Thanks again everyone. I guess my "assumption" (boy there's the "make an A-- out of ME" bit) was that the silicone was mixed with conductive material of some sort.

daf

Good information. I'm now disposing of what I thought was an electrically conductive lubricant. THe switch works great, like I said I applied it in "cloth applied" amounts, ie.. super thin. Guess I lucked out there. Yea, for reference, it was R77 that had developed a loose solder joint. I soldered the jack again too just to be sure and all of the others as well.

No red flash when i bang on it. No intermittent switches between channels. Hurray..I can avoid making our band look stupid next audition!

daf

P.S. It did seem strange when I read it, since I remembered the term "dielectric" being used to describe the insulating medium between conductors in a capacitor.

Perhaps the product is mislabeled then, because this is the product used on spark plug boots between the plug and the boot. Bad spot for an insulating lubricant/corrosion preventative, so I'm going to have to assume the package is mislabeled.

Found the problem, though. It was a cold solder in the foot switch circuit, near the foot switch input jack. Thanks for your help.

daf

The dielectric grease was a touch I added because they have a contact slider that "pinches" the switch "rails"(poles) as it slides. There was visible wear so I thought dielectric grease would not only reduce friction, but also provide for continuous contact between the slide and the "rails."

There's nothing plugged into the foot switch jack when it glitches on me, but I'll check those resistances anyhow.

What makes it seem like an intermittent physical open/short is the fact that hitting the cab corrects the problem temporarily.

daf

Hello everyone,

First, I'd like to thank all of you who have contributed to this forum and especially to the Crate Amplifier discussions. With your help, I've been able to nurse this amp along. The schematic has been invaluable. Thanks again.

I've finally reached a stumper: I'll have the amp in Clean Channel and at random intervals while playing, it will switch to O/D and stay there. This is where it gets weird (especially since I thought I was pretty thorough in looking for cold solders): If I smack the amp (like Fred Sanford opening his secret cash drawer), it will go back into CLEAN and stay there. Smacking it while it's in Clean Channel, will cause it to momentarily switch to O/D (it blinks red is all.)

I took the switch apart, cleaned the contacts, applied VERY LIGHT dielectric grease, checked again for cold solders..saw nothing. I'm beginning to wonder if there's a cold solder in the foot switch circuit that just isn't obvious? I don't know, I've spent 3 days on it and I'm throwing my hands up.

Our drummer had a sense of humor about the amp being this flaky..until we started auditioning leads. Then it wasn't so funny anymore. Unfortunately, my budget means no new gear til tax time..so it's fix it or go without.

Anybody familiar with this problem? Have any new approaches I might try?

Thanks again and rock on,

daf