Tips for fixing bad difficulty switch?

[Astro Rabby]

Hello everyone. I have a four-switch 2600 I've had for a while, and recently it's left difficulty switch has stopped working.

 

It works fine on A, but when I try to switch it to B it just doesn't work, it remains as if it were on A [IE ship is wider in Space Invaders despite the position]. If I hold it on B it works but naturally that's impractical.

 

Anyone got any advice on this?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Just spray a liberal amount of contact cleaner into it and move it back and forth several times. Then spray again and do it again. That will usually restore switch function quite well as the issue is grime and corrosion getting inside causing the switch to not register properly. 

 

Another issue is that on the later made Atari units that used all plastic housing switches, the plastic itself just wears out and deforms enough that the switch isn't able to make proper contact internally anymore. In those cases cleaning it won't do much since the initial issue is that the actual contacts inside just aren't able to touch properly. So... the switch is best replaced in those instances.

[Astro Rabby]

13 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Just spray a liberal amount of contact cleaner into it and move it back and forth several times. Then spray again and do it again. That will usually restore switch function quite well as the issue is grime and corrosion getting inside causing the switch to not register properly. 

 

Another issue is that on the later made Atari units that used all plastic housing switches, the plastic itself just wears out and deforms enough that the switch isn't able to make proper contact internally anymore. In those cases cleaning it won't do much since the initial issue is that the actual contacts inside just aren't able to touch properly. So... the switch is best replaced in those instances.

By contact cleaner you mean like WD-40, right?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

32 minutes ago, Astro Rabby said:

By contact cleaner you mean like WD-40, right?

No...unless you are talking about the WD-40 brand of contact cleaner which, they do make. I mean actual contact cleaner, also known as tuner cleaner. 

[+SpiceWare]

 

 

This is the WD-40 version of contact cleaner, note that it specifically says "CONTACT CLEANER":

 

 

Other thing to do is check the solder joints on the switch, they could have cracked and need reflowing. I had to do that for the RESET switch on my sixer - might need to click on the image a few times to see it full-size:

 

 

 

[edladdin]

If the cleaning does not work, Best Electronics has new old stock of replacement switches.