Beamspring Switch Disassembly and Repair

[Firebolt1914]

I'm working on fixing about 10 broken beamspring switches, and I'm wondering what the best way to completely disassemble one of these is.

I know that I have to remove the metal stem, however just pulling on it with a tool doesn't seem to work that well. The switches that I want to repair all have a bent stem, sometimes in more than one place. What would be the best or easiest way to remove the metal stem?

Next, what should I do to get the metal stems straightened out?

[XMIT]

Best to search around this site. Somewhere there are some scans of an IBM repair manual that talk about everything you're asking about! Also check out ohaimark's thread where he rebuilt my former Displaywriter board.

[just_add_coffee]

I'm working on fixing about 10 broken beamspring switches, and I'm wondering what the best way to completely disassemble one of these is.

I know that I have to remove the metal stem, however just pulling on it with a tool doesn't seem to work that well. The switches that I want to repair all have a bent stem, sometimes in more than one place. What would be the best or easiest way to remove the metal stem?

Next, what should I do to get the metal stems straightened out?

I recently had to learn this, but to remove the metal stems ... you do have to pull them out with something that grips the stem. I initially used needle-nose pliers that didn't have any gripping teeth and the pliers would slide off. What did work: Vise-grips like these ...



Clamp it on tightly and evenly, and pull straight out with a good amount of force.

Sorry I can't help you regarding straightening out the stems. Hopefully someone will be along who can offer some ideas!

[orihalcon]

Best bet to flatten the stems would be with a vise, and then just confirm you have them flat by laying them down on a sheet of glass/plexiglass/known flat object to see if they are still bowed or not laying flat. Vicegrips or regular pliers will work for the actual pulling part. To get the most leverage, I usually pull the metal stems out while the switches are still in the barrel plate and you can pull up on the stem while the barrel plate is secured down either by your foot preventing it from pulling up with the stem as you pull, or hold it down to your bench with nuts/bolts/washers on the edges to provide leverage against. Try to pull with a smooth motion straight up.

Another video on my to do list I guess. I haven't forgotten about that displaywriter spacebar video, just_add_coffee!

[JP!]

I was able to pull a couple out with my needle nose pliers but just barely. My large linesman pliers pulled them out easily.

pliers.JPG (362.96 KiB) Viewed 2048 times