HP Forum Archive 03

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Cleaning wand contacts Message #1 Posted by Bill Smith on 16 July 2000, 9:51 p.m. back to my second favorite subject, which is making my 82153A Wand work with my HP-41. as a first try, it seems like i should clean the contacts inside the modular plug end. is there a safe and effective contact cleaner i should look for; are there some in particular NOT to use? thanks

Re: Cleaning wand contacts Message #2 Posted by Steve on 17 July 2000, 1:43 a.m., in response to message #1 by Bill Smith I'm pretty sure these contacts are gold plated, so would be rather hesitant to use anything abrasive, or that could act as a solvent to the glue or the plastic. Why do you think the contacts are dirty? Can you do a cat 2 and see the wand functions? Does the light come on when you press the button/bar thing? Have you tried all ports, and more than one HP-41?

Re: Cleaning wand contacts Message #3 Posted by Bill Smith on 18 July 2000, 10:19 a.m., in response to message #2 by Steve i suppose the contacts are dirty, because the wand seems to work itermittantly, especially when jiggled or re-inserted. it used to work fine. the red light always seems to work. i've tried all ports, and a second HP-41 without success. the CAT 2 function usually returns nothing, or just the start of the wand list, never the whole list. my other modules (4) all seem to work fine, except the HP-IL module which has never worked.

Re: Cleaning wand contacts Message #4 Posted by Steve on 18 July 2000, 7:55 p.m., in response to message #3 by Bill Smith The think in common with the wand and the HPIL is that they both have leads attached. There is the possibility of wires in these leads breaking, but I doubt that this would cause the ROM in the wand to disappear (I believe it's in the module part). Does the HP-IL module also fail to display anything in cat 2? Have a look at the contacts. They are springy contacts, and rely on the pressure they generate to get a good contact. Compare them with other modules. Do they seem further apart? Are they uneven? Does the module look like it's been taken apart? If you can get some contact cleaner (an electrical/electronic shop should be able to point you at some) then carefully clean the contacts. I would recomment using a small cotton swab to do this and the minimal pressure. If the cotton swab won't fit easily between the contacts, either use something smaller, or remove cotton stuff until it does. You DONT want to bend the contacts. You also DONT want to get any of the contact cleaner in the module. Read the instructions on the contact cleaner and make sure it's safe first!

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