On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:24:55 -0800, Larry Jaques
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:11:18 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Jeff
Wisnia quickly quoth:

Larry Jaques wrote:
Where can I find one of those nice little pen-style electrical contact
burnishing pens (cheap), guys? Feeler-gauge types would be OK, too.

My 3-year old stove is making serious arcing sounds of late.

Two days after reading your post our kitchen wall "Regulator" style
pendulum clock stopped at 5:20 AM.

Ain't no way you can hang that one on me, bud.


It's about 25 years old and has a somewhat unusual movement, which dates
from just before inexpensive quartz clocks hit the market and took over.

What, it lasted only 25 years between maintenances?


A simple mechanism, with a toggling action snaps a set of contacts
closed when the clock runs down a bit whereupon the motor run a few
seconds until the clockspring is fully wound and the contacts snap open.

Pretty cool.


Our clock stopped because the contacts in that "switch" were a little
burned and didn't connect when they sprung closed.

That'll do 'er.


They were relatively easy to access and I used the striker strip from a
book of paper matches to burnish them with, a trick I'd learned a
zillion years ago. I followed up by running a folded strip of paper
through them to clean off any abrasive left on them

It's running like a clock again.

That was timely. groan #2

I'm just going to have to break down and buy a set of the things.
I don't like mickey mousing electronics or electrical stuff
unless there's no way around it, and then it's only temporary.
I've used point files before, too, but replaced the points later.
Thanks for the tip, though.

Hi Larry,

I worked in electronics repair for a good many years. Save
yourself some money and use some fine sandpaper. Usually
around 200-320 grit works great. If the contacts are really
burnt, you can file them (if you can get a small file in
between them, usually not) or use 60-100 grit. I have
burnishing tools and they are a waste of time. They do have
a use though, but not what you think. Read on.

Cut a narrow strip of sand paper, about 1/8-1/4 inch wide
and maybe 2-3 inches long. Now fold this in half and grab it
with a pair of hemostats. File or burnish away. When you're
happy that you've cleaned them up enough, follow up with a
piece of folded over (folded for rigidity) paper or better
yet thin cardboard (white card stock variety). Run the paper
through like the sandpaper and keep replacing it until it
comes out clean.

If you have a burnishing tool, slip the blade/abrasive part
out. Now use it sandwiched in between the sand paper you cut
out earlier with the hemostat clamping it all together.
Better yet cut the sandpaper the same width and length
(double so you can fold it over) as the burnishing blade.
This gives you an excellent stiff tool (grin) for cleaning
contacts with an abrasive surface that is replaceable.

I cleaned a lot of relays, contacts, switches... through the
years and this works good. Burnish tools only work if the
contact doesn't really need cleaning anyway. If they really
needed cleaning and you use a burnishing tool, you'll be
back in short order to do it again and again and again...
--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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