20
Thought I had a genius fix for a sticky autopilot disconnect switch
Had a Cessna 172 in the hangar with a switch that felt gritty. Instead of ordering a new one right away, I figured I'd flush it with some DeoxIT D5. Sprayed it, worked it back and forth, and the switch went totally dead, no continuity at all. Turns out the cleaner washed all the old, conductive grease out and left it high and dry. Now I'm waiting on a $300 part. Anyone have a better method for cleaning these old switches without killing them?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
iris57414h agoTop Commenter
Actually, that sounds like a totally reasonable thing to try. DeoxIT is made for cleaning contacts, so using it on a dirty switch is logical. Sometimes old grease turns into an insulator, and cleaning it out is the only real fix. You just got unlucky this time; the switch was probably already on its last legs. Next time it might work perfectly and save you the three hundred bucks.
8
leelewis9h ago
Yeah, @iris574, when you say "old grease turns into an insulator," what exactly does that gunk look like? Is it just hard and crusty?
8