Which part of Alps switches make contact?

[snacksthecat]

Hi Guys,
I have four brown Alps switches that are dead. I ran them through an ultrasonic wash and tried to clean the metal bits with isopropyl alcohol but unfortunately they're still not working. I think I should be able to save them if I could understand their construction better. I'm wondering, where in the switchplate does the contact happen?





Thanks!

[kekstee]

You cannot reach the contact point without breaking apart the rivets on the switch plate assembly. In the upper half of the picture you can see an opened one with the corroded dent in the middle. That's the actual contact point between the plate and the "leaf", held apart by a plastic spacer.

IMG_20170519_215117.jpg (934.8 KiB) Viewed 2044 times

(The bracket on the outside presses the thin bronze coloured layer against the back plate.)

[snacksthecat]

Ah, thank you for the photos. I would have wasted a lot more time futzing with the switches to make them work again.

I think what I'll do is use the switchplates from some orange alps I have around. I'll swap the little metal leaf to preserve the feeling as much as possible.

[kekstee]

I think you could pry it apart from the top a bit without breaking the rivets. You should be able to get a look at the state of the contact, maybe there is even a way to clean it a little.
Not quite sure though. It's been a while since I sorted/cleand those.

[snacksthecat]

In case anyone ever wondered what an orange leaf looks like compared to a brown leaf for some reason, here are some (blurry, poorly lit) pictures.

Brown is on the right.

[snacksthecat]

Hey this is kind of fun! Here are some pictures of the dummy switchplate on the brown alps.