Re: 87 CGT Dash Lights

[Robert Houk - WorkGroup Server Firmware <Robert.Houk@East.Sun.COM>]

   >  open the switch.  Be sure to use some contact cleaner and/or
   >  sandpaper to clean up the contacts inside the switch.

   I use an emery file that I stole from my wife.  It's a 'buffing" type and
   isn't as abrasive as most.

It's still *way too* abrasive. You want to "polish" (as in smooth and
shiny) the contacts. Sandpaper (and emery files) leave a very coarse
surface that arcs/pits *very* quickly (relative to mirror-smooth
contacts). If you're really unlucky, you quickly grind your way
through the "hard" surface coating and expose soft copper base, which
pits/corrodes even faster!

They (the ubiquitous "they") make a tool called a burnishing tool --
basically a [small] emery file only very very fine abrasive (like
jeweler's rouge) for polishing relay/etc. contacts. Should cost not
too much more than a pack of emery boards (i.e., it's cheap and
affordable), try your local electrical/hardware supply. (My Newark
mailorder electronics catalog shows them at $28.95/package-of-12,
typically also available singly at electronic/hobbyist stores).

					-RDH