We have a sputter coater that has a bunch of PCB mounted push button in the front panel. The complaint is that they don't work. The Physicist contacted the company, and they said that these switches are obsolete and no longer available from the OEM manufacturer or any others. Pictures from sputter coater company attached. I checked the in-circuit contact resistance. All measured ~1.5-2MΩ when open. When initially pushed, the resistance drops a little. Anywhere from ~1MΩ to 500KΩ. With a lot of forceful pushes, the resistance can drop to anywhere from 50KΩ to 5KΩ. But that doesn't last. I assume with a carbon contact that the 5KΩ is a good contact. I see a lot of posts out there about cleaning rubber/carbon/metal contacts. But they are all disassembled. I thought maybe spray De-Oxid might work, but I don't know how it would affect the carbon.
Any ideas or experiences?
Ken
Any ideas or experiences?
Ken