Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Browning
Maybe I’ll give them a try if they’re not too much. I’ve taken mine apart so many times over the years to clean the contacts. It just won’t work right anymore.
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Solid state vibrators are difficult to impossible for anything less than about 4 volts input. (Too much voltage drop for the driver circuit to run properly, and putting an inverter in there to provide a supply for that is not really on.)
Best method for cleaning vibrator contacts is to run them from the domestic AC supply with a 25 watt light bulb (rated for the AC supply voltage) in series to limit the current.
The supply voltage (115 or 230 volts) will break through the insulating layer of crud that forms on the contacts (which the design voltage will not do) and get the vibrator started (the lamp - a proper incandescent type (Not a CFL or LED one!) is there to limit the current to a safe value. Leaving it running for a few minutes will clean the contacts quite successfully without needing to open the unit up and clean it by hand (which risks damaging the contacts and/or the reed). You may notice tha lamp brightness varies: this is a beat frequency between the vibrator reed and the AC supply frequency.
Due care (and a safety isolating transformer) is needed when doing this.
Chris.