can't see why you object to the concept.

The Cliff type jacks are not usually problems and really don't require this
overcomplication you're bringing to the subject. Annual execise by the user and
the occasional professional cleaning keep them in shape. You can complain about
the aesthetics, but they work fine and have for decades.

Ron

Effect pedal demo's up at http://www.soundclick.com/ronsonicpedalry

 

Well LV............

You're *WRONG* ! And I can assure that I have vastly more experience on this subject.

The only solution is to REPLACE the defective jack socket. Any problem will simply
'come back' after supposed 'treatment'.

So there.

Graham

 

unless it works.

 

I'm sure that I'm probably opening myself up to a bunch of abuse here, but I
have to say that in over 35 years of repairing group amps, the number of
occasions that I've found the effects send and return socket switches
causing a problem of intermittent output, has been so small that I would
consider it negligible as a problem, and certainly not one that would
warrant doing things like wrapping the sockets up in plumber's tape or
shorting across them with breakable wires.

I would absolutely refute that replacement is the *only* way to deal with
any such bad contacts, and that any sockets treated with a contact
burnishing tool and then with a protective contact oil, will bounce any
quicker than if a replacement socket had been fitted.

There is absolutely no reason at all that if an oxide layer is chemically or
physically removed from a contact surface, without removing any material
from the actual contact material, or if airborne contamination is removed
from a non-reactive precious metal plated contact surface, that those
contacts are not restored to the exact same condition that they were when
they left the factory. You could buy a *new* socket that had sat in a bin in
a supplier's warehouse for two years, and had plenty of time for the
contacts to start oxidising, so fitting that may not in fact be any better
than correctly cleaning the already-fitted socket.

Over the last few months, Mr Cook has voiced some very odd concerns on here,
and seems to have had more than his fair share of - how shall we say -
unusual ? - problems. If my working day was filled with such concerns all
the time, I would never make any money, and would be considering it time to
give up, I feel ...

Arfa

 

Going by the rusty cabinet screws on a lot of the kit I see they must be
stored in sheds or garages.
Anyway this example I "abraided" with a cut segment of nylon cable tie and
"Brasso" metal polish, cleaned off by a strip of card dampened with meths.
Drilled a hole through the board either side of the switch and tied some
silicone rubber cordage around the switch passing through a piece of plastic
barrel that seated neatly in the top of the flexing metal strip.

 

Slick, I've been servicing this stuff for forty years. 'Nuff said.

LV

 

You're wrong.

I supposed you're used to that, though.


LV

 

N Cook wrote:

Holy shit!

Never mind...



Lord Valve
ROFLMBFAO

 

Yeah, you may have been servicing it, but you don't have the valuable experience
of making your own solder and flux to an ancient family recipe, drawing your own
wire or rebuilding amps using parts from a 1920 Indian Chief.

Ron

Effect pedal demo's up at http://www.soundclick.com/ronsonicpedalry

 

Sez you.

You pluralized a word with an apostrophe. That's a hanging offense where I come
from, pardner.

LV

 

Well said. There was a letter in my Sunday paper just last week about
exactly that ...

Arfa