Problem with Cramolin contact cleaner

[Bill Cotter]

Hi all!

I have just had an experience I'm trying to unsort. After using the
three-part Cramolin cleaners to clean all the tube sockets,
switches and controls on my HQ-180, it barely works on two of the
six bands. On the working bands, it only works in AM - SSB the bfo
appears either way off or dead and the audio has pops and cracks.
Prior to the cleaning, it worked well on all bands, except for
rather scratchy switches and controls. Prior to cleaning, the
visible portion of the band-switches had a light buildup of a
bluish residue resembling the color of Channel Master contact
cleaner and had the gunky consistency of lubriplate.

I followed the Cramolin cleaning instructions to the letter:
Saturate the switches and controls with the petrol-based Cleaner
first, lightly brush off any solids, then completely rinse the
areas with the alcohol-based Spray Wash right afterwards, then
apply a modest coat of the Protection to each surface. Thinking I
had mis-applied the product and left some kind of residue behind, I
went through the process again. The receiver worked only slightly
better (may be subjectively better ;^). Still only two of six bands
working (upper two, double conversion mode).

I'm at the point of diminishing returns being too close to the
problem. Any ideas or similar experiences with these products, or
Crims? Cleansing process? Debugging tips?

Thanks in advance.....

73 Bill N4ALG

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 Bill Cotter, N4ALG             E-mail: bcotter at pop.uky.edu
 173 Carolyn Lane               Home: (606) 887-5563,2402
 Nicholasville, KY 40356-9340   Work: (606) 323-6474

ARRL    ARCI #9878    QRPl #1646    QCWA #29393    FISTS #4535
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