suggestions on backplane cleaning? (or, HP2100 continued)

From: Jay West <jlwest_at_tseinc.com>
Date: Tue Aug 3 22:45:18 1999

One major problem with my 2100A has been solved (sort of). I had a card that
wouldn't work properly in a particular slot, finally got the bright idea to
move it to a different slot (I'm using polled mode, not interrupt, so this
is possible). The card works great. Problem solved? No.....

In the troubleshooting process I noticed a few slots that no cards would
quite work right in. I checked the back of the backplane (it is a hand-wired
backplane), no loose wires, etc. After very close inspection of the
backplane slots, I determined the problem is the contacts are
dirty/corroded/whatever. I tried the best I could to clean the contacts
inside the slot, but this is virtually impossible. I also cleaned the card
edge with an eraser just to be sure. Bingo - card now works fine but only in
the cleaned slot (or one that worked previously).

So, given that it's a delicate hand-wired backplane, does anyone have any
magic tricks for how to clean the gold contacts inside of the backplane edge
card connectors? I'm afraid to experiment and looking for wisdom... :)

Thanks!

Jay West
Received on Tue Aug 03 1999 - 22:45:18 BST