Panasonic RF-2200 restoration adventures - Part 3

This post follows Part 2 on the same subject. As anticipated, I proceeded in the restoration project of my Panasonic DR-22 (also named the RF-2200BS) with trying to clean-up contacts of front-panel switches and potentiometers.

For this purpose I bought some products: a spray "dust remover" (compressed air) and a couple of well-known products from CAIG Laboratories: the DeoxIT D100 for switches and the DeoxIT Fader for potentiometes. Here below a picture of the toolkit, ready for use:

First step was to try to remove as much dust as possible from inside the case, the switches, the potentiometers and the tuning variable capacitor. Using a bottle of spray compressed air was quite appropriate for this operation, as illustrated by pictures below:

Next step was to use DeoxIT D100L cleaner to restore proper behaviour of contacts in front-panel switches. CAIG guidelines recommed to always wipe off excess of their products. However, wiping off excess is sometimes not possible, especially if the cleaner is applied into a semi-sealed part, like in my case. If this happens, CAIG recommend to just apply a small amount of their product into the part to be cleaned. Here is where the "small squeeze tube" type of applicator helps (compared to the more common spray type), as it allows providing small drops to the target device.

Final step was to apply the CAIG Fader F100L to the potentiometers, to restore and lubricate their internal contacts. Here again, the small squeeze tube applicator proven to be perfectly suitable for my needs:

Just after a single application of DeoxIT, I noticed a significant improvement in contact reliability of switches and in noise of potentiometers. Nevertheless, the 125 kHz marker switch will require a second application of DeoxIT, as it still works not perfect. I plan a second round for it just before re-assembling the unit in its case. Stay tuned for more RF-2200 restoration adventures.