The New Hotness

The meter range switch on Squidwrench’s HP 6201B bench power supply became erratic enough to get me to tear it apart:

For future reference, apply a 9/16 inch deep socket after loosening two teeny setscrews in the knob.

The date codes suggest a mid-70s assembly, but the design dates back to the 60s with no plug-in anything:

Rather than unsolder eight switch leads, I wrangled it into a visible location:

The knob and shaft sit on a separate metal bracket held in the white plastic ring with a pair of expanded prongs. Squashing the prongs together released the bracket, so I could see both sides of the switch wafer:

Note the copious markings which would, in the event of an actual finger fumble, give me a better chance of reassembling the spilled guts. Turned out not to be necessary, but it’s good to be prepared!

The actual repair consisted of easing a drop of DeoxIT Red into each side, spinning the central switch wafer / contacts a few dozen times, then reassembling in reverse order. Re-bending the prongs turned out to be the most difficult part, eventually requiring the designated Prydriver, and ended well enough.

A quick test with a 100 Ω power resistor shows the supply was working fine and the switch produced the expected results without glitches or twitches:

You just can’t beat the performance of old lab equipment!