Fujitsu Leaf Spring 3rd gen, cleaning

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TNT

06 Jan 2021, 02:41

Heya,

is it a bad idea to clean (like wash) 3rd gen leaf spring sliders? I have a board on which the sliders are kinda dirty and I wanted to give them a good bath before reassembling the board. Like with ALPS, I'd give them 30-45 Minutes in warm water + dental cleaning tablets, since I do not have an ultrasonic cleaner.

However, are those lubed switches or to be precise, sliders, and will I therefore basically ruin them by doing this? They are not super dirty, but I have the board disassembled anyway, so I figured I might just clean them while I still have them lying around.

User avatar
ZedTheMan

06 Jan 2021, 02:47

Those things are fine to clean and I'd encourage it. I'd also recommend using some dry or light wet lubricant, can help with any off center binding on particularly dirty ones.

User avatar
TNT

06 Jan 2021, 02:54

Thank you for the quick answer.

I'm still waiting for Nek to reveal the results of his ALPS lube research and I'm going to purchase some of that stuff that he recommends. Do you think that one will work for those too?

User avatar
ZedTheMan

06 Jan 2021, 18:18

Frankly, no idea. I think these take well enough to traditional lubes though that such a thick grease as what he's looking at won't be needed.

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hellothere

07 Jan 2021, 01:16

I owned a Tandy 1000 for about a month :D.

The only thing I'd caution is to make sure that whatever you use isn't runny/liquidy and doesn't have anything conductive. There might be some other things to caution you about, too, but I'm not an expert.

The main difference between the Alps lube conversation and lubing the FLS is that the Alps switches are all discrete. FLS? The slider contacts the spring and that's directly on the PCB. I could see contaminating other leaves being a problem.

xxhellfirexx

07 Jan 2021, 01:39

hellothere wrote:
07 Jan 2021, 01:16
The main difference between the Alps lube conversation and lubing the FLS is that the Alps switches are all discrete. FLS? The slider contacts the spring and that's directly on the PCB. I could see contaminating other leaves being a problem.
I don't see this being a problem. The switch plates that the leaf springs press on are sealed. These switches are used for industrial applications.

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