I might be tempted to try an external switch to find out what the circuit
requires for more predictable/reliable operation.

The rubbery buttons' pads are conductive, obviously, but rarely low ohms in
resistance. With a common momentary switch and a 1k (or 200, 470 etc) series
resistor, the unit may operate just fine.
Then check the resistance of the existing switch to see if it's near the
improvised resistance that works well.

The rubbery switches' conductive pads generally increase dramatically with
use. Looking at aged conductive pads, they often develop a glazed-looking
surface from being pressed repeatedly.

I often scuff them very lightly with very fine abrasive (approx 600 grit) or
one of those fiberglas pen scuffing tools, but very lightly.. just enough to
remove the glaze from the pad.
The resistance comes back down, and the conductive pads work fine until they
get glazed again.. many uses later (like keyboard keys, IR remote buttons
etc).

--
Cheers,
WB
..............


"Meat Plow" wrote in message
news
Yaesu VX-5R tri-band hand held. Momentary contact power on/off button.

I've owned this radio for 9 or 10 years. Recently I have to push several
times on this rubber on/off button to get the radio to come on. But it
always takes just one touch to turn it off. And the radio works fine
otherwise including all the other buttons. Just have to play around
pressing the button maybe three/four/five times. Sometimes it powers on
when pressed once! But always shuts off with just one easy push.
This indicates to me that it's not a problem with button contact but
rather a microprocessor problem.

Discuss.



--
Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse