To lube or not to lube

[uniqueid]

Hello.
Does anyone know if contacts inside the switches supposed to be lubricated?
I am talking about all those toggle switches in 30 years old peaces. Internally the toggle is transferred into sliding motion and copper contacts are sliding on a rail. I do not see any sing of lubricant there, but not sure if it is because of age or it was never lubricated in a first place.
I hope this question does make sense.
Thank you for all your suggestions.

[Erkenbrand42]

You can go to Radio Shack and get Electronics Cleaner with Lubricant. That's what I use for all of the vintage gear I bring to the bench. It works out the buildup of dirt and oxidation, and does have a very light lubricant that will keep the switches moving freely. Just make sure you have everything unplugged before you start playing around - and when you're done cleaning let it sit and dry for a couple of hours before you plug it back in.

[uniqueid]

Thank you. I was hoping to find out what was used at the factory if anything.

[titanstats]

Deoxit, or something similar. Pretty much the first thing to be done when servicing an old piece of gear. It will remove static from pots and switches, usually will make contacts work like new.

[spartanmanor]

Do a search here on Deoxit you will learn alot.

[uniqueid]

I've read about Deoxit on this board; sounds like good stuff.
Some switches I actually take apart and cleaning is not an issue with those. I just wanted to find out what Pioneer did. It is possible that they did not lubricate switches (contacts, not the mechanism) at all. After all – whatever they did worked for 30 years.

Thanks for all your input.

[Bigears]

I've read about Deoxit on this board; sounds like good stuff.
Some switches I actually take apart and cleaning is not an issue with those. I just wanted to find out what Pioneer did. It is possible that they did not lubricate switches (contacts, not the mechanism) at all. After all – whatever they did worked for 30 years.

Thanks for all your input.

I always find brown/tan colored grease in old ALPS switches in the slide areas. I use DeoxIT F-5 for cleaning/lube unless they are particularly stubborn, then I'll try a shot of D-5 followed up with F-5 to lube the switch.